This months report comes in the wake of the Cheshire show and is regrettably a little on the short side.

Our first picture is a pair of cute and cuddly little mice although Phil does not quite agree with that definition.

This photograph was taken by my arch rival James he seems to have a way with the wildlife.

Not to be out done I managed to photograph these baby Blue Tits.

I think they are more cuddly than the mice don't you.

But I am not the only one who can photograph young birds it would seem.

James caught this greedy young sparrow being fed by one of its parents.

The adult birds were being kept busy by this one and three other young, all constantly demanding food. I know how they feel.

 

June is a good month for spotting the young of animals and birds.

This baby wren was sat on a tyre which Phil uses to hold down the cover sheet on his silage clamp.

Like the young sparrow above it was awaiting the return of its parents with food for it.

Although we did not see any of their young, Phil had a pair of Lapwings nesting in his maze crop.

These birds were once very common in large flocks but sadly in recent times they seem, like a lot of other animals, to be in decline.

The lapwing nest on the ground. this makes them vulnerable to predators.

One such predator is the Mink. this one was photographed on the pond.

The mink is not a native animal to the British Isles but is an import from the United States. They were brought over here to be bred on farms to make mink coats. they were then released by well intentioned but miss guided people into the wild where they now pose a threat to our indigenous wildlife.

Talking a walk through the grass of the meadow was this cock pheasant.

These are known as a game bird, though game for what beats me as they are not the greatest of challenges.

If James can get this close with a camera what challenge does it present to someone with a gun.

Moving away from the cute and the cuddly, this picture shows mosquito larvae in a stagnant pool of water.

In this country the end result is an itchy bite from the adult.

In more southern countries a bite from a relative of these, the female Anopheles mosquito, carries a high risk of contracting one of the worlds deadliest diseases - Malaria.

If you visit any country where malaria is present, do make sure you take the recomended precautions and medicines.

One place you don't have to worry about mosquitoes is this place, Earth's only natural satellite the Moon.

Yet again taken by my youngest, he made the valid point that it is a part of nature.

Judging by the craters that are visible even on this low maginfication picture I think that life here owes it one or two thanks over the years.

Finally and once more down to earth, I was walking across the field known as The Rancho when I felt it start to move and attempt to swallow me as this large hole appeared under my feet.

Fortunately I can still move quite quickly when I have too. Phil reckons that it was a badger set that collapsed - dammed big badgers if you ask me :-)

See you next month .

Home page

e-mail

Back to June Journal / Back to Nature Trail / Previous Page

MAY 05

JULY 04