Everything is Permuted

A post in two halves, so to speak. Last night I posted a damselfly nymph which looked on the verge of emergence. The good thing about nymphs in this state is that they tend to stay put, and sure enough they were there this morning. Only they'd undressed over night! The discarded exo-skeleton (exuvia) can be seen in both shots.




This next shot was taken later in the day. It's a blue damsel.
Click here to enlarge

The rest of this post is dedicated to the birds, starting with the most recent summer arrival: the swift. They are unmistakeable as they hunt on the wing, catching literally thousands of insects a day as they swirl high overhead with incredible aerial agility.




There were also skylarks, filling the air with their shrill song.


And whitethroats. They seem to be everywhere this year (we've even had one in garden a few days ago). I'm even beginning to recognize their call.


To close a couple more shots of birds (well, three to be precise). Both are raptors... inevitably there's a kestrel.




And a sparrowhawk. There were a couple flying around overhead, though neither came particularly close. It did, however, clear the sky of swifts for a while.


More trail cam footage of the fox cub tomorrow, and some dawn footage of what I take to be the parents.

Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D. The damsels were taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens; the brids were photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

It's been raining all day. The camera didn't get taken out if its bag until this evening, when finally the last remnants of drizzle moved away to the south. It was about 9pm and I was watching for frogs in the pond and photographing pond nymphs for want of anything more interesting. They are bizarre looking creatures, but when they emerge into their adult form next spring they'll transform into elegant damselflies.

Damselfly nymph

A noise caught my attention. I looked up. A cat was near the rear of the garden. We've had rather too many of them lately. It's not that I dislike cats, but they are voracious garden hunters and not the most welcome of visitors if you want to provide a wildlife haven. This one though wasn't hunting. It was staring intently. I followed its gaze. A familiar face was staring back.

Cat-watching

The fox won this brief stand-off, and the cat retreated over the fence. This was first proper sighting of nicked-ear in a couple of weeks, and though wet through she looks as healthy as ever. It was good to see her.

Nicked-ear vixen

She remained in the garden for about 7 minutes, which counts as a long visit at this time of year. She spent much of the time rooting around in the grass looking for bugs and worms.

Looking for bugs

There's still no sign of the other pair (the bold vixen and the old dog fox), but they may well be staying close to their home territory. I might hear them though. The familiar calls of the local fox population will soon be filling the night air as the seasons change and the foxes seek their mates. Winter is approaching.

Camera note: all shots taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens and Canon 430EX flash unit.