Oddest Sight you've seen

[darrenm]

two years back i was doing the rounds of the hides on my day off to see what had turned up on the scrapes when i saw a young Marsh Harrier start to fly in from local farmland but it stopped over the grazed meadow at the back of the scrape and dropped onto something. Quickly i got my scope onto it but it took off again for a few split seconds but then dropped back down but with the scope i could clearly see it's intended prey item was a bit too big for it, in that it was a feeding Brown Hare.

Two local Birders i knew joined me and they quickly trained their scopes on it when i pointed it out. The young Harrier then came back for another go after a brief fly around the meadow but this time the Hare stood on its back legs and boxed at the Harrier putting in quite a few good blows in the process. The Harrier then landed slightly to one side of the Hare and stood looking at it but the Hare totally ignored it and then carried on feeding like nothing had happened and the two were side by side almost for a good ten minutes before the Harrier took off.

We were all amazed by what we had seen and we all cursed ourselves we didnt have a camera between us. Now i always carry one even if its a compact to slot in the scope eyepiece or my bins.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

An Azure Damselfly trying very hard to mate with a female Emperor Dragonfly that was busy ovipositing. Good job she was in a way, otherwise the Azure would probably have become a light snack for her!

Reminds me of when I saw a large white butterfly patrolling its territory near a lake when a malke emperor wandered in, only to be mobbed by the large white which succesfully saw it off!

[thebeard]

i was out walking with my friend and he asked me if i thought buzzards might take birds out of the air...

hmmm... i replied, not sure, but not entirely likely, i think they prefer taking prey from the ground.

we turned a corner, and almost seconds after i'd said this, there was an explosion of feathers in the air, and a buzzard flying off in the distance. it had attacked a woodpigeon mid air, thus disproving my theory... must be careful, raptors have eyes and ears everywhere lol

[kaiser]

A good few years back now my dad was driving me home down a very dark country lane near his home, when i was awoken from my day dreaming by him braking sharply, there was a large barn owl with a rodent of some sort on the road straight ahead! it looked right at us and stared, dad said it must be dazzled by the headlights so switched to just the side lights, the owl then after staring for about 30 seconds then carried on eating!!! we amazed it just didnt seem bothered by us, we watched it for a few mins untill it finally flew off! i was thrilled

as a young lad i loved this, it made a change from the usual scattering rabbits we used to see

[KentYeti]

Originally Posted by JennyS

A mouse that had enough of being played with, biffed the cat with its paws then for good measure bit it on the nose and escaped to the nearby woodpile......

A friend, my son and myself watched in disbelief and cracked up laughing at the look on the cats face!

Brilliant!