STRIKE A POSE

I think she's met her match.

Grroan.

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(Click photo to enlarge).

ICHNEUMON AND TWENTY-TWO SPOT

I'm off for a few days now (and I think the weather is meant to get a little worse - aw well).

Thought I'd just pop a few photographs up from yesterday, in the garden.

The FIFTH species of Ladybird has turned up in the garden - the tiny (3mm long MAX) Twenty-two spot ladybird. I'll put my photographs up of all SIX (expected), for comparison, when I photograph the final Ladybird in the garden this year - when the 2-spot arrives...

Easily recognised - like I said, its minute, with yellow elytra and 10 or 11 black spots on each. A yellow and black spotty pronotum is present also, and unlike other small yellow and black ladybirds, the 22-spot has no thick(ish) dark line down the middle of its "shell" (separating the elytra).

We've got half a dozen or so of these lovely ladybirds feeding on the mildew and mould in the long grass by the fence - I'll try ( maybe) to get a shot of one on a 5p piece so the scale becomes clear, but for now, the shot above is of one on that fence...

The Ichneumon wasp is one of those stunning insects that fly in occasionally.

I think its a Pimpla hypochondriaca, but I can't be 100% sure.

Talking of hypochondriacs, it did act a little sick - it was quite slow, unlike most of these stunning beasts - which are CONSTANTLY on the go, searching for the next caterpillar to lay their eggs in, (which eventually gets eaten ALIVE, from the inside out).

Enjoy your breakfast.

ANOTHER "SIMON'S CAT" FILM....

I love these short cartoons, (thanks to my eldest sister this time for sending this to me).
NB. For cat lovers ONLY....!

THE BLACK RABBIT

I saw my namesake yesterday, in the gathering gloom of a remote spot in the Chiltern hills, near our secret badger sett, and right opposite the Barn Owl field...

I've only EVER seen ONE Black Rabbit before in my entire life - and that was about twenty years ago, in the rolling mists of a deserted golf course. This was a VERY NICE surprise!

Some people say Black Rabbits are common in some areas of the UK.

Not round these 'ere parrz.

You'll see I did manage a shot, in the low light, from about 2-300m away, with full 18x zoom.

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

You'll note that the Black Rabbit is glowering at the bog-standard brown bunny in front of him (probably flashing his red, glowing eyes), and that the brown bunny has come over all subservient - lying prone on the ground!

Luckily Anna and I were a good distance away, like I said, so the Black Rabbit didn't spot us and turn his fiery glare in our direction.....

BIX BLUEBELLS. BUCKS BADGER. BIG BARN OWL. BONES. BUZZARD. BLACK RABBIT.

All the "B's" then.

B is for Bluebells and Bix.
Anna and I decided to go and gawp (and take a few photies) of the explosion of purple that has occurred in the woods of the Chilterns over the past week - probably not quite as magnificent as last year's display, but stunning anyway!
So thats the B for Bluebells then (and just for good measure we photographed these Bluebells at Bix (in oxfordshire) .... click on the photo above to enlarge (or as normal, visit the "New Warren".

B is for Bucks Badger.
After the Bluebells, we drove to a secret wood in Buckinghamshire, quite remote, but I wood I know well and have surveyed before for a local wildlife group, many moons ago.
It was in this wood that I had the immense pleasure of watching a whole family of badgers one summer (up to seven at one time) feeding and playing around me (with cubs) - something I'll never forget.
Well, the sett has changed a lot since then, but Anna and I were very surprised to have a wonderful view of a large sow badger snuffling around the woodland floor not 15 yards from us, before she shuffled fatly off, and we left the wood - our first badger together and a really nice moment! (No photo - WAY too gloomy under the wood's mixed canopy, even if the badger did emerge at about eight thirty pm - very much light enough for our eyes - but not for my camera unfortunately.
Anna and I have vowed to return, in the summer maybe, and look for the cubs - you never know, in a little better light I may get a photograph or two...?

B is for Big Barn owl.
On leaving the wood, (still in reasonable light) we returned to the car and I suddenly noticed a beautiful Barn Owl quartering over a field pretty close to us - COMPLETELY unexpected - and quite magical in the half light!
Anna thinks its her first ever experience of a wild Barn Owl (not surprising really as they're bloody rare these days - I've only seen two beforehand).
We watched it for a good fifteen minutes, like a ghostly (completely silent) white moth, low over the scrubby long grass.
At this time of year, the Owl should be breeding, and if so, it will quarter over that field all summer long - I think we may be in luck here.
However, and this is a BIG "However", the Barn Owl, because of its scarcity, is a "Schdeule 1" species - one needs a licence to photograph these birds anywhere NEAR their nest, in season. So we won't be getting very close to this Owl - and not even approaching any nest - not even close!
Wonderful stuff and so unexpected!

B is for Bones.
Fallow Deer bones to be exact.
Rewind to the Bluebells at Bix, and Anna and I literally stumbled over two Fallow Deer carcasses (does and not together), lying in the wood, close to the road. Both had been there a year or more - just bones left - and we suspect one (at least) was hit by a car and thrown into the wood.
Anna allowed me to glean one of the skulls, which I'll clean and photograph when I get time.

B is for Buzzard.
Another carcass I'm afraid, in the same wood.
My father has done a spot of gamekeeping, when it was almost de rigeur to shoot or poison birds of prey on estates, so will have come across such things - but as for me, this was the first such carcass I'd ever seen.
Dead for some time again - as it was mainly just feathers and bones - and I took one of the magnificent primaries for myself.
Was it poisoned? Doubt it.
Shot?
Ditto.
I think it just died naturally (everything does I suppose), fell out of a tree, and the bugs and beasts cleaned it up.
Wonderful to see the plumage at VERY close range though - that feather I've got is a byoot!

B is for Black Rabbit.
And that OBVIOUSLY deserves a post (above this) all to itself....



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What an incredible few hours Anna and I had last night!

SWIFTS.

After my post two days ago on the return of my favourite bird, its fair to say they're back IN NUMBERS now, over Reading.
Anna and I spent yesterday afternoon sorting out the garden and there were at least three dozen screaming about high in the sky above us.
At last....!

SSSSWWWWIIIIFFFFTTTTTT!!!!!

NOW THEY ARE BACK.
2 MINUTES AGO I JUST SAW ONE LONE SWIFT, SILENT AND HIGH ABOVE THE REC BEHIND THE HOUSE!
FIRST SWIFT!
WELCOME TO SUMMER EVERYBODY!

(ANNA AND I ARE OFF TO THE BADGER BEER PUB ON THE THAMES TO CELEBRATE - IN THE RAIN PROBABLY!)

MORE LATER....

LITTLE OWL CAM ANYONE?

Well ok, so no Blue Tit nestbox live streaming from Black Rabbit towers this year, but you've now got links to EXCELLENT birdcams on Blue-Grey now.
A Goshawk nest in the New Forest and a Peregrine nest in Derby. Both are SUPERB - please, if you haven't used these links - do so!

What else can I give you?
Hmmmm....

How about a Little Owl nestbox camera or two? (From Holland).
Well worth a visit, the "angry-looking" little niblet is sitting on her eggs now, the fourth egg (vierde ei in dutch) was laid on the 20th April.
Both cameras are WONDERFULLY clear - please click HERE or use the (new link) in my expanding link section on Blue Grey.
You'll not be disappointed... There (like I said) is a wonderful live feed, and also plenty of clips of the pair of Owls battling Pigeons, Jackdaws and even a Barn Owl INSIDE their nest!

(NB. When you get to the site, you have to specify which camera you'd like a stream from by clicking the appropriate tab).