4th August..... Harvestin'

This afternoon I joined Peter, Kevin & Adam who were busy busy busy bringing in the first crop of the summer season : Winter Barley.
Before the cuttin' can begin, the beast needs to be prepared:

Toppin' up the fuel.

Leaf blowers are not only useful in the garden it seems, gettin' rid of the debris from the previous day, don't want it getin' in the works, over heatin' & startin' a fire.

Right thats that done, on with the business of bringing in the Harvest.

This couple of Roe Deer were quite happy in a nearby hay meadow.

Went on an off road recce this morning.

Came across a family group of four Ravens. This one appears to be having a spot of both with a couple of 'copters, but obviously they are in the distance making them all appear of similar size.

Yellowhammers are still busy feeding young.

This balloon type thing is not what really want to find in a crop field, could truely put a spanner in the works if it's not found before the combine gets to work.









Don.

Images Copyright : Don Stone/Stewart Dennis.

2nd August..... House Martins Galore.

Must have been close on 100 House Martins this evening, above & on a group of conifers in a neighbouring garden.

One minute they would all be quite happily perched, the next...

.... they EXPLODED out from the tree, in every direction, for no apparent reason, no Hobby in sight, not yet anyway. Back they would come & do it all again.

The sky being a mass of excited sound & swirling silhouettes.

Don.

1st August..... Wilstone Reservoir.

An afternoon out around BBOWT College Lake and Wilstone Reservoir. Found a lack of birds at College Lake but did see goldfinches busily feeding on thistle seed heads and a female blackcap feeding on guelder rose berries.  As the sun come out the temperature rose  along with the numbers of butterflies and damselflies:

Second generation brown argus.

Common blue.

Next generation of common blue damselflies in the pipeline.

















Moved on to Wilstone around 3pm.

Found good numbers of lapwings on the spit in front of the hide, along with the tiny (compared to the mute swan) common sandpiper.

Green sandpiper.

One common tern, lesser black backed and a few black-headed gulls.

Turned out a lovely day as we walked back to the car watching great crested grebe fishing close to the path.

Stewart.

                                                         Images Copyright : Stewart Dennis.

1st August..... Silver-washed Fritillary & Brimstones.

It seems to me that seeing wildlife in your own garden involves an element of luck, 'cos if your're out, there's no tellin' what you've missed. Today luck was on my side again, as I lent on the gate talking with Carol a butterfly passed between myself & the house where it briefly settled, realised straight away that it was an SWF (only the 2nd sighting in the garden), watched it fly into the front garden, grabbed the camera, but despite searching amongst the Marjoram & the Betony, ideal food source, both being rich in nectar, failed to re find it.

Searched the other butterfly patches without any luck, but did find four pristine Brimstones feeding on Betony.

They were extremely active as the sun shone, never settling for long, making it difficult to grab any images, 'til a few clouds rolled in, causing the Brimstones to disappear into the bushes. This one thought it was invisible, relying on it's camouflage for protection in the Hawthorn.

Allowing for some ridiculously close views.

Good numbers of Gatekeepers in the garden, with maybe fifteen occupying the four butterfly patches.

Still just a few Meadow Browns in residence.

The sunsets at the end on another incredible day on planet earth.

Don.

29th July..... Ahh so Grasshopper.

You have to be of a certain age to understand what that title is all about, but back in the here & now I managed to photograph this Meadow Grasshopper in the garden this morning as it posed nicely in the sun, after doing a spot of singing. Looking at insects like this in close up you can appreciate where sci-film makers get their inspiration from, but sadly the over use of chemicals on the land & destruction of habitats is causing a serious decline in their numbers..... so the inspiration will be gone for future generations, unless we wake up & smell the coffee!!!!
Don.