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Night Walk
A downy woodpecker patrols the trunk of a tree, the white strip down its back almost glowing as the light turns to dark. Above, a blue jay is remarkably quiet as it works out some issues before roosting for the night. As predicted, a young raccoon ambles out from the bushes to start pulling plastic…
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But wait, even more…
At the Totnes Rare Breeds Farm, while I was waiting for a steam train I found this Old Dutch Capuchine Pigeon, a fancy breed once thought extinct.There were also a number of rehab owls at the Farm. This Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) is nine years old. This is the most common owl in Britain.And this…
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All the birds
A Buzzard (Buteo buteo) and an unidentified raptor battling it out over Fenworthy Down. Buzzards, akin to our Red-tailed hawks and no relation to our buzzards (vultures), were frequent distant companions on my long walk. In the same place, another flew sentinel in the face of the wind swooping up the Down, seemingly hanging in…
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Some say in ice
But they would be premature.From late January, ice on Prospect Park Lake.
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Weekend Dragonflies
Got a grip. The handsome Painted Skimmer (Libellula semifasciata), with his conspicuous orange wing pattern. Note the appendages at the tail-end of the abdomen: this is a male. He uses these to grasp females right behind the eyes (damselflies grasp by the neck). More on the wild kingdom of dragonfly sex can be found here,…
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Instar Light, Instar Bright
According to the good bug people at Bugguide.net, this is an instar caterpillar of the Grey Hairstreak (Strymon melinus). Here’s the adult, also seen at BBP. The caterpillar was munching away on some Desmodium trifoliatum. There is some variability in the coloring of these caterpillars; this one was pretty much the color of the flowers,…
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British Birds 3
A fledgling Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). Wrens are the most common species of bird in the UK. I heard them everyday, but saw them much less frequently. Sly.Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinera), seen with some frequency along and on the rocks of fast moving streams and rivers.White/Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba). Wagtails are named because of their very…
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Coppicing
Two kinds of woodlands seen along the Dartmoor Way: A conifer plantation, planted mid-last century, looking rather majestic but also, well, rather — although hardly all — sterile. Houndtor Woods, a Woodlands Trust area near Manaton.Trees of many trunks in a hardwood forest, looking deeply lush with its attendant mosses and other understory plants. A…
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British Birds 2
A cornucopia of corvids!Magpie (Pica pica), seen throughout my walk, usually flying away from a field. This one was in London, and was the first bird I photographed on this trip. There was even one in the backyard of my hotel in London, on Norfolk Square, heard more often than seen. A magnificent animal, absurdly…
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British Birds 1
Male Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) at the London Wetland Centre.A very fresh Moorhen chick (Gallinula chloropus) in the garden of the Natural History Museum. Chick and a juvenile. The kids grow up fast.Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) outside my window in Buckfastleigh.Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) nesting at the Totnes railroad station.Male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) at…
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Backyard and Beyond 