A Brief Sighting

Yesterday on arriving back in the lane after our dawn walk-about we spotted an animal crossing the lane just past my garden. Hard to tell what it was as it appeared to bound like a wallaby but had a short white tail. At first I assumed it was most probably a stray dog. A few moments later another appeared crossing the lane in the opposite direction. Sandy brown in colour and about the same size as Penny. This time I was able to definitely identify it as a Muntjack Deer, probably a doe. Penny was fascinated but neither stayed in view more than a few seconds. Unfortunately the pocket camera was buried under a couple of warm layers of clothing so I wasn't able to get a photo this time. It would probably have been too dark anyway. I must try to find somewhere safe to rig up the trail camera and see if I can get some photos / video of them that way.

Next to Open

The blooms on my mid size Cymbidium are now opening:





Colour may deepen a bit when they are fully open.

Sound Test

Sometimes I want to record a bit of bird song. I have had a small recorder for some years and it works fairly well. The only problem is it uses an AAA battery. If I leave it in it is usually dead the next time I want to use it. Every time the battery is replaced it refuses to work until the date and time have been set which is a bit of a clat to set up. So, I decided to invest in a new one. This time with a built in rechargeable battery and a proper on / off switch:



Nice and small to stuff in a pocket but with easily accessible controls. It connects to a computer with a USB cable and then acts like a memory stick so it is easy to transfer the files.

As with all recorders with built in microphones holding it while recording usually introduces extra noises so for the following recording I set it down on a wheelie bin to record a Song Thrush. There was some wind noise which I reduced by processing the file in Audacity. I think this Thrush was still practicing its song as it was somewhat hesitant and didn't repeat very often.

Not sure how loud this will be on your computer so be warned as there is no volume control on the player:



If you are a glutton for punishment, when the file has finished playing just click the X which appears top right and you can play it again.

Wordless Wednesday

Village Weather

Song Thrush

Once again a Song Thrush was belting out its varied songs in the twilight this morning.
Later on I saw it high up in one of next doors apple trees:





Those were taken through the kitchen window.
I moved the camera to get a better direct view with the intention of filming it.
As ever, as soon as it was set up and I switched to video it flew away.

Sunrise

This morning's Sunrise behind the village school:



Even better though was hearing a Song Thrush for the first time this year.
Yesterday and this morning were mild but temperatures will be down to normal by this evening.

A Colourful Day

It started when I noticed a few of my Dwarf Iris plants:



For our mid morning walk-about we cut trough the back of the churchyard.
As expected the Snowdrops were out under the trees:



and around the tombstones:



The main crop of Winter Aconite was putting on a good show:





The day ended with a glorious Sunset: