The signs of autumn are present in the air. There's a distinct chill to the wind, and a hint of rain is in the air. The fields have been harvested, and sheep line the hillsides.
I watched as a glider wafted over in the distance.
Towards the end of the walk, I stopped to watch the few house martins darting across the sky. It was then that I came across one of the most common, but infrequently seen, of our mammals. The common shrew is small, and usually hides in long grass or thick undergrowth. The local kestrels are among their predators, as are owls and foxes. Apart from the difficulty in seeing them, their main defence are glands that (so I'm told) give them a foul taste. I'm not sure what this one had fallen prey to. It was laying on short grass, possibly dropped by a kestrel (though I didn't see any in the area), or possibly a cat (some do lurk at the edge of the farmland). It was fresh, and had obviously not been there for long. The flies appeared while I was photographing its tiny corpse.
Common shrew
Meanwhile, although they evaded the camera, the foxes were busy in the garden on Sunday night. I'm unsure which two these are, but htey provided about 15 minutes of action on the trail cam. Here are a couple of minutes of them.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 400D. The landscapes were shot with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. I used the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens for the shrew.
CedarFox
15 Sep 2009Wow, shrews are a lot smaller than I thought they were. Though of course I've never seen one before 🙂
gdare
15 Sep 2009I have never seen living shrew, only dead ones :awww: They are hiding so well 🙂
Words
15 Sep 2009Darko, same for me. Very hard to spot on the ground. I have occasionally seen voles which are about the same size, but not shrews.
Words
15 Sep 2009Eric, yes they're very small indeed. I've not seen one that close before. Usually they're dangling from the claws of a kestrel :yikes:
SittingFox
15 Sep 2009Perhaps the shrew just starved. They have to eat so frequently. I find them on trails from time to time, but they're very hard to see alive.
Looks beautiful. I'm glad of the bite in the air, although my 4km walk (round trip) to Victoria Station each day isn't quite so fun in the rain!
Words
15 Sep 2009Adele, good point. I didn't really think about something so simple but so obvious.
Unfortunately the bite in the air turned to rain today 🙁
Flying Red Fox Blog
17 Sep 2009Yep Autumn is on its way, poor Shrew! nice photos and video of the Foxes 😀
Flying Red Fox Blog
17 Sep 2009I notice a huge lot of difference to clear and sharpness of photos when i photograph planes which is a nice sign but thats when to wrap up warm lol. 😛
Words
17 Sep 2009Mark, yes definitely getting cooler. I like it when the skies stay clear but it's a bit hit and miss at the moment.
Words
17 Sep 2009Yes, lovely clear skies. Cold days can be perfect. :smurf: