Saturday 28 May 2016

It's all about the bugs!

Summer and bugs are sometimes an unwanted partnership but they do make great photos! If you take the time to study them rather than swat them away, or worse squish them, they are fascinating and beautiful. 

I was actually photographing the buttercups in our local meadow when this soldier beetle landed right by me. They come in many black and red colour combinations and markings - this one is Cantharis rustic identifiable by its black spot.


Monday 23 May 2016

Greater spotted woodpecker

I happened to look out of the kitchen window the other day and was pleased to see a greater spotted woodpecker on the feeders. We have had woodpeckers in the garden before they seem to come in each day for a week or so and then disappear for a while. It had been quite some time since I'd seen one on the peanuts though so it was lovely to spot one again.  They are always very nervous of any movement though so I took this photo through the kitchen window which is then behind the conservatory. I knew I hadn't got much time so couldn't fiddle but just hope it would auto-focus through two panes of glass - or four if you could the double glazing!


Sunday 22 May 2016

Famous des res for insects

Remember this?

Well just as I finished my luxury bug bungalow I spotted a competition on Waitrose's twitter feed. They wanted photos of how people were attracting wildlife to the garden so I uploaded my photo and promptly forgot all about it. So surprised then to be contacted by Waitrose's Weekend team to say I was a finalist, and for some comments on how and why I used my old bird table and permission to use the photo for an article. Duly obliged and made a point of popping in the shop the following Thursday to pick up their in-house paper so I could check it out and show the family (well my husband did have some hand in the bird house transformation after all!).


Anyhow, turns out I won! I am now the proud owner of another nature home as the prize was a hedgehog house. We have sited it in a sheltered part of the garden and, in the hope it gets noticed, have been leaving some food nearby. We have hedgehogs in the garden most years, although we've yet to see them so far this year. Someone's eating the food though so fingers crossed they find their rather posh new build soon.



Saturday 21 May 2016

Collared dove baby

Collared dove babies aren't beautiful, they aren't particularly cute but I'm sure its mother thinks it's the prettiest bird in the garden!


The Hare and the Motorbikes

There is something quite special about seeing a hare, quite mystical I think.  I've only really taken an interest in them over the past few years and was thrilled last year to finally see a couple. This year I've spotted a few in the fields as I pass in the car but, until last week we hadn't walked for a while in the area I saw them before.  As we approached the field where I knew they could be we were passed my some trail motorbikes. They didn't rev the engines and weren't going really fast but I thought all hope of seeing a hare would be gone. Suddenly though we spotted some ears.  The hare wasn't far from the fence and seemingly hadn't been bothered by the bikes. I crept as close as I dared before it decided I was more of a threat than five strange noisy machines and took off.


Wednesday 18 May 2016

Great-Crested Grebes

We saw a little great-crested grebe family on the lake at a local country park over the weekend. One parent had gone out into the middle of the lake and the other and baby were left in the reeds. Despite having one parent nearby the baby was calling over and over for the other. They are my favourite water bird and I am longing to see the famous courtship dance so I have ear-marked this lake for an earlier visit next year.  





Wednesday 11 May 2016

Robin update

Just a quick photo! We saw our robin parents still feeding two fledglings earlier this week but they were under the plants so I couldn't get a good photo. Today though I spotted one sunning itself on the back of the garden chair. Tail feathers are nearly there and it is flying around. It found a worm and I haven't spotted the parents feed but it is still calling occasionally.


Sunday 8 May 2016

Twin doves

The collared dove does not leave the nest in the honeysuckle very often, hardly at all, but I noticed her fly out the other afternoon so had a peek. I have to climb on the edge of the pond to see up there, and even then I have to angle the camera down and hope for the best, but there were two eggs. I was quite surprised how big they were really, almost the size of a small chicken egg, and they were completely white and glossy.  Incubation is around 2 weeks so I think we probably have maybe a week to go.


Goslings and foxes!

We walked around the lake at West Stow County Park the other day and there were lots of Greylag geese goslings about, both on the water and huddled in groups on the bank.  Very fluffy, pretty and cute of course.



Along side the lake the anglers have erected a high fence to keep the otters out (I've yet to see one though!).  The fence runs along the River Lark. The other side of the Lark we saw some more Canada geese and were just remarking that they didn't seem to have any goslings with them when we spotted a fox. It was sitting just outside a sandy burrow watching the geese. The geese were not particularly bothered by the fox and after a few minutes it disappeared down a hole.  Apart from passing in a car, I haven't seen a fox as clear as this one. It was still quite a distance from us but was thrilling nonetheless. There is a RSPB reserve that side of the river so I'm sure there are plenty of feeding opportunities!