What a little beauty. After ten days of absence, I found the two herds together in the marsh. Some of them seemed very confident and came up very close to me. This mare and the new foal (the eighth excluding Lizzy) came within a couple of yards. Snippet had to go on his lead as he was getting very excited. I could even smell them in the muggy heat. It was a humbling experience being accepted by them. They didn't seem to mind the clicking and whirring of my partner's old camera that I was using, which has a better zoom.....the one time I didn't actually need it!
Foal eight having a shake
One of the geldings that protect the mares
Foal number two getting VERY close
Foal number three, looking younger than many born after him
Lizzy deep into the marsh
When I took the last one, I was teetering on a tussock of grass, surrounded by bog. The up side of this relative peril was that I noticed a lone heath spotted orchid. Sadly, due to my lack of knowledge of the camera, I managed to take a beautifully in focus shot of the background with a total orchid blur in the centre. Didn't realise until I got home so I'm going to have to try and retrace my steps tomorrow. Wellies this time though in case of a misplaced step.
Here are some pictures from the last few days in the gaps between the dire weather.
Tiny versions of stitchwort and creeping speedwell in the moorland grass
One of our main routes out onto the moor
Snippet's favourite path near a friend's house
A slug eating a mushroom this morning
The weather is looking pretty awful but try and have a lovely rest of the week.