2017 Not a good year

 On the whole I was disapointed with my photography during '17. Family illness and my age became a bit of a handicap and I wasn't able to get about as much as I used to. Knowing spots where I could find old friends meant that I could sit in the car and hang the camera out of the window. I have been amazed what happens in a quiet spot on the side of the road. This badger is fed by the occupants of a cottage just a few yards off the carriage way and does not seem to mind snuffling around my car.

This barn owl was around quite a bit at the beginning of the year but was chased off a lot by the young peregrines when they became airworthy.

Like the badger this fox was quite happy as long as I stayed in the car.

 The bullfinch was photographed through my living room window. A rare visitor never to be seen again.

 Great grey shrike, first sighting in my life, again photographed from the drivers seat in my car. Ten minutes later it had gone.

The peregrines were the highlight as far as I was concerned, always entertaining. Always around and  doing something. This is one of the four youngsters bred this year just before he left to make his own way in the world. I never go anywhere without a camera.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I wish all my friends and fellow bloggers a Merry Christmas and a succesful New Year

At Last

 With my age catching up on me I can't walk to the best places locally to get wildlife to photograph so most of it is done from or very near to the car. I stopped at one of my haunts on the side of the road hoping to see an owl or similar hunting for its evening meal. I saw this fox sitting in the field not 50 metres away.

Well within the range of my lens I took a few shots before deciding to abandon ship and take a closer look. To my surprise he ignored me and carried on snuffling about in the grass.

 Even when I got to the gate he seemed not to worry about my closeness. In fact he started studying me and took a great interest in what I was doing.

We spent about 30 minutes watching each other before he decided he was not going to get his supper hanging about watching me and departed. I took over 100 photo's and spent most of the evening sorting them.

Pond life

 Still no sign of the small birds that have disappeared from the village. My feeders in the garden the food is going rotten and having to be thrown away. Occasionally I hear a robin but nothing else. My nearest sign of life is at the village pond where this cormorant and heron are often seen together.

 The heron is a young bird which I think has come from a heronry about 2 miles away and has adopted the pond as his feeding place, a good fishing spot too.  Plenty of food around where people feed the ducks, mallard, coot, moorhen, corvids, gulls, wood pigeon and the occasional mute swan but no sparrows or finches. It has been like this for more than a year. I am baffled.

Me and my shadow

UP TO 33,500 BADGERS TO BE SHOT IN THE AUTUMN CULL

The government has announced that more licences have been issued for the shooting of up to 33,500 of the nationally protected badger. Contrary to the imformation of the past 5 years culling which is being cherry-picked to make it look as though the cull is working it is a shambles. Badgers have as many as 10 setts so if you kill at one sett they just move off to another and you end up chasing them around the countryside until your licence runs out. The cost of culling 1 badger runs into several thousand pounds, the cost per head for vaccination is just £84. Vaccination is being undertaken by private donations through Wildlife Trusts and similar organisations and it works. While shooting at night could injure or kill innocent animals or even people.
This imformation was obtained from THE GUARDIAN Published 11 September 2017.