A few days ago I put out a small piece of bread to see which bird would be the first to notice it.
I make no apologies for yet another video of a Blackbird singing. This time I managed to get a clear view of a local singing in broad daylight. Usually they are camera shy.
Last weekend I managed to get to an aquatic centre and pick up a new tub of Koi floating sticks for the tadpoles. During the cold weather I thought that only a few of them had survived but as soon as the Sun comes out dozens of them can been seen in the nursery pond.
At dusk yesterday I noticed a bat or two flitting round the Leylandii next door so I dug out the bat detector to see if I could pick up any of their echo location sounds. Not a brilliant recording as it took a while for me to tune in to them and then they moved on. Also I had it too loud and the recording was very hissy so I spent a while with GoldWave processing the file. At the same time I was able to cut out the long sections where no bat was within range.
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you. I must spend some time catching up on other blogs. I am well behind as this seems to have been a busy week.
Friday, 14 May 2010
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Minibeasts
When I was primary school teaching one of the things my class and I looked forward to was a day out of the classroom exploring the local countryside to see what insects and other small creatures were about. Then would come the task of identification and finding out about their life cycle and habitat.That was in the days before the National Curriculum when the teacher was able to decide what the children would learn, chose the best times to go about it and allotted the time needed accordingly.
Not too many minibeasts spotted here at the moment. At last I did find one Speckled Wood Butterfly taking a rest from flitting all over the place though it steadfastly refused to open its wings fully.
I am not sure whether this was a small beetle or a small fly which spent a couple of hours on the outside of the kitchen window. It made a change to get a blue sky as a background!
A Hoverfly taking a rare rest.
Here a Common Green Shield Bug which spent about six hours in the same position on the outside of the kitchen window. The only time it moved was to angle itself to catch the Sun when it eventually lit up that part of the window,
It wasn't until I enlarged the photos that I noticed that this little bug was missing two of its six legs.
All the above were taken with the Lumix TZ7. There are still scores of seven spot ladybirds about. The tadpoles in the nursery pond are coming along nicely.
Not too many minibeasts spotted here at the moment. At last I did find one Speckled Wood Butterfly taking a rest from flitting all over the place though it steadfastly refused to open its wings fully.
I am not sure whether this was a small beetle or a small fly which spent a couple of hours on the outside of the kitchen window. It made a change to get a blue sky as a background!
A Hoverfly taking a rare rest.
Here a Common Green Shield Bug which spent about six hours in the same position on the outside of the kitchen window. The only time it moved was to angle itself to catch the Sun when it eventually lit up that part of the window,
It wasn't until I enlarged the photos that I noticed that this little bug was missing two of its six legs.
All the above were taken with the Lumix TZ7. There are still scores of seven spot ladybirds about. The tadpoles in the nursery pond are coming along nicely.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Hedgehogs Inside and Out
Inside their own house that is. One youngster, having eaten earlier, decided to have a nap in the Hedgehog House. At the same time another juvenile arrived for a meal and a drink of water. Later on it was joined by an adult. All was good tempered last night with no sign of them playing at being bulldozers.
What a kerfuffal trying to upload the video. Twice to Flickr only to be told each time that it couldn't be processed. Then tried YouTube and all worked first time. Action will be about double speed as the recorder drops to 12.5 fps when recording two feeds at the same time.
What a kerfuffal trying to upload the video. Twice to Flickr only to be told each time that it couldn't be processed. Then tried YouTube and all worked first time. Action will be about double speed as the recorder drops to 12.5 fps when recording two feeds at the same time.
Monday, 10 May 2010
A bit of a Puzzle. What Did I See?
Unfortunately no photo, not even a fuzzy one. As we were walking through the churchyard this afternoon we came face to face with an animal. Unfortunately as soon as it spotted us it vanished before I could get the camera out of my pocket.
At first I thought - ah a Muntjac as it reminded me of some of the pictures I have seen. Looking up their description they appear to be not much bigger than Bobby but this seemed quite a bit larger. Colour brown with no markings. The puzzle was it appeared to have horns rather than antlers. Two unbranched horns about a foot in length, vertical and curving backwards slightly. Maybe it was a goat but it wasn't like any I have seen in the past. No sign of a beard either.
We went for a wander in the couple of the vdirections it could have gone but there was no sign of it and, unusually, Bobby didn't seem to pick up a scent.
At first I thought - ah a Muntjac as it reminded me of some of the pictures I have seen. Looking up their description they appear to be not much bigger than Bobby but this seemed quite a bit larger. Colour brown with no markings. The puzzle was it appeared to have horns rather than antlers. Two unbranched horns about a foot in length, vertical and curving backwards slightly. Maybe it was a goat but it wasn't like any I have seen in the past. No sign of a beard either.
We went for a wander in the couple of the vdirections it could have gone but there was no sign of it and, unusually, Bobby didn't seem to pick up a scent.
Hedgehog Intruder
Two Hedgehogs into One Hedgehog House doesn't go. One juvenile had made a few brief visits to their house and on one occasion another decided to enter. The intruder tries a little shoving but ends up being pushed back to the entrance.
Later on one juvenile was seen feeding but no hedgehog was in the house this morning.
Later on one juvenile was seen feeding but no hedgehog was in the house this morning.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
A Raptor Comes Visiting but Leaves Empty Taloned
I have waited a long time to get a photograph of one of the visiting raptors which frequent the garden from time to time. When I went to the kitchen to make a cuppa I had a quick glance round the garden as I always do. Down the end of the garden partly hidden behind the greenhouse was a Female Sparrowhawk perched on an old wooden frame. At least I hope it is a Female Sparrowhawk.
Not the sharpest of photos but at least I got some shots this time. So as not to scare her away I stayed as far back in the kitchen as I could. I think the sight of a wrinkly pointing a 400mm zoom lens right next to the window would have made her depart rapidly.
She stayed for a short while looking at all the places she knew there should be small birds feeding but as can be expected there was not a sight or sound of the usual visitors.
It seemed to be unusual to see a hunting bird perched less than 6 feet (2m) from the ground. I managed to get half a dozen shots before she took off for pastures new. The one thing which surprised me was how small she was. Somehow I had expected a bird of prey to be larger. To give an idea of her size the horizontal piece of wood in the background is about two inches (24mm) high.
If you are interested and haven't had a look yet at the Peregrine Falcon chicks on Derby Cathedral I think their site is worth a visit. They are very recently hatched and the video of the parent bird being so gentle while feeding the chicks is a sight for sore eyes. It's not too gory and can be seen HERE.
I was only wondering yesterday whether the local Heron had survived the weeks of frozen water in the past winter. Well, I did see one this morning weaving round the sky being hotly pursued by three Rooks.
Not the sharpest of photos but at least I got some shots this time. So as not to scare her away I stayed as far back in the kitchen as I could. I think the sight of a wrinkly pointing a 400mm zoom lens right next to the window would have made her depart rapidly.
She stayed for a short while looking at all the places she knew there should be small birds feeding but as can be expected there was not a sight or sound of the usual visitors.
It seemed to be unusual to see a hunting bird perched less than 6 feet (2m) from the ground. I managed to get half a dozen shots before she took off for pastures new. The one thing which surprised me was how small she was. Somehow I had expected a bird of prey to be larger. To give an idea of her size the horizontal piece of wood in the background is about two inches (24mm) high.
If you are interested and haven't had a look yet at the Peregrine Falcon chicks on Derby Cathedral I think their site is worth a visit. They are very recently hatched and the video of the parent bird being so gentle while feeding the chicks is a sight for sore eyes. It's not too gory and can be seen HERE.
I was only wondering yesterday whether the local Heron had survived the weeks of frozen water in the past winter. Well, I did see one this morning weaving round the sky being hotly pursued by three Rooks.
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Hedgehog Sumo Wrestling
The youngster who had nested in the Hedgehog House left just before 8 p.m. and it, or the other youngster, arrived back about 10.30 p.m. for its first free meal.
These were taken with the 350D. The rubber lens hood I use has the ability to distort and give a reasonable seal on the glass of the kitchen window. This keeps some of the flash away from the lens but there is some reflection from the outer panel in the double glazing. The second shot was taken through the single glazed door of the conservatory.
It was gently raining at the time and by the looks of it it had rained most of the night so I wasn't expecting much hog activity. This afternoon I decided to look through the recordings and found one hog had been in their house for a short while soon after midnight.
What caught my attention though was this group. The way they were charging and pushing each other out of the way reminded me of Sumo wrestlers. Maybe I should paint a white circle so we can see who is the winner. I can't work out whether there are three or four hogs at this time but I am fairly certain that two of them were adults.
In spite of all the argy bargy the young Hedgehog returned some while later and managed to get a quiet meal. No takers for the Hedgehog House today though.
These were taken with the 350D. The rubber lens hood I use has the ability to distort and give a reasonable seal on the glass of the kitchen window. This keeps some of the flash away from the lens but there is some reflection from the outer panel in the double glazing. The second shot was taken through the single glazed door of the conservatory.
It was gently raining at the time and by the looks of it it had rained most of the night so I wasn't expecting much hog activity. This afternoon I decided to look through the recordings and found one hog had been in their house for a short while soon after midnight.
What caught my attention though was this group. The way they were charging and pushing each other out of the way reminded me of Sumo wrestlers. Maybe I should paint a white circle so we can see who is the winner. I can't work out whether there are three or four hogs at this time but I am fairly certain that two of them were adults.
In spite of all the argy bargy the young Hedgehog returned some while later and managed to get a quiet meal. No takers for the Hedgehog House today though.
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