Different day, same rat (I assume). It was equally cooperative, and largely ignored my presence while it foraged in the undergrowth. I even took the opportunity to get a short video clip which is at the end of this post.
Now a short video…
Back home there’s still been no sign of Pretty 🙁
Camera note: all photos and video taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
The title says it all really. Five photos of a rat at Falmer today. I had to work hard to get these shots as the tangle of branches severely restricts the camera angle. The last two show the rat grooming itself after a short swim in the pond.
Fox update: Pretty hasn’t been around since Sunday. No sign of her yesterday or today. She’s due her second mange treatment so hopefully her absence is temporary. There were a couple of new foxes on the trail camera last night, and we could hear lots of calling in the locality. The birth of cubs may well be causing some disruption in the pecking order (and Pretty ranks low among the other foxes judging by her generally submissive behaviour when other foxes are around), so I hope she’s not been driven away. The badgers have also shown up several times. More news as and when.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Why leave the garden? It was another beautiful sunny day. Quite mild, and more time for getting on with the spring clear up. Not that it’s too much of a hardship with so much to see just by looking around. And there’s one big surprise at the end.
Overhead, several buzzards flew over late morning. The gulls chased them without ever really getting serious; just enough to shepherd the buzzards directly over the garden.
The gulls were rather more upset when a heron crossed the sky. They cleared a large passage for it, and by the sound of them were clearly not happy. It’s the first time I’ve seen a heron from the garden so although it was some distance away and the shot isn’t up to much, it’s here as part of the ongoing record.
A good part of the afternoon was spent removing weeds and leaves from the garden pond. It was somewhat neglected last year and was becoming a bit of a tangle. I clean it out by hand and spotted several newts (plus I inadvertently caught one, but quickly returned it to the water). The job’s only part done, but it does mean that tonight I was able to take this photo of one of the many newts.
Slightly off topic is this next shot. It was taken during the day but I’ve converted it to black and white. I had hoped to see a plane leave trails directly across the moon (I think I’ve got a shot like that from several years ago), but this will do.
The big (and very welcome) surprise comes towards the end of these video clips from the trail camera. Plenty of foxes, and a couple of badgers to enjoy.
Watch the video and you’ll know what I’m looking forward to seeing soon!
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens except the newt which was taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
