Last walk of 2020. A frosty morning walk to close the year.
Kestral high up in a birch tree. One was sitting in the nest hole in the oak tree a few days go, where they nested in the spring so hopefully they will return again to nest in the same spot.
Today’s deer pictures shows this young Roe deer. He is a Buck as you can see his antlers are developing.
Picking up the trail cameras this morning there was not much captured a passing fox on one and a Blue Tit (out of focus) intent of getting a selfie on the other.
It started to snow this morning but I missed the chance by the time I had got out it had stopped by the time I got down the road it had gone.
I spotted the deer but they surprised me and although I took some pictures I had not fully set my camera. The movement captured & froze their motion,and speed – a moment it time as they escaped into the woods,
A few hours walking in local fields placing trail cameras and then collecting them 72 hours later. Very wet and windy but enjoyable getting out.
These puff balls had popped up since my last walk. Possibly “Scleroderma areolatum” if it is they are poisonous and cause vomiting diarrhea and if eaten in larger amounts can cause fainting.
Roe Deer stills from trail camera full footage on link below.
Just after midnight my trail camera picked up this fox in heavy rain the same view of where the deer past the next day.
Boxing day & Hampshire is back in full Lockdown but individuals with one other are able to undertake daily exercise from home. So without my running shoes and jogging suit I took my 1st day of Tier 4 lockdown into the local fields and woodland for my exercise. A dark dull day with threats of storm Bella coming in in the next few hours but I am sure my exercise did some good to body and soul.
With my brother we have been putting out trail cameras in local woods and fields. Here is the footage from one of the cameras we collected this morning.
This camera is set up with a close up filter/lens.
A Wren and a Field Mouse – some highlights stitched together.
We we are just about to lockdown again with stay at home orders for Hampshire and much of the South East of England, except for work education and exercise from Boxing Day. COVID 19 increasing with this new strain causing a sharp jump in infections.
Male Shoveler Duck in flight
Today effectively will be our last day of “going out” even though we are distanced from others and out in nature. From today back to local walks. Spent some time on Meon Shore and then into Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve.
Dark Skies and the light at the end of the tunnel remains there but the tunnel has just got a lot longer in my head.
Male and Female Shoveler
The Northern Shoveler, or Shoveler, is a dabbling duck the Shovelers bill has developed a comb like structure on its edges which acts like a sieve to filter out food from the water’s surface. These birds today were feeding from under the surface of the water.
The Teal is our smallest duck here in the UK. Males are grey, with a speckled breast, a yellow-and-black tail, a chestnut-coloured head and a bright green eye patch. Females are mainly mottled brown. Both sexes show a bright green wing patch in flight.
Male and Female Teal.
Dab Chick /Little Grebe in winter plumage. In the summer it has a bright chestnut throat and cheeks and a pale gape patch at the base of the bill.
Oystercatcher. With the tide in feeding for worms and shellfish this bird has come into the reserve and was eating earthworms on the grass edges of the lagoons.
After a traditional Fish and Chip lunch I set up my trail camera on the beach and discarded some leftover chips and waited.
Wishing all my blog followers a very happy and safe Christmas and lets hope 2021 will be better than 2020.
We are lucky that our local surgery was one of those who were offering the over 80’s the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine today with my brother we took mum for her 1st dose .
Her second dose is booked for 21 days time. While here in the UK we are still like most of the world in the middle of struggle to manage this virus there maybe some light at the end of the tunnel.
Teals are small dabbling ducks. In winter, birds congregate in low-lying wetlands in the West and the South of England. A lot are continental birds from around the Baltic and Siberia who winter here in the UK.
Continued Reflections from my world. 