Recent Shots Part 2 - Birds, Badgers, Squirrels and Rats

 Like in the last post (if you havent seen it already click here) I will be showing some recent photos I have taken. Let's get straight into them.

Whilst out on a walk I got some excellent squirrel photos.

Next, we have a great tit.

A new bird is on the blog now - the muscovy duck. This bird is quite ugly.

More waterfowl photos:

Mallard ducks:

Moorhen:

Mute Swan:

Black Swan:

Now I'm going to show you a picture of a rat.

Finally, to end the post we have a video of a badger knocking over the camera trap.

That's all for today's post. Next time, we will be looking at some badger videos which for some reason, I never put on the blog. That will be releasing tomorrow at 15:30.

Don't forget to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Recent Shots Part 1 - Heron and Kingerfisher

 I have not done a post for a while, however, that is because I have been taking plenty of fantastic new shots. I will split this post into two parts with the most exciting creatures in this half. Let's get straight into it.

The other day I was on a walk and was passing through the place where I got the photos for the post 'A hedge of herons and other birds I've seen lately'. I saw lots of other birds, (coming in the next post)  but one bird hiding in the reeds caught my attention. It was, of course, my favorite British bird, the grey heron. 

After getting a bit closer we got a clearer shot.

I still wanted to get a better photo so after walking around a bit more I got about 5 meters away.

After standing there for about a minute it flew away.

That wasn't the only heron I've seen lately though. A few days before I saw one standing in a field much further away.

That's all the herons I have seen lately. The other bird I have seen lately is the kingfisher. Kingerfishers are generally common but extremely difficult to get a still photo of. So that is why the photo I'm about to show you isn't the best in the world. It is just a tiny blue blur in the middle of the screen but it is something I have been trying to take a photo of for ages. 

As I said, it is not the best but I will try to get a better shot to put on the blog soon.

That's all for today's post. In the next one, there will be badgers, rats, swans and other waterfowl including another first for the blog; the muscovy duck.

Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Blurry Deer Photo - That's a First

 In today's post I will share some very exciting footage. I was showing the woods to my friend Chris; first I took him to the style - then I took him up a different path, one that leads to some of my  very first posts. 

However as soon as we came out of the woods we saw the herd of roe deer I have been studying for the last few years. It is the first time I have ever seen the deer in the flesh and they look a lot bigger than on the camera.

Here are the photos (taken by me).

Now the video (taken by Chris).

On the way back we noticed some hoof prints which must have been made by the deer.

That's all for today's post. Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Percy the Pigeon

Recently, a new bird has been in my neighbourhood. It's not a blackbird or robin - it's another friendly pigeon. I have had wood pigeons (one called Podge) in my garden for years but this pigeon is different.

Percy (that is the name I have given to this new arrival) is common, feral or town pigeon. Percy also has nice colour variant; a white body with a dark head. Two days ago I saw him moving around the pavement and the next day he was on my sister's windowsill. Later that day I saw him perched at the top of a garage.

Next time I saw him was this morning in the same spot as I first saw him. 

That's all for today's post. I know it has been a short and different post but I thought I should share Percy with you. Remember to leave a comment and thank's for reading!

Soggy Badger

 It is going to be a short post today, due to a pesky squirrel. Also, like some other recent posts, the dates aren't right. It has also been extra rainy this week so we didn't get much. Also like some recent posts, we have had some cows on the camera.

As the name of the post suggests, we also had a soggy badger out in the rain.

And finally, we had lots of squirrels, including one which moved the camera so it faced the bark and we missed the rest of the week.

That is all for today's post. Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

An Array of Autumn Animals

I haven’t done a camera trap post since June! We have had pigeons, panthers, polar bears, goosanders, doves, starlings, herons, egrets and beavers but not the usual badgers and foxes which I have missed writing about. However, today I have an array of autumn animals (not a week of winter wildlife) on the camera trap to show you (all of the dates and times are wrong due to a change of batteries).

Squirrels 

 First up, we have some squirrel action shots.

Foxes                                                                                                                                                                           

Next, we have a glimpse of a fox at night.

We also have another action shot, along with a video.

Cows

Badger

 

As usual, this badger was sniffing the camera.

Mouse

Roe Deer

We have had MORE deer! This is the 4th time we have had them, the 3rd ones this year and the second time we have more than one in one video. We have a nice little selection of photos to show here.

Can you spot it in this photo?

Here are some videos - watch them all until the end as sometimes that's when the deer come in.

That is all for today's post. Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

An Exciting Post

 Recently I have been hinting that something very exciting is coming to the blog. Unlike most posts where I save the best until last, this time we will start with the best.

Can you guess from these pictures what the animal is?

Lots of trees being taken down must be the work of one of the busiest mammals. The beaver. Beavers have been introduced to Trentham Gardens recently. So I had to go down and see if I could spy one of these elusive creatures. We walked all around the lake and found it hard to see them. But some mysterious bubbles and a big splash gave away their hiding place by the river bank. There were several of them under the water there - you could tell from the amount of bubbles they were making.

Every now and then they would stick a tiny bit of their tail out of the water.

Then, they suddenly stuck a huge amount of their tail out, nearly the whole thing!

It may look like a shark fin, but I can assure you this is a beaver tail. At one point it stuck it's tail out for around 30 seconds!

Unfortunately, that was all we got to see of them. It was still very exciting though. 

There you have it; one of Britain's rarest mammals.

But that is not the end of the post. Trentham Gardens has lots more great wildlife to offer. 

Such as another grey heron (the last post had loads of herons and egrets - check it out if you haven't already). 

Waterfowl such as the Australian black swan (also new to the blog) are abundant here. 

Mute swan family:

Even goosanders (also featured in a recent post) showed up.

That is all for today. I haven't done a camera trap post recently - don't worry, the next one will be out on Saturday 30th of September at 10 a.m! Don't forget to leave a comment on your thoughts about this post. Thanks for reading!