It was an interesting and varied day today, with some genuine surprises. It all started calmly enough. I headed to Falmer Pond before work, photographed a few ducks, and this rather fine moorhen which was resting on the bank.
A young rabbit was poking its head above the long grass, all wide-eyed and alert.
And the great tits were continuing to provide for their young.
Seeing a terrapin is always somewhat strange, though not entirely a surprise. They appear in the warmer weather, basking on the rocks at the edge of the pond. They’re an invasive species and are predatory on young birds so their presence, however exotic it may seem, is unwelcome.
At lunchtime I headed to the local woods, searching for blue tits. I’d come across some nesting boxes on previous walks, and today I was in luck. A couple of them are in use. The photos aren’t up to much. I need to work out how best to take photos under the dark woodland canopy, but it’s a start. This is probably the best of them.
It was when I was heading back along the path that i spotted the woodland cat. It’s a small black cat with a yellow collar (so domestic, not feral). It’s evidently a good hunter because to my utter surprise it was trotting across the path carrying a baby rabbit. I’ve seen foxes with rabbits, but never a cat carrying such large prey.
That’s about enough for one post. I’ve just come inside from photographing the garden foxes. One of them is definitely becoming more comfortable with my presence. I’ll post some pictures tomorrow.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Darko
17 May 2014OMG, that cat!!! I am glad that our cat usually never attacks squirrels, she just watch them but never really attempted to attack them. Birds, however…. We live in a small building now so she is almost never outside, occasionally on balcony. We have a lot of blue tits, nuthatches, robins and stellar jays in the area.
Words
18 May 2014Darko, I was very surprised too. I’ve seen cats with mice, birds, slow worms. Anything that’s small, but never anything this big. Domestic cats are a major predator of small mammals and birds here. Attacking a squirrel might be quite risky. They have a serious bite on them.
derwandersmann
23 May 2014Well, on the other hand, that’s a fair-sized cat, and a cat’s ideal kill is such a surprise that “resistance is futile”.