Category: Sightings

Hi, walking over old tip I was pleased to see a short eared owl hunting over the aerodrome. Coming down to the fishing pond I saw a female mallard with 5 or 6 ducklings possibly 2 weeks old. More breakfasts for the heron (see previous blog by Bri) who was preening itself on the long […]

Some bad news, last night one of the cygnets went missing, presumably dead. Yesterday it was looking out of salts, not keeping up with the other two, yet the day before it looked fine, at this age they are still very vulnerable and can very quickly deteriorate. The warm spell has hatched out hundreds of […]

Usually at this time of year we are worried about the ponds drying out but not this year they are filled to the top, the ground and us are thoroughly soaked. The wet does keep down activity of birds and insects but during the rain the other day, Yellow Shell moths were about in abundance, […]

Yesterday we noticed very small beetles skimming around the pond on top of the water, Bob identified them as Whirligig beetles, an apt name. Today managed to get a shot of them, apparently they move through the water to disturb the surface to find food. Came across a few Silver Y moths today, named after […]

Only a couple more days and we will be in the sunny month of July. This wet weather does have some benefits, if not for us, it has brought out the common toadlets, they are all over the paths and are only the size of a bluebottle, only way you can notice them is when […]

Posted by Ian Another typical 2012 June morning,lots of cloud and rain:-The BAE fire engine was doing its usual bird scaring bit before the 7am flight, but this morning it was chasing a Hare down the runway and the poor little devil ran the full length before disappearing into the rough.I fully expected it to […]

Well the weather finally warmed up. Following on from yesterday, the Kestrel was hovering 50 mt from where we saw it, but today it caught a vole/mouse, see shots, the one showing it transferring the catch is unfortunately slightly blurred. In the afternoon found some Four Spots and also Black-tailed Skimmers, while watching them, a […]

A brighter day but still managed to be out when it rained. A few more birds to be seen after the downpour over the last couple of days. Put the remains of a hock on one of the trees near the feeders on Friday, and it was completely picked clean on Saturday morning, we have […]

Posted by Ian Heavy rain and wind,seems a typical summer day!,walking along the right hand path came across a short eared owl perched on a fence post.It was hunched down looking wet and miserable,and I got within arms length before it looked at me for a few seconds then reluctantly flew off.

This is great weather for mushrooms, just found the odd one at the moment but should be plenty shortly. Fed the swans and cygnets, only three now but they are growing fast, see pic. Had a look at last years pics at this time of year, and found most of the same except for a […]