2017

I continue to play with the wildlife camera to see what results it produces. This afternoon, just after 15:55 it seemed that a male pheasant thought forgot it was autumn and acted like it was spring. After a sudden flurry of action as the start, as boy chases girl, you then have to wait unti... read more

I've been concerned that we haven't got much useful video material from the camera. Probably, that's because I have it set to capture some still images before taking the video and by that time the action is all over and often the subjects have left the field of view. However, here's an exce... read more

We bought a "wildlife camera" a while ago. The hope then was that we could get images of what were believed to be voles that had been burrowing in the bank from close by the house to near the arbour seat. That was unsuccessful. We now hope to discover the range of creatures that visit ... read more

Seeing a squirrel will not take most people by surprise. However, after the misidentification of a Stoat in 2013, today is the first one that I have been able to capture on camera. It had always seemed worthy of note that we did not see squirrels around the site. There's plenty of trees and ... read more

It's time for another collection of lake views. This time they were taken on 2nd, 8th and 18th of the month. With the previous image taken on 7 March we can, at last, see that spring is on the way. To the right, there's a lot more growth on the willow and just to its left there is now grow... read more

It seems I only took two images of the lake from our bedroom window this month. The first image was taken on the first of the month. Comparing it with that taken Last Month there seems remarkably little change, other than you can see the miniture daffodils are beginning to emerge in front... read more

It was around 15:40 and a gloriously sunny day today and the daffodils around the site, especially on the island seem to be at their best. Having crossed the bridge to the island you approach from the south and get close to the tree house, but rather than approach directly along the boardwa... read more

We're still suffering the after effects of the strimming of the lake banks. Here's a collection of photos taken since I reported on The Messy Lake on 25 February. The first photo was taken on on 28 February from the boardwalk on the main island. This is the area we call "The Pool"... read more

I became distracted in January as we were away for 10 days and none of the usual views of the lake were taken. Looking back through my collection of photos for this month I realise that it was not until Sunday 19 February that I took my first picture of the year. The photo was taken at arou... read more

This is the third year in the cycle and it was turn for the lake banks behind Ruston House to be cleared. Part of the objective is to ensure that there are no alder and other saplings growing that, if left unchecked, will eventually fill the lake with the leaves that they drop each autumn and pa... read more

Having seen the geese inspecting the duck house on Wednesday, now we have a pair of swans on the lake. Unlike the geese, there was no sign of interest in the duck house. They were content preening themselves for the period they were on the bank. When looking back at these posts, I ofte... read more

Having the geese back on the lake means that spring is on its way which is always a good feeling, but it's tinged with concern for the cottage owners for whom the geese create a big problem especially for bookings during the school holidays when children are likely to run into the... read more

Sometimes you become particularly aware of a "Shepherd's Delight" sunset and today was one of those occasions. Getting the exposure right is always a problem as you don't want a completely dark foreground, yet if you take a slow enough exposure to get some light into the foreground the... read more