After all the high activity of the previous post, Friday proved quite the opposite. The park had gone unusually quiet as the cold weather chilled the ground. The animals were in watchful, rather than playful, mood.
The herons were on self-appointed guard duty…
… though they failed to apprehend one small interloper.
The whooper swans were sitting gracefully by the water's edge, occasionally grooming but mostly sleeping…
Even the rats were more watchful than usual…
As for me, I left the main watch duty to the trail cam. These are clips taken over a 48 hour period.
We had a few flakes of snow today. The forecasts suggest that down on the south coast we'll miss the wintry weather, but we can never be sure. Being high in the Downs means that any passing snow cloud will leave a covering even if the surrounding valleys escape.
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM. Video captured with the Bushnell Trophy cam
anonymous
28 Nov 2010TBR writes:
"… though they failed to apprehend one small interloper. "
Your choice of words really brings your photos (especially that one) to life!
Great stuff! Thanks Words.
gdare
28 Nov 2010Even on guarding duty, herons don`t pay too much attention to squirrels 😀
serola
28 Nov 2010I have soon seen more different birds on your blog than I have ever seen during my life 😀 Like I mentioned previously, here one never sees so many different birds around cities. During the spring and autumn they just fly by and in the summer they just scatter around the forests.
Mickeyjoe-Irl
28 Nov 2010I always thought that herons were solitary. Strange to see so many together. They do look cold.
Hope the snow missed you. Britain (and Ireland) seem to have gotten a good dose of winter. :yuck:
SittingFox
28 Nov 2010Those herons look even more sinister when in that mood :knight:
The rat still looks cute :awww: and I'm impressed with the quality of the trailcam, day and night. I'll have to think about getting that model.
Words
28 Nov 2010Mick, we seem to have escaped any serious snow down here (so far), though it's bitterly cold :smurf: The herons do tend to group together in the park. I guess they have nowhere else to go. It's quite unlike the behaviour of the ones I see in Sussex.
Words
28 Nov 2010Adele, they are indeed the oddest looking creatures, especially when they wander around just a few feet away from all the human activity. I'm really enjoying the rats! They're the first creatures I look for now when I go into the park.
One thing with the trailcam is that it will prove expensive on batteries (especially in this cold weather). The first set (4x lithium AA) lasted about 10 days, but that was more or less continuous use and 60 second clips.
Words
28 Nov 2010Darko, they're just lulling the squirrel into a false sense of security. 😉
Words
28 Nov 2010Sami, I never realized we had quite so many different birds until I started photographing them. Now there are so many more I still want to see (and photograph).
Words
28 Nov 2010Thanks Doug! I really wanted to use that shot as soon as I saw them lined up like that. It was just a question of 'how'.
filipinaballerina
29 Nov 2010i love the way the new dogfox looks up at the camera everytime he chews his mouthful! very polite behaviour 🙂
Words
29 Nov 2010Chris, he does seem to have an eye for the camera 😉
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Great shots of the herons see there are a few first winters