Watch The Skies

I love a great sunrise or sunset.  The pictures below were done mainly in the garden or hanging out of the bedroom window.

No effect has been added.  This was a particularly vivid solstice sunset in December 2013. 

Predators

In the last post about North Leverton Windmill I mentioned the autumn family fun weekend to raise funds for the upkeep of the windmill.  A regular feature at the weekend are the Yorkshire Hawking Club who bring a wide selection of raptors and put on flying displays for the crowds.  The club are very informative and will patiently answer any questions that people have about the birds.  below are a selection of photographs that I've taken in the past couple of years at the fun weekend.

Kestrel

Gyr

Golden Eagle

Harris Hawk

I can't remember what this one is called!

Barn Owl

Wind Power

North Leverton Windmill was built in 1813 and is still in active use today. The windmill is owned by a charity and is looked after by dedicated volunteers keen to keep this amazing piece of working heritage for future generations to enjoy.

I pass the windmill every day going to and from work and I like to buy the freshly milled flour from here as it makes excellent bread.  You can also explore the interior to see just how the mill works.

The Windmill is open to the public every Saturday and in September a family fun weekend is held to raise funds to support the upkeep.  There are craft stalls, vintage vehicles games and face painting for the kids and my personal favourites, the birds of prey (more of these next post).

Be Prepared

Last Sunday, we decided to get the mountain bikes out and get some exercise. It was a warm, sunny late summer day and we had intended to try a different route that a friend of mine suggested. I debated whether or not to take the camera along (most of route we do regularly so it would have offered little in the way of variety) but at the last minute I decided to take it along.  The good thing about a micro four thirds camera system is the size and the light weight.

On the way to the village of Sturton-Le-Steeple, we pulled over to watch what appeared to be two buzzards circling above us. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get the camera out of my rucksack so the pictures I took where hazy and distant.  I was cursing for being too slow.

The Reindeer Inn at Sturton-Le-Steeple is a regular stopping off point for us when out on the bikes. We have a couple of routes that we take, one that clocks in around the nine mile mark and the other direct route is around three miles.  There has been a settlement here since Roman times and like many villages in this area it has its own architecturally interesting church opposite the pub.

The benches outside the pub are situated next to a large duck pond that has been very short on ducks in recent visits.  This time, we were greeted by the sight of eight ducklings being chaperoned by their mother.

The sides of the pond are quite steep for the ducklings, so they've utilised the stepping stones to get out of the water.

The ducks go pretty well where they want to without a care in the world.  They held up a car that was trying to leave the pub car park for almost five minutes as they scurried around, oblivious to the potential danger.

The mother led them across the road and into the graveyard of the church where we presume they have made a home for themselves away from danger.

 This alone made bringing the camera along worthwhile but a short time later I spotted something on the horizon speeding towards us.  The Vulcan Bomber (also on this post) was making another flight.  On its recent fly overs it has felt as though the pilot was deliberately teasing me.  It was either obscured by low cloud or it was crossing the sun which threw the plane into silhouette.  This time, I was ready for it.

 

We ended up having to end our bike ride prematurely due to a puncture on Terry's bike.  (tip, it's worth buying yourself a decent bike pump that actually pumps.)  Half an hour later and we had it temporarily repaired to make the journey back home.  Despite being covered in oil it was a worthwhile afternoon out.

Yorkshire Giants

I've previously had a take it or leave it attitude towards giraffes.  They are odd looking creatures for sure but have never really inspired in me the sense of awe that I feel when seeing a lion or a leopard on TV.   Until recently I had never actually seen a giraffe in the flesh and when I did so, it made me see them in a different light.

These photos were taken at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster back in July.  The all male herd are a fairly recent addition to the park.  During a talk by one of the keepers she stated that they were only allowed to have an all male herd to prove that they could look after them properly.  They were hopeful that they would be able to add females and participate in the worldwide breeding programme.

I took these pictures from an excellent viewing platform approximately twenty feet from the ground. To be able to look down on a giraffe does give you a different perspective than you commonly see in wildlife documentaries.  What struck me straight away was how the shape of the giraffe's head reminded me of those of dragons as depicted in the movies with their long snouts and the horn like ossicones.

 The lumps and bumps, ridges and fur on their faces also added to each individuals character.  I think the one below is a cross breed and certainly stood out from the Rothschild Giraffes in the group.  He certainly had a more "lived in" face.

 

Sneak Thief

Over the years we've seen the odd fox or two passing through the garden.  This is normally when the nights are drawing in and they happen to trip the security lights but we always assumed they were infrequent visitors.

There is a part of the garden that we call the orchard as there are a handful of old apple and plum trees in it.  On a dark evening you really can't see more than a few yards from the kitchen window and we've always wondered about what goes on down there during the night.

