BITS AND PIECES

 

Over the past week or so, there have been a lot of pictures I've taken that haven't quite fitted a post; seemed unrelated. So I decided to put them all together in a mixed bag of bits and pieces, including the lovely Wheatear above, singing in the sunshine last week. 

I've walked past this huge lump of quartz many times and never really looked at it very closely. The sun was shining and it was glittering. Sadly that isn't quite coming across The next one was taken round the back of it, close up on a miniature cave; you can just see the crystalline structures inside.....along with a bit of old moss.

Two Crane Flies mating

Snippet's friend Bracken looking on and wondering why?

Blue Tit in the rain

Dry Grass

More dry grass. Looking at pictures from posts last May, the green should definitely be appearing by now.

 

Magpie

Lambs

Hill layers

Remote stream.....

....and its contents

Another remote stream.....

......and its contents

Meadow Pipit 

   

That wheatear again

Trying to get some relief from the sun

Hawthorn sprouting at last

It's raining today. Not very hard, but it is. I don't seem to be having a very productive day. Birthday is looming next week and I tend to get a bit morose.....years of childhood disappointment leaving a deep rooted sense of melancholy at the knowledge that it will never be as good as I'd hoped. Mix that with feeling my age a bit physically at the moment (I'll be 49)  and what do you get? A pathetic dose of self pity. Apologies for that. I'd better go and scrub the lavatory. Until next time....here's a windy Snippet. 

REAL SIGNS OF SPRING

Today, Snippet and I went for our first walk of the year that truly felt like spring. For so many months, there has been barely a bird out there, but today, the grass was alive with little spiders, the air full of little flying insects, the odd bee and many, many birds. The sun was shining and, despite slipping over early on and bruising my knee, it was an absolute joy. Even the garden is beginning to show signs of life with many of the hedge trees starting to sprout; not the beech obviously - that will be late May if we're lucky! What follows is a record of everything I managed to photograph. there was a lot that I didn't get: a Wheatear, a couple of Palmate Newts and a trio of Buzzards soaring together.

We started in the garden where Celandine is at last flowering:

Past the big Beech tree on a wall where periwinkle tumbles:

As we walked up the path along the stream onto the moor, I spotted this pheasant; an unusual sight up here and it looked very unsure of itself:

I went to check the place where we put all the rescued frog spawn and saw this toad spawn in the water. Two Newts shot off as I got there so these may not last long. 

On the way over to the stream near the tin shepherd's hut, we saw these lambs. I don't usually see them out on the moor; the farