Walking along Squirrel Alley on our way to the shops this morning we met....
....a young squirrel with a cob nut in its mouth, almost certainly provided by one of the households along the track which continue to feed the squirrels through the summer.
After a brief encounter with a roe deer, we watched the speckled woods dancing in the sunny glades of Speckled Wood then returned home along Squirrel Alley, where we played....
....hide and seek with a squirrel which....
....wasn't at all shy....
....posing for its photographs before....
....finally making its way out of sight.
As if two sightings of the local squirrels wasn't enough, a third one put in a brief appearance, one with a very fine tail.
It was good to see so many of these beautiful creatures, particularly as I was told that one of the estate's gamekeepers had seen a pine marten at this end of the woodland, attracted, perhaps, by the prospect of a squirrel snack.
Butterfly wings often show damage. Of course, they get tatty with age as their life journey collects signs of their encounters with thorns and abrasive vegitation. Your Speckled Wood shows clearly an encounter with a bird. The markings of spots and eyes on many butterfly wings display a large area which the bird may find attractive for a peck; however, it leaves the butterfly unharmed and records the evidence of its near miss.
ReplyDeleteI live and learn! Many thanks for another fascinating insight into Nature's world, Derryck. Jon
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