The weather has been good this weekend, almost hot; and fine enough to spend more time in the garden. Inevitably most of the wildlife activity takes place at night (see video clip further down), but there were two or three interesting sightings to report.
The first of these is ‘seen from the garden’, but is actually taking place a few doors away from us. We always have herring gulls in the vicinity, and they usually appear to go through a nesting routine. This, however, is the first year I recall seeing any chicks emerge as a result of all their activity. Not the best shot, but cute in its way. I’ve only seen one chick, but there could be more (my line of sight isn’t great and the chick seems to spend a lot of its time on the far side of the chimney).
We also have wrens locally, and late yesterday afternoon I spotted one perched in between the slats on the fence at the rear of the garden. It turned out to be a fledgling. I managed a couple of shots before it disappeared back through to the garden beyond.
The one photo from today is a hummingbird hawk moth, a large day-flying moth which is very well named.
To complete the set, I’ve resorted to a video sequence. There are two of the regular garden foxes here, plus the female badger which was shown in another recent video clip. The foxes look a bit on the tatty side. That’s partly their natural state at this time of year (cubs + moulting makes for a bad hair day), but they also show signs of recovering from mange and that skinny brush is a lot healthier than it was a few weeks ago.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Video from the Bushnell Trophy Cam HD.
derwandersmann
9 Jun 2014Nice shots, Words … and the foxes are looking a bit better. I assume someone (probably you) has been leaving little Ivermectin treats about for them? Once one of the bunch gets infected, they all have to be treated.
Your neighbor needs to have his roof and chimney seen to; that moss may be “olde English” looking, but it definitely isn’t doing his roof any good. Strips of Zn metal attached on both sides of the ridge peak will deal with it in short order. It’s probably not particularly beneficial for the bricks, either. The flashing looks a little messy, too … I shouldn’t be surprised if he starts having moisture problems around the chimney.
Thegull chick may be avoiding your side of the chimney because of that white thing fanned out at the corner … I don’t know what it is, but I think a chick might find it scary.
Loved the wrens! They’re perfect!
Words
9 Jun 2014dW, I’ve not been treating the foxes, but I think they may have been visiting a local rescue centre on the sly.
All the roofs here are covered in moss. It tends to end up in the guttering which need clearing annually. Those spikes are designed to stop the gulls nesting, but they seem to have learned to navigate around them. You see similar spikes on lots of municipal buildings to prevent pigeons (and gulls) nesting. It works after a fashion. More alarmingly they are now putting spikes on ground level to prevent homeless people sleeping in doorways.
Darko
10 Jun 2014I like the composition of the wren photos 🙂
Good to see that badger is around!
Words
11 Jun 2014Darko, thanks! I’d love it if the badger brought her young with her.