Quiet Times on the Wildlife Front.
21st August 2020
I have not posted anything of note on this website throughout these very unpredictable times because earlier on in the spring and summer there have been obvious limitations on personal movement and lately we have been experiencing huge swings in our weather. These weather episodes have consisted of a couple of weeks of stifling heat with daytime temperatures of thirty Celsius, which is too hot for me when at home, and even worse, twenty plus Celsius during the night. Frustratingly, now that the horrible humid spell is over we are experiencing day after day of heavy rain with grey skies and low hanging cloud. During this period we have been out a few times but it is very quiet bird – wise at this time of year anyway and Butterflies and Dragonflies are also disappointingly very few and far between.
On a wild life note when I had a bonfire during the dry spell I noticed something moving in amongst the garden waste and after investigation I could see a big toad – a fine specimen.
I removed it before I set the fire, it’s so easy to kill small animals who are hiding/hibernating in these garden waste areas.
For the last two months there has been a Hare in the fields around our house but it is very wary and when I have disturbed it a few times while walking it has quickly darted into cover. I spooked it from a pea crop last week while walking a fence line but again it scooted away. A few days ago, again walking, I had been watching a Migrant Hawker dragonfly on the edge of a wood.
One of the few this season, and briefly a bit further on a Spotted Flycatcher.
I had casually shot a few frames of both and walked on. I came to the edge of a hedge line and carefully peered around just in case there was something there - standard practise. To my surprise there was the Hare just sat in the grass about fifteen yards away.
Amazingly it seemed to tolerate me, but in fairness I was being very careful. I managed to fire off a few shots with my little Sigma zoom lens before, in a matter seconds, it casually loped away covering a hundred yards in no time at all – amazing! They really are a lovely animal and frustratingly they are often seen in other parts of the country, typically Norfolk but they are uncommon around here.
On a wild life note when I had a bonfire during the dry spell I noticed something moving in amongst the garden waste and after investigation I could see a big toad – a fine specimen.
I removed it before I set the fire, it’s so easy to kill small animals who are hiding/hibernating in these garden waste areas.
For the last two months there has been a Hare in the fields around our house but it is very wary and when I have disturbed it a few times while walking it has quickly darted into cover. I spooked it from a pea crop last week while walking a fence line but again it scooted away. A few days ago, again walking, I had been watching a Migrant Hawker dragonfly on the edge of a wood.
One of the few this season, and briefly a bit further on a Spotted Flycatcher.
I had casually shot a few frames of both and walked on. I came to the edge of a hedge line and carefully peered around just in case there was something there - standard practise. To my surprise there was the Hare just sat in the grass about fifteen yards away.
Amazingly it seemed to tolerate me, but in fairness I was being very careful. I managed to fire off a few shots with my little Sigma zoom lens before, in a matter seconds, it casually loped away covering a hundred yards in no time at all – amazing! They really are a lovely animal and frustratingly they are often seen in other parts of the country, typically Norfolk but they are uncommon around here.