Highs and Lows
Wednesday, 22. April 2009, 21:34:33
Last Sunday, I was a guest at a ruby wedding anniversary meal being held at a local golf course facility. I glanced up at the sky as I arrived to see that there were some unexpected attendees!
A buzzard!
I rarely see these magnificent hawks in the North Downs and was most pleased 
Unfortunately, it gave me only a few seconds to react with the camera, but at least I got something of a record 
And I'd barely recovered from that surprise when a male kestrel shot past in the other direction
__
The weather has settled down to warm and sunny, with moderate visibility under hazy blue skies. Spring is certainly here...
...but it feels more like summer.
I was aware that this small fox was conscious of more living creatures in her vicinity than was I. She was listening for voles in the long grass, but all of a sudden she sprang away:
A few seconds later, two foxes somewhere in the farmland behind me broke out into a screaming match. They were invisible to me, and doubtless to the first fox too. It left me wondering whether the fighting duo had begun their squabble with additional calls that were outside of my hearing range.
__
Strange to see the vixen run at full pelt across the meadow; I rarely see foxes running, and I wonder if she would have stopped if a road had been in the way. This morning started in depressing fashion when I found the body of a fox almost outside my front door, hit by a car or van on a low visibility bend
I've seen a lot of wildlife dead on roads in my life but this was exceptionally bad as it had been dragged four metres down the road by the force of the impact; I couldn't identify the fox due to its severe injuries, and I hope it wasn't one of my regular visitors. Wildlife is very vulnerable to traffic at this active time of year and re-quoting Parks Canada's slogan to drive as if their lives depend on it seems sadly apt.
__
Finally, to end on a different note, while I was drawing the wildcat for my last post, I experimented with taking "WIP" photos and threading them together as a gif file
A buzzard!
I rarely see these magnificent hawks in the North Downs and was most pleased Unfortunately, it gave me only a few seconds to react with the camera, but at least I got something of a record And I'd barely recovered from that surprise when a male kestrel shot past in the other direction
__
The weather has settled down to warm and sunny, with moderate visibility under hazy blue skies. Spring is certainly here...
...but it feels more like summer.
I was aware that this small fox was conscious of more living creatures in her vicinity than was I. She was listening for voles in the long grass, but all of a sudden she sprang away:
A few seconds later, two foxes somewhere in the farmland behind me broke out into a screaming match. They were invisible to me, and doubtless to the first fox too. It left me wondering whether the fighting duo had begun their squabble with additional calls that were outside of my hearing range.
__
Strange to see the vixen run at full pelt across the meadow; I rarely see foxes running, and I wonder if she would have stopped if a road had been in the way. This morning started in depressing fashion when I found the body of a fox almost outside my front door, hit by a car or van on a low visibility bend
I've seen a lot of wildlife dead on roads in my life but this was exceptionally bad as it had been dragged four metres down the road by the force of the impact; I couldn't identify the fox due to its severe injuries, and I hope it wasn't one of my regular visitors. Wildlife is very vulnerable to traffic at this active time of year and re-quoting Parks Canada's slogan to drive as if their lives depend on it seems sadly apt.__
Finally, to end on a different note, while I was drawing the wildcat for my last post, I experimented with taking "WIP" photos and threading them together as a gif file
WIDGETIZE