So, quite soon after the last post, BUT - It was such a lovely weekend last week and for once, the wildlife was playing ball so I couldn't resist showing you what we see on a typical weekend!
Most of the following shots were taken over 24 hrs starting at 9 pm on Saturday evening but with a small intro from Saturday morning! As always with my Blog, and the many talks I do for local charities and other groups, my aim is to demonstrate just how much life there is all around us!
This post includes a few 'Interludes' - descriptions of what happens while I write.
But briefly, before we start the 24 hour timer...
Having caught the snorkeling bug in Indonesia last year, we finally decided to take the plunge off the Kimmeridge rock ledges to see what all the fuss was about! It was incredible! We donned wet suits and snorkels and took along the waterproof camera our kids bought us at Christmas.
The following few shots give an idea of what the sea bed looks like (Bear with us, we need more practice with the camera.
That was a great start to a lovely weekend!
So on to our 24 Hour Wildlife Watch!
8:30 Pm - Saturday evening - I get home after a lovely run along the clifftop and seafront. The conservatory doors are opened, camera is ready and I relax and wait to see what will come...
It is now about 9:30 pm Saturday evening and to our joy our neighborhood fox visited our garden. We don't over-encourage him as it is not good for them to become too comfortable around people. But a couple of dog biscuits thrown down the garden relaxed him (or her?) and we watched him explore the garden for around 30 mins. It was late and getting dark so the pictures leave a bit too be desired.
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| About 75' away! Hasn't seen us yet! |
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| 10' Away and then she spots us! |
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| But is she bothered? |
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| Is she heck!!! |
Sunday morning - up as usual at around 6:30am. Our first little visitor was in the bathroom! After a couple of shots, she was carefully ushered out before the steam started rising!
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| Really fluffy and cute! |
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| Quite a good size and built a web 3' across overnight! |
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| Sitting in MY chair!!! |
At this point, we also took the opportunity to watch and photograph the garden wildlife while waiting until it was time to pick our son up for a trip to the forest (No grandchildren today).
The next 8 shots were taken in about 15 minutes!
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| Still trying to identify this one! |
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| Lots of different plants to attract lots of bugs! |
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| And here come the birds - first, a dove! |
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| Joined by Mrs Blackbird. |
Bees are in a worrying decline at the moment, but we are blessed each year with more than our fair share. Several different species of both Honey and Bumble bees. As you can see below, they are already starting to mass in the garden - and it is not even 9am yet!
...and here come the sparrows! Still not 9 am and we have counted in excess of 20 crowding the feeders and on the path!
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| Around 30 sparrows in the garden when I took this one! |
As I sit to stare writing again, I am watching the garden. We have:
4 Pigeons
3 Magpies
1 Rook
1 Robin
several sparrows
3 Squirrels
Plus multiple bees and butterflies!
...all living in harmony!
After picking up our son at 9:30 am it was off to forest to see what we could find! We know a lovely little area just off the A35. You have to climb over an 8ft high deer fence to get in (wonder how many more years we will be able to manage that!) but because of that it is almost free of human disturbance.
The following shots are all as a result of careful observation and careful lifting of rotting logs, rocks and more.
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| Its that time of year when the young frogs are looking for their own territories. We found quite a few along the way! |
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| They stood still, we stood still - staring at each other for a good 3 minutes! |
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| ALL life is worth a look - a dead, headless mouse provides life for a colony of ants! |
The next 2 shots show an exotic looking bug that decided I looked tasty! If you can stand these things feeding on you for a while you can get some incredible shots! But after some of things we have photographed feeding off us in exotic countries, there is little to fear over here!
Dragonflies are one of my favourite subjects. In the odd moments when they do pose, they look stunning! Lots of patience required though!
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| Couldn't have asked for a better pose with the dark background! |
Interlude: 7pm Wednesday evening
Still writing this on Wednesday evening - watching the garden. All the creatures we saw on Monday are in the garden plus a flock of about 10 starlings and an enormous dragonfly! Really blessed considering we only live in a semi near Iford!
...but, back to the pictures from the forest on Sunday.. another beautiful frog and a newt! T his is really proving to be a productive 24 Hours!!!
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| A newt with attitude! I have Neil to thank for this shot! |
Shown below is the 'Devils Coach Horse' beetle. One of the UK's larger beetles. When threatened, it poses as shown below - a stance like a scorpion. Although it has no sting, you have to watch both ends! It's powerful jaws can give a painful bite and it can squirt a foul smelling liquid from its tail end! look for these under rotting logs and leaf litter.
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| The Devils Coach Horse Beetle |
Followed by a big warty toad - totally oblivious to our presence!
Not quick enough with the camera for this one. When the log was lifted there were somewhere between 20 and 30 of these beetles rushing around! Better luck next time.
Demoiselles are among our most stunning damselflies, when they stop still for a few seconds that is!
In case you wondered, the easiest way to tell Dragonflies from Damselflies is to look at the eyes. Damselflies have widely separated eyes (Picture above) while Dragonflies have much larger eyes that almost meet on the top of the head (Picture below).
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| Yet another big toad! |
Later afternoon and back to the garden...the show goes on!
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| Are you looking at me? |
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| At last, dad shows himself! |
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| Our baby blackbird is bigger than Mum and Dad now! |
Butterflies aplenty! It is another good year
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| Red Admiral |
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| Peacock |
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| Comma |
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| Busy Busy Busy |
The 'Big' boys all seem to come together each evening. Pigeons, Doves, Rooks, Magpies. All arrive together!
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| One of at least 3 that have taken a fancy to our garden this year! |
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| All friends together! |
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| Getting just a bit too bold! |
Wellm that enough for now. Hope you have enjoyed this latest glimpse into my world.
As always, please do leave comments or drop me an email. Some of you have asked how to add a comment.and wondered about the 'Comment as' box. Easiest is to just choose the 'Anonymous' option. You can then just include your name in your comment if you want to.
OR: Feel free to comment by email at: iantesco@yahoo.com
Back again soon!
Back again soon!
Another fascinating blog - love the pictures - next one please!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, keep them coming. Peter.
ReplyDeleteGreat! More please, Pam and Fred
ReplyDelete