THE RAMBLINGS OF A STRUGGLING ARTIST ON LIFE WITH TWO TERRIERS, A PONY WITH ISSUES AND OTHER WILDLIFE AND BIRDS THAT CROSS OUR PATH

28 April 2013

IDA IS ISAAC AND A RESCUED FROG


Oh dear.....I was so sure. Not a peep of any maleness when I've seen her/him before, but yesterday morning I was in for a shock as....er......Isaac had a dangly wee right in front of me.  I won't sully proceedings by showing you a photograph of the event, but the next one leaves no room for doubt. Where did that come from? It's lucky I'm not a vet really. Hopeless.


Clearing the garden of general detritus today, some still left from last year's dry rot nightmare, we found this frog in the watery bottom of a Land Rover tyre. It was very lethargic and made no attempt to escape, so we put it under a rotting stump, close to the tuppaware bowl we sunk into the ground for tadpoles and away from the little canine assassin in the hope that it will recover. I'm not absolutely sure what it is; Common or Marsh. It looks more like a Marsh frog with the eye ring and colour, but I'm not prepared to make yet another mistake! Any help here appreciated. 



This morning, Foal A was particularly frisky.....again. Look at him here; his mother was not amused. 




Another rescue today: a bee in the middle of the road, back legs so heavy with pollen that it couldn't take off. I put it on the verge and it was gone by the time I walked home.


The view towards Cosdon Beacon:


Snippet looking towards home....sort of. Actually, he was looking at Foal A to his left; worried about another confrontation.


This is the shelter belt that protects our tiny hamlet from the South Westerly winds:


Trigger thinking I had arrived with food today - I hadn't:


Sparrow in the hydrangea. No shoots on it yet.


Nuthatch bum:


And feeding. I have to admit to cursing them recently as they wake me up at 5.30am with their Guinea Pig-like call.


Great Tit:


Magpie:


I can't believe the weekend is already over. Snippet is lying, wet from a rainy evening walk, in front of the fire, as dogs should. Am idly watching the Antiques Roadshow while writing this and waiting for the final REALLY expensive item. Until next time, here's Snippet, about to take off at speed after something or other. 



13 comments:

  1. Ha Ha. Love the nuthatch bum!
    I just checked out the RSPB site to identify the call and I swear there's a woodpecker in the background.. lovely!

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  2. LOL! In your defense he is a dark black and hard to see some "things" :)

    Foal A has such a beautiful face and such a minx.

    Gorgeous bird photos as always!

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  3. Well, it is difficult to tell especially when you can't get close enough...so Isaac it is then :)

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  4. As so often happens, your photos invite several viewings--I find more detail each time I look.
    Don't feel badly about the identity of the foal. When the three scraggly kittens arrived last summer, the grey and white was named 'Nellie' after a quick inspection. Next day when we shampooed the little urchins, we discovered Nellie had distinctive boy bits hidden in his tangle of dirty fur. He's still 'Nellie!'

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  5. Ida works as a boy's name I think? I also listened to the RSPB recording and have never heard them before even though we have two nuthatches in the garden. You're right Em it's just like a guineapig.

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  6. Wonderful photos - you do live in such a beautiful part of the country :)

    Great to get a Nuthatch on the feeders too :) Never had one in the garden here.

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  7. Great photos Em. Hee, hee, Isaac had you well and truly fooled ;-) Not sure about your frog, it's difficult to tell from the photos and we don't have them here, indeed they are mainly found in Kent, East Sussex and the London area. The best identifying features are the two dark grey vocal sacs on either side of the mouth.

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  8. Sorry, I'm always finding I haven't made myself clear on your site!! I meant we don't have the Marsh frog here.

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  9. Rusty D - I'll have a listen. It is a very attractive bum isn't it?

    Gail - Absolutely....very dark. I thought my long sight was intact but perhaps not!

    Ann - Bit desperate and not at all floral!

    MM - I like the sound of Nellie. Our neighbour had a male cat called Daisy.

    CT - They're driving me mad! 5.00am this morning!

    RR - I think they're my favourite birds; a bit like a kingfisher....sort of....

    Shy SB - I did understand - thank you! That was why I was questioning it as I didn't think they'd strayed much further than the SE. I think it was just a very dark common one feeling particularly unwell!

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  10. Great post, all bums and dangly bits, lol. He certainly is a beautiful boy :)

    As usual, your photos are amazing... nice to see so many signs of spring!

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
    (¸.·´ (¸.·`¤... Jennifer
    Jenn's Random Scraps

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  11. It's been a long time coming. I hope it's lovely where you are Jenn!

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  12. I am having computer problems at present - it doesn't like loading photos : ( Think a new one is called for, as it's virtual memory is barely existing . . .

    Lovely photos - and easy mistake to make over the "identity" of Ida/Isaac! Those foals are SO photogenic.

    No good on frog ID I'm afraid but I'm sure he will survive now.

    Nuthatch bum - had to grin!!

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  13. We got to that stage with our last computer and just had to bite the bullet and get a new one as frustration levels were going through the roof. It's been a revelation, internet problems aside.

    The Nuthatch bum was a result of digital shutter delay!

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