Nature photos

[765489]

There's usually two. I put out 5 sausage rolls and in return they keep control of the rabbit and rat population.

[Osciiboscii]

Same here. Bunny population out of control, but would prefer nature takes it course than ferret people who think they can just rock up. Sometimes theres a mom fox, who will not move away from the den, so we'll take a wide berth from her. Beautiful creatures.

[765489]

You could nearly have a little wooden door under that Hawthorn tree.

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[CelticRambler]

Late night visitor who didn't want to hang around, so a "point-and-shoot" photo for documentary purposes:



We call him un grillon, you call him a cricket!

[CelticRambler]

Well ...

He might look like him at a distance, but this is not Fwoggy:



And this little froglet ...



... is not the same as this one:



All three are in Fwoggy's trench, along with Fwendy (though I haven't seen Fwoggy since I left him inspecting my work on his infinity pool) so someone's obviously spreading the word that the Rambler Ranch is the place to be this autumn!

Those last two are teeny little fellas, only about 15, maybe 20mm long (depending on how they're folded up!) I think they're two different species, but perhaps the very noticeable green dorsal line only comes with maturity? Or might be sex-dependent? Finding it very hard to get useful info on frog identification - so much of it is summarised by "well, they come in all colours, and they're present pretty much all over ... "

[CelticRambler]

Changing kingdoms for a bit:



This is the smallest specimen of about ten enormous mushrooms growing where I used to have a pile of tree trunks some years ago. There was a time when I could borrow a really good mushroom identification book from the mobile library, and make great use of it ... but, alas, we were treated to the dreaded "enhanced user experience" and our local authority made the library immobile and far away. Anyhow, as the stems of these turn blue when damaged, I'm pretty sure they're the poisonous boletes. Shame really - you could feed a whole family with just one!

[CelticRambler]

And back to th'aminals again. Inspecting my day's berm-building this evening, my eye was drawn to a field in the distance where a tractor had been working turning hay, or mowing green manure, or something along those lines. It was peppered with a load of white dots. We don't get seagulls this far inland, and besides, the field is a kilometre away as the crow/buzzard/owl flies. I know there are some hefty stones in that field (which I plan to acquire at some point) but surely the tractor wouldn't have uncovered them with a simple mowing/tossing attachment?

Nope. It was a field of egrets.



Or rather, ten egrets and two grey herons. A few months ago, I thought it was great to see five of them in that field, where I'd only ever seen them one at a time before - but ten?

They were there for ages too; and when I went to close the windows this evening, I thought hang on ... there's something else going on there. Sure enough:



Two deer making the best of their last few days of freedom - hunting season starts this weekend.



This guy has a lovely set of antlers. Maybe not as lethal as Ncdjd2's bullock's horns, but really cute all the same.

Apologies for the quality of the pics - they were taken hand-held at a distance of 1km!

[765489]

The Ivy is alive with bees this morning.

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[CelticRambler]

The Ivy is alive with bees this morning.

Same here for the last few days. They've all but abandoned every other flower in the garden (except for the asters) which has made it easier to see some of the less busy (buzzy? ) insects doing their rounds.

[CelticRambler]

Right: BabyBufo has been officially ousted as the cutest amphibian.

Meet Toto, who is now the teeniest new arrival in The Trench!



Unlike his froggy friends, he seems to really like swimming on the surface (does a really "human" breast-stroke ) which allows a patient observer to see the orange flashes on his feet. Having said that, he wasn't swimming when I took this - just doing a lazy float and letting the wind take him on a voyage of discovery!

Meanwhile, the other latest newcomer, Cheetah, is making full use of the trench to do whole lengths underwater, fast!



In the shallows up the other end, the two teenagers are starting to take life more seriously. Mozart, on the left, is still a bit hyper, but Verdi is getting to be quite unflappable. He's also a pretty good climber - he can scale the near-vertical edge of the trench when he feels the urge to take a walk in the weeds.

[CelticRambler]

The dragon- and damsel-flies are back in force this weekend too (lots of mating going on too ... I feel a bit left out )

Couldn't quite figure out what this one was up to, though - repeatedly hovering at low level over the frog's trench for long seconds at a time (giving me the chance to take these pictures) ... but it was playing a dangerous game, as both Fwendy and NotFwoggy were within gobbling distance.

[Del.Monte]

Bearded Tits at Tacumshin Lake, Wexford on Saturday 25th September - extremely rare anywhere in the British Isles but they do breed on a couple of RSPB reserves in the south of England. This was one of a small group. Photograph reproduced by kind permission of Brian McCloskey.

[765489]

Beautiful bird.

[CelticRambler]

Another day, another frogface! This is mad now (mad, Ted) - where the feck are they coming from? This trench wasn't there last year, I haven't ever seen any frogspawn (or toadspawn) in it, nor any tadpoles, it came very close to drying up back at the end of August ... and now I've suddenly got four adults and five juveniles living in a glorified puddle!

Anyway, this is Diesel, so called on account of his go-faster stripes (warped logic, but some of ye will get it ) By the looks of him, I'd say he must be a hybrid of the classic green frog (as typified by Fwoggy and NotFwoggy) and whatever species Fwendy is. A miniature version of him has also turned up today.

[Osciiboscii]

where the feck are they coming from? This trench wasn't there last year, I haven't ever seen any frogspawn (or toadspawn) in it, nor any tadpoles, it came very close to drying up back at the end of August ... and now I've suddenly got four adults and five juveniles living in a glorified puddle!

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[CelticRambler]

But ... but ... but ... I won't be seeing the storks till next week?

(will genuinely be spending a fortnight in Storkland, assuming I can get there on time)

((But I'll be raging if it means missing the main crane migration at home again ))

(((Which, incidentally, frequently sees flights of particular families of cranes pass over my house in France a week before [or after, depending on which way they're going] the same ones pass over my sister in Germany.)))

[765489]

Anyone know what type of bird this is ? Sorry for the bad quality photo. There was a flock of them.

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[765489]

Crab apples. Gazillions of them.

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[Del.Monte]

@ Ncdjd2

The bird is a male Stonechat - we both need to get cameras!

[765489]

Wow thanks man I never seen one of these before. Will be walking through that location tomorrow so must keep an eye out for them.

[765489]

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[Del.Monte]

An interesting 1950s (?) postcard published by a Wexford hotel showing some of the teeming birdlife on the Great Saltee island.

[Osciiboscii]

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[CelticRambler]

Think he thought he had the place to himself:



If I'd known at the time that those were possibly the last rays of sunshine this week, I might have spent more time doing the washing and less time taking photos!

[Osciiboscii]

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He looks very cross....