Some weekends are just a comedy of errors. Ever had that feeling that your camera itself is rebelling against you...?

It all began last Friday evening I was out for a drive with my mother at dusk, on the off chance of seeing a fox or two. Although I do photograph (or attempt to photograph) the foxes in the garden after dark, the complex setup and close proximity required mean that that simply isn't an option for foxes out in the meadows. So, seeing that the light was fading, I left my camera behind I had little reason to regret doing so until precisely 18:59pm, when we rounded a bend on a little woodland lane and saw a large stocky greyish creature standing there, drinking from a puddle. It was a badger!

It's extremely rare to see badgers away from the vicinity of their sett before dusk; in fact this sighting only narrowly lost out to my all-time badger record of about 6:30pm. I was astonished, and possibly would have been able to get a photo of sorts in the car headlights, but of course, I had no camera It was a fine-looking badger with a broad striped head and a heavy flecked grey coat, but it also had a visible bite on its lower back, almost certainly from a rival badger. To compensate for the lack of photo, here is my trail cam footage from last year:



Naturally, I was thrilled to see it, and infuriated at my bad judgement in leaving my camera behind But it's all very well; not all mishaps are entirely my fault...

This morning, I was out walking with Leila when two tiny birds flitting around in a small tree caught my eye. They were clearly of the tit family, but it wasn't obvious from that range whether they were coal tits (relatively common) or marsh tits (locally, very rare). The two are most easily distinguished by their necks: coal tits have a large white spot on the back of their heads. I was still trying to make up my mind when I realised that I myself was being observed. By an albino squirrel!

I whisked my camera around and snapped one shot as it bounced into a hedgerow, hotly pursued by a grey-coloured squirrel. I hesitated; surely it would come back - squirrels are very circular in their movements - and in the meantime, I had the coal / marsh tit to think about. I took some more pictures of it, saw that it was, in fact, a coal tit, and waited. Sure enough, the albino eventually sprang into view. This time I got the camera on it perfectly, and pressed the shutter.

Nothing

Of all the moments that my camera battery could have found to die on me! Suddenly those photos of the coal tit seemed a little extravagant, but hindsight is a wonderful thing...

In desperation, I pulled the battery out of the camera, rubbed it, breathed on it, and pushed it back in. It's a trick that has occasionally worked before, and the camera briefly came back to life I lined it up again...

Nothing! I lost power again as soon as I pressed the shutter And I knew that that was that

So, here we have it: a woefully imperfect shot of arguably the most beautiful wild animal in the district, and one which from now on I'm likely to credit with almost cougar-ish powers of camera avoidance



And the coal tit who caused so much trouble


__

I put my camera battery on charge, of course, as soon as I arrived home. While it was being re-energised I was thinking about lunch I happened to glance over my shoulder while serving up to see a treecreeper running up the silver birch Luckily I didn't drop the plates. I did, however, race madly upstairs, grab the still-recuperating battery, take two attempts to get it back in the camera, and sprint to the back door.

Treecreepers are one of our quaintest birds but they're incredibly flighty, and I fully expected this one to have vanished by the time I was ready to photograph it. But, amazingly, it had actually come closer to the house, and seemed to be interested in the pond.



It had a quick bath



Shortly afterwards, a winter wren also paid a visit to the pond.



This has been a very strange 48 hours Not spectacular on the photography front, but at least it's given me a few more stories to tell

Firstly today: thankyou Elke! How nice to receive your card and (very tasty!) chocolate! (And perhaps I will take you up on the invitation, one day )



I've had other nice surprises this morning Even though the meadow foxes have been a bit elusive lately, their lane is still full of interesting creatures. Horses, young or old, we know all about, though I didn't expect them to give a natural frame for the magpie



And sharing their field were a flock of redwings, possibly the last I'll see until the autumn. They ought to be making their way back up north soon. No doubt, Norwegian birdwatchers are awaiting their return for the breeding season.



A bit further up the road, and I got a glimpse of something very small and awkward to photograph, but exciting the nonetheless! It seems treecreepers, the quaintest of all our birds, have returned to the birches where I saw them last year It's one of the few birds around here with a truly curved bill, but it is its habit of running head-first up trees, closely pressed against the bark, which gives it is name. They climb very quickly, so getting a good picture is something I haven't achieved yet...but I keep trying!



Treecreepers don't move much with the seasons, but all birds have to time their breeding seasons to match their food source. I mentioned the other day that I've heard some chicks chirping in the bushes. But back home in the garden this morning, I saw something that I didn't quite expect - my first fledging of the year! It's a young great tit, looking typically rather scruffy.



Other birds are not quite so advanced. This female greenfinch amused me greatly - she was collecting fur from the patch near the hedge where the Old Dogfox likes to sleep! Given his age, I wonder how many birds over the years have been hatched nestled cozily in his discarded winter coats? Nature is the ultimate recycler, and even shed fox fur obviously has a purpose.



And the usual suspects were out and about in numbers.

Goldfinch



Yellowhammer



All in all, a great day for birdwatching!