A grand day for seeing wildlife!

[salukiwhippet]

I was out and about today, as I was coming back past the shoot, I decided to drop in to give the dogs a run and eat my butties. I decided to have a squint round the wood as we've had a lot of trouble with poachers in the last couple of months.

I was driving down a track leading into the wood when I saw what looked like a rabbit run across and into the hedge. It looked a bit too gingery to be a rabbit so I slowed right down and peered into the hedge bottom. Sure enough, staring back at me was a leveret, about the size of a 3/4 grown rabbit. Beautiful little thing, it did the classic "If I don't move, you won't see me", allowing me to watch it from a distance of about 5 feet, whilst still sat in my truck! I reached for my camera but the movement spooked it and it bolted. I was smiling for a good hour afterwards, leverets are ace!

I had my lunch and went on to my next job, helping a mate set up his rearing field. We were working away, I glanced across the valley and saw a buzzard being mobbed by a much smaller bird. As I watched, the smaller bird climbed straight up about 30 feet above the buzzard, folded it's wings and stooped, striking at the buzzard with it's feet! I was beginning to think it was a peregrine from the stoops, but it didn't look quite right.

This went on for 2-3 minutes, and seemed to draw an audience - a pair of ravens were above the combatants, and more corvids (I think carrions) joined in until there was a column of about a dozen corvids above the two raptors, quite incredible. The buzzard flew a little way along the valley and put in to the top of an oak tree, but the other bird was having none of it and chased it away, until the buzzard slipped off over into the next valley. We carried on watching, and the smaller bird flew straight towards us, passing low about 20 yards away, it was a hen kestrel!

Quite amazing, and a memory that will stay with me forever!

James

[sunnydale]

I think the best experiences in nature are the ones you haven't planned, or gone out specifically to look for.
They take you completely by surprise and create some wonderful memories