Buzzard in a holly tree Lambs feed at their mother’s teats, tails waggling. Crossing Kendal Race Course, with a lively escort of lambs, I meet Angela and Chris, friends and former neighbours who have always supported my work as a nature writer. We miss them. Chris has a tale to tell and he’s been waiting eighteen months to share it with me. Alone and heading off Scout Scar, he heard a grunting coming from over the out-take wall and saw a large rabbit in the grip of a mustelid. Stoat or weasel he was unsure but a small mustelid had sunk its teeth into the back of the much larger rabbit’s neck, paralysing its hind legs. What a drama!
Not far from the place Chris described, I came upon a mustelid being mobbed and seen off by a flock of corvids and sending up a blackbird as it raced away below a wall in a flash of reddish-brown. That was some three years ago so I reckon it may be the same family of stoat or weasel. I followed the mobbing for some time but had only a glimpse of the creature being mobbed.
A kestrel hovers above Bradleyfield Farm. I saunter, planning a leisurely walk and not expecting to see anything as dramatic as Chris’ encounter.
A kestrel hovers above Bradleyfield Farm. I saunter, planning a leisurely walk and not expecting to see anything as dramatic as Chris’ encounter.
The morning is sultry, hot and still. A haze hangs over the fells. A movement in the grass catches my eye, and an adder slithers away into tussocks of blue moor grass. So quick, I’m not sure I have an image but here it is, a male adder. Females are browner. That zig-zag pattern on its back is bold but the adder’s cryptic colouring conceals it amongst winter grasses and darker flowers of blue moor grass and strands of vegetation. Not surprising to find adder basking on such a warm April day but it’s always a surprise to see one, nonetheless. Adder feed on voles, mice, lizards, birds and frogs. I wonder if the ground-nesting skylark and pipit are taken by adder.
Coming off Scout Scar, I hear the persistent alarm call of a small bird and pause to search for it. Then I see a buzzard in the top of a holly. The small bird keeps up its warning until the buzzard flies off, then it falls silent. Buzzards feed on voles, mice, birds and reptiles. Their diet includes earthworms but the ground is baked hard this April after a prolonged period of sunshine and warm weather. A little later, I hear a crow loudly trying to see off a buzzard whose wings glint silver in the sunlight.
The willow warbler I photographed a few days ago is sunlit on his display perch. The sun is full on him and his pale supercilium is clearly visible.
Coming off Scout Scar, I hear the persistent alarm call of a small bird and pause to search for it. Then I see a buzzard in the top of a holly. The small bird keeps up its warning until the buzzard flies off, then it falls silent. Buzzards feed on voles, mice, birds and reptiles. Their diet includes earthworms but the ground is baked hard this April after a prolonged period of sunshine and warm weather. A little later, I hear a crow loudly trying to see off a buzzard whose wings glint silver in the sunlight.
The willow warbler I photographed a few days ago is sunlit on his display perch. The sun is full on him and his pale supercilium is clearly visible.
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