Best part of winter

There are struggles for territory going on a few feet from this desk.

Two blackbirds are dancing in and out of a boundary. On one side a large rock and a gravel drive way, on the other a couple of flower beds and a group of willow trees. The dancing, flying and hopping continue at the very edge of where the two territories meet, day in and out.

The boys are back in town and are making their presence felt all across this couple of acres.

Winter for all it's darkness is the best time for getting up close with birds. Every morsel and scrap is welcome as they build up their reserves for the mating season. Come Spring there will be even more frantic activity as they feed their families and then in the summer they will be reabsorbed into the leaves and branches of the bushier hedgerows.

For now they skid and flutter into my "all you can eat buffet" and dine out while we wait for Spring.

The new arrivals

It's always a strange one returning to your real home after travelling for a while. There are so many mixed emotions. So when our resident hare family turned up with two babes it eased the transition.  Irish Hares have lived in our couple of acres as long as we have been here. Since the land around us was cleared, this wild patch may be the only remaining cover they have for breeding.

They usually join us for breakfast. Their mother returns to feed them from time to time but otherwise they are left to their own devices and forage in and out of the undergrowth.

Leverets as these babies are called are put out to fend for themselves at a very young age. These two are tiny and vulnerable, nibbling at the odd bit of grass and gobbling up the more succulent patio plants.  

You may think they look exactly like rabbits but check out the huge back feet.....these are the give away! As they scuttle and hop around now they are fairly uncoordinated, but they will grow to be much larger adults than an average rabbit, the lanky back legs ensure that.

The adults are magnificent creatures, full of mystery. They live alone and can sit for ages just staring into space, grooming or nibbling. I always imagine they are in a meditative trance .....


You can see more photos in the Irish Hare Gallery here

The butterflies make a come back

Thank you all for the supportive comments and thoughts you shared on the decline of butterflies and insects here. Out of the blue they are making a bit of a come back!

The butterfly bush is in the latter part of it's flowering season yet this is the first dancing butterflies show of the summer. I mentioned our "loose garden" before and although it's full of nettles and thistles going to seed we are keeping it that way as a small oasis in this desert of EU grass.

Earlier in the week some one on twitter called me a tree hugger. I think it was meant as an insult but I will be wearing it as a badge of honour now and forever more Amen!

For those of you interested in the practice of photography most of these images were shot with a zoom lens. (Canon 70-300mm on a Canon EOS 7D)You won't disturb the butterflies this way and if you use an open aperture (the low numbers) you can get some soft background effects too. Always a bit unconventional when it comes to camera stuff, I can't vouch for the appropriateness of this technique, all I know is "I like what I like...."  



More wild life here

Breakfast with a leveret and a pair of thrushes

Our young hare or leveret

One thrush stands guard

A small nap during breakfast

First shot of the thrush sitting on her nest

Every morning the young writer and myself have breakfast with the current neighbours. We enjoy watching the leveret, now weaned and left to his own devices. We used to joke about making a pet of him, especially my other half who secretly left carrots out for him!! Today the young writer remarked that he really is a pet already and you will see from his mid breakfast snooze that he is quite at home here in front of the kitchen window! 

This morning was especially exciting as for the first time a pair of thrushes have taken up residence in our bay tree. We have been watching them setting up home, one stands guard while the other works hard flitting backwards and forwards...too fast to capture.

Today I realised that I can see right into the nest.  If I get down on the kitchen floor, and use my longest zoom lens I can see her outline just sitting there. This is the very first blurry photo taken just now.......look very closely........ 

But sadly I have no time to linger and must get to work. Hopefully there will be more photos to follow! 

How far would you go for a fairer breakfast?

 

A sleepy dreamy morning. Not a breath of wind. Too lazy to fill the feeders again, a handful is sprinkled on the garden table. Let me get my breakfast first little friends! 

And still they come, their feathers a little askew. Cautious but alert and a few sleepyheads. First things first, a cup of delicious coffee and some pictures of the guzzling Bluetits. 

Meanwhile in San Jose, Costa Rica, Gerardo Arias Camacho will set out for a day in the fields. He will  earn a fair basic wage thanks to a world wide movement called Fairtrade. It's Fairtrade Fortnight at the moment, how far would you go to ensure the sustainable future of businesses like his? 

Probably like me you won't even have to leave your kitchen. Won't have to push a wheelbarrow load of coffee across a mountain to avoid coffee sharks. Won't have to spend the day picking, washing and processing the beans, rain, hail or shine. 

Just check out your cuppa, make it a Faritrade one, and throw your weight behind a fairer solution.

Hedgerows of silver and white as everything, including me goes to seed....

 

Strange days. Everything is changing. The hedgerows, only a few weeks ago full of inspiration and activity, are quieter. Some days I think nature will have little to offer an enthusiastic blogger with a camera, but luckily, so far, each time I find some treasure. Sadly today I came across a beautiful hare, now road kill, but completely perfect in every way. The lanes are sparse and brown, and the challenge of continuing the walks is greater.

My attention may well turn to more inward and interior observations. Like the one that the shortening days bring some gloominess to the view, like the one that many of us are struggling to find hope or to understand why, or like the one that the seasons are a powerful force that influence all of our moods and thoughts.

Next week I am hitting the big city of London! The balmy weather and the bright lights will probably turn all this "going to seed" talk upside down. I will miss the quiet silver hues and the golden western skies over the Comeragh Mountains each evening, but I won't miss the grey mist coming in from the Atlantic or the brown stalks, all that remains of the wildflowers that I love.

Packed noisy cafes with the strong smell of baking and coffee here I come! Art galleries, book shops and vintage markets are where you will find me but I will also sit on a bench and observe the wildlife of London in a small square in the sunshine......

A rare sighting of our only surviving newt species the Common Newt

The Common Newt (protected in Ireland and in Europe) is rarely seen. It's a small creature very like a lizard and lives partially in and around waterways. This little guy was the worse for wear having climbed up some tall grass and fallen into a rain barrel in the garden. We rescued him, rested him on the rock and as he recovered I took these photographs.  Soon enough he slithered away into the long grass again, almost immediately he was impossible to spot.

I know he's not the cuddliest of creatures, in fact he has a pre-historic air about him, but luckily I am getting over that kind of squeemishness and enjoying more and more wildlife in my world. Does that include the large spider living beside my central heating switch? Late last night there he was right on it, just when I went to turn it on! Next thing another large one walks casually down the hall. What can I do? I feel I no longer can discriminate against the less attractive ones in our midst. If that was the case where would any of us be in a beauty contest?

However, I draw the line for the moment at featuring large spiders here! OK, it just might be that I would find it too hard to look down the macro lens and right into his eyes, but I hope both you and I will get there some day.....