A couple of years ago we splashed out on a trail cam to see what visitors we had in the garden during darkness.  We were hoping to see some badgers but so far no joy.  What we did discover was that foxes were nightly visitors, slipping through the orchard from the fields on their way to wherever.

 Last Saturday morning we had a rare sighting of a fox in the daylight. It kept sneaking  into the orchard, had a nibble at something and then exiting to an overgrown area in the field next to us.  At first we thought it was because it had killed some unfortunate creature and was returning to feast on the remains.  It soon became apparent that what it was actually eating were fallen plums from the tree in the garden.

Not content with the plums on the ground he opted to pick his own. Annoyingly the side shoots sprouting from the apple trees managed to obscure a lot of the fox's head and no amount of healing brush was ever going to make it look natural.  I've since chopped them off hoping for a repeat performance but so far the fox has been absent (at least during daylight).

It was an interesting thing to watch (especially as it was well aware I was standing at the top of the orchard with the camera) but we are also concious that we now have a fox and pheasants making themselves at home in the garden.  The fox has already made an attempt on Billy the pheasant, but fortunately he made it safely into the branches of the willow tree.  Hopefully the pheasants will learn to keep out of the fox's way and keep out of the orchard.  The pheasant chicks are far too young for a flying escape.

The Hand That Feeds...

On Friday night I was thinking about what pictures I should post on the blog this weekend.  I had pretty much decided what the post was going to be but then fate gifted me with two fantastic opportunities in the space of a few hours.  The first encounter was going to be this week's update, and then two hours later while we were gardening, we were given an even better one.  (The first encounter will be posted next time.)

First a little background. When I started this blog back in June one of the early posts focused on the pheasants that had become semi regular visitors in the garden. (You can find that post here).  I also mentioned that the female was quite content with us being a few feet away from her.

In that intervening time, they have been paying us visits every day. My partner wondered if it would be possible to hand feed them and decided to give it a go. In a surprisingly short period of time he did literally have them eating out of his hand.

We've christened the pair Bill and Betty.

Bill was at first reluctant to feed from the hand, content with gobbling peanuts that Terry threw just a foot or so away.  Eventually, he did pluck up the courage to feed direct from the hand.

Betty liked to take advantage of a couple of areas around the garden where she could give herself a good dirt bath.  I don't know if this a hen thing as we have never seen Bill do this and Betty did so after she had fed.

We were both concerned when Betty's visits stopped abruptly making us fear that she may have met an unfortunate end.  Bill, for his part turns up like clockwork.  Early in the morning when we get up for work he is looking up at the kitchen window and then again around seven in the evening.

Then three Sundays ago I was ironing in the living room and happened to glance out of the window and spotted Betty by the bird feeder we have in the corner of the garden.  I smiled, relieved that she was still alive and pecking at the fallen seed from the bird feeders along with the sparrows. Something didn't look right and then  it quickly dawned on me that they were actually too big for sparrows and went to get a closer look.  I took the next photo from the bedroom window.

Rather than meeting a grisly end, Betty had been on the nest and had three chicks.  This was her first visit in weeks.  We hoped that this would be a regular occurrence and we set up the camera trap to see how often they came by.

Disappointingly, they didn't.  Three weeks and nothing.

Until yesterday.

We'd spent most of the day gardening, cutting the grass in the garden as well as the drive and footpath that run past the house.  I was about to close the garden gate when Betty and her chicks crossed the drive and slipped through the hedge into the garden.

There were only  two chicks with her, and frustratingly, with Betty and her chicks (we've decided to call them Pip and Squeak) less than five feet away from us my camera was sat on a chair just behind them.  I admit to swearing under my breath that I had a fantastic photo opportunity and my camera was out of reach.

Then I realised that I did have my phone with me, so I managed to capture some video of them.

Terry very quietly slipped away to their left without spooking them.  He then filled up a small tub with nuts and gave them a shake.  Betty recognised the rattle immediately and headed off in that direction, chicks in tow, allowing me to grab my camera and take some photographs.  (If your wondering why Terry is wearing wellingtons on a warm August weekend this is because he was cutting the grass along the footpath that runs past the house and there are a number of inconsiderate dog owners who can't be arsed to clear up their dog muck.)

We were sad that Betty now only had two chicks. Then Terry pointed something out when I was prepping this post.  The three chicks that I photographed a few weeks ago look to be larger than those we saw yesterday.  Surely after three weeks they would be a lot bigger?

My first pheasant post did indeed feature two hens which we presumed to be mother and daughter.  Because we never saw them together again we assumed that the daughter had moved on.  We now think that we have actually been feeding three pheasants instead of two, and that Betty is in fact two different birds.  It's not uncommon for a cock to have a harem of hens.

We're hoping that the chicks will make it.  It would be great to see them develop over the coming weeks.