17 Wednesday Jun 2020
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This was a bonus on Monday’s long walk …
I first saw its red bottom and tail walking away from me and thought I wouldn’t see it again but then it turned and sat in the long grass, keeping an eye on me while I took several photos. After about 5 minutes it spotted something more interesting on the other side of the field and trotted off. A delight!
11 Monday May 2020
Warning: the photos in this post are a bit gory!
The highlight – if this can be called a highlight – of my early morning local walk was this Magpie, feeding on the grass in a local park.
Although Magpies mostly eat fruit, seeds and small insects, they are also opportunists who will quite happily scavenge household food waste, eat the eggs and chicks of other birds, and graze on road kill and other carrion. This bird had found a dead rat and was happily pulling it apart for a bloody, but presumably nourishing breakfast.
At least, I hope it was nourishing – the rat could, I suppose, have been poisoned, and I’m not sure whether that would have an adverse effect on the bird. I hope not.
06 Friday Mar 2020
I found some kind soul had left a scattering of bird seed and peanuts, still in their shells, on the dirt by the side of the east lake at Cosmeston, when I walked there this afternoon. A Mute swan, a couple of Mallards and a few Tufted ducks were milling around at the water’s edge, presumably having just been fed, but they couldn’t reach these extra seeds. The food didn’t go to waste though. As I watched, first a set of twitching whiskers and then a pair of dark bulging eyes appeared over the edge of the bank … a Brown rat!
And then another …
And another … three Brown rats! One at a time, they ran out, grabbed a peanut shell, and scurried away to stash their finds somewhere safe. And on they went until all the peanuts had disappeared. They were so cute to watch.
18 Tuesday Feb 2020
I almost didn’t notice these hedgehog quills during a recent woodland walk. It was grey, the path muddy, the portion of well squashed hog sitting among a drift of brown leaves so well camouflaged.
I have no idea what befell the poor hedgehog. This spot was well away from any roads and I think the creature must have been long dead as there was no smell. Perhaps it had died in the woods somewhere, a dog had found the carcass, and brought it to the path to show its master.
As I scanned the surrounding area for clues, I noticed these two pieces of jaw, one upper and one lower, which a quick internet search revealed must also once have belonged to the deceased hedgehog. It was a somewhat gory but quite educational find.
16 Monday Dec 2019
One of the Cosmeston water voles was out and about today, munching on vegetation and also hauling in supplies, taking them under the dipping pond’s boardwalk and presumably stashing them somewhere.
Luckily, I was the only person around and, by staying quiet and still, I was able to watch it coming and going for quite some time. It was a delight!
05 Thursday Dec 2019
It’s not just the birds that are consuming winter berries at the moment.
When I’m out walking, I often hear scurrying noises in the tree branches above my head and look up to see Grey squirrels, their cheeks stuffed with berries, their paws reaching out for the next delicious morsels.
And it’s not just a berry dessert they crave, of course, as they’re also well known for their liking for nuts. In the photo, right, the squirrel is holding Alder cones, which it has just been munching on.
30 Wednesday Oct 2019
It’s that time of year when the Grey squirrels prepare for the colder months both by stashing away as many non-perishable titbits of food as they can and by eating fit to burst, fattening themselves up to help cope with the cold months of winter. If only we could all use that excuse!
19 Thursday Sep 2019
It’s been a while since I’ve walked past the dipping pond at Cosmeston but I’m glad I did today as one of the resident water voles made an appearance.
It was quite well concealed amongst the reeds at the side of the pond – that brown fur really helps them to blend in.
In the past I’ve only seen them eating lily pads but today this little chap was munching on reed stems.
Eventually, it noticed me standing on the boardwalk but didn’t seem too bothered and carried on eating.
But it sure freaked out when one of the juvenile Moorhens came by to say hello!
03 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, animals, mammal, nature
Today’s cute young things are not birds but mammals, a pair of cute little bunnies who were checking out the world from the safety of the entrance to their burrow, a very wise thing to do as a lot of dogs are exercised in this field.
23 Saturday Mar 2019
Before our visit to the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Rye Harbour on 11 March, I’d only ever seen Hares at a distance, a long distance, so, although we saw lots of wonderful birds during our 8-mile exploration of the reserve that day, the highlight for me was getting reasonably close views of several Hares.
Admittedly, most of those views were of their rear ends as they skedaddled but, even then, we could see how big their ears and back legs were. And, although the photo below was also taken at quite a distance and has had to be heavily cropped, I do like how it shows the comparison between the Rabbit and the Hare.
And, luckily, very luckily, this one Hare decided to sit still for longer than the previous ones – at least, it sat still for about 30 seconds, which was just enough to get one decent photo. What magnificent creatures they are!
p.s. If you’ve not yet read Marianne Taylor’s wonderful book The Way of the Hare (Bloomsbury, London, 2017), you really should. It’s a treat!
