Little Egret- Big Ego !

The above rather large Little Egret flew into the shoreline of Carnsew Basin PM yesterday and immediately set about seeing off a couple of previously happy resident egrets that were fishing there.

The bird strut around its new territory for a few minutes just to let all others know that it was the new boss before finally deciding to demonstrate its flamboyant fishing skill as shown below.

This dramatic poser finally settled down to catching and dispatching a good sized fish which should presumably help to feed its even bigger ego !

Early fox on the prowl

High streaky cloud formations created a dramatic sunrise over Bartinney Down early AM just as a fine female fox briefly breaks cover in the low light to hunt for voles in the rough grass fields.

Thirty minutes later with improving sunlight I was in luck as the vixen reappeared just twenty meters from my hedgerow hide-away near the banks of one of Bartinney's small ponds.

I watched as she located, pounced and dispatched two voles in quick succession after which she picked up on the sound of my close shutter action and immediately faded away under cover to continue her morning hunt in one of the many adjoining fields

A nice sunlit encounter with a fine looking fox and many thanks to Peter Tonkin for the loan of a complete camera and lens system while mine is away for a much needed service and repair

The Spider and a Fly

This crafty spider was lurking in the shadows of my greenhouse waiting for another fly to vibrate its well spread web strands 

A few days ago I popped into my greenhouse to collect a few tomatoes for my lunch but as I went through the door I collected a face full of a large spider and its web which was spanning the doorway.

This might be a prime position looking at things from the Spiders perspective but I was not so impressed and as I returned looking to collect more tomatoes today I was more careful to duck underneath the rebuilt web when I noticed that the spider was doing well having just trapped another fly to add to a collection that were already hanging in its larder area.

I grabbed my wife's macro camera and lens ad exposed this series of shots as the spider ran from its cover and spun the fly in silk before transported it to its gruesome hanging larder where it was left trapped like a trophy on display along with two other recent victims.