Sunday 31 January 2021

Pond life and other animals

 28-30 Jan 2021

Walking down to the pond, we were surprised to see all the goldfish clustered at the surface.  They must’ve been warming up.  We hadn’t realised there were quite so many!

The pond is a little murky after all the rain, but we’re hoping that as the plants take off in spring they will gobble up the extra nutrients

During an exceptionally blustery day, I went to the kitchen sink and saw this wonderful creature through the window.  It was being buffeted even as it rested there, and stayed long enough for me to get the camera for a long shot (through rather grubby glass).  We did the research and Dave identified it as a Levant Sparrowhawk.  We’ve seen our local sparrowhawk several times, but only as a grey blur between the trees, so it was great to get a good look.

When the sun came out briefly we took off for a walk, having forgotten that the route we decided on passes through a ‘dry’ stream bed.  It wasn’t very dry!  Dave had sensible waterproof boots on, but I had to hop from island to island, and did get my feet wet.

I took a pic of this stretch of the path because in previous years it has been covered in multicoloured plastic shot cases discarded by shooters.  One of the very real benefits of this lockdown has been the ban on shooting.  Hurrah for the blackbirds and thrushes, less plastic in the environment,  and not feeling at risk while walking in the hills.

Back at the pond, the tadpoles are getting bigger.


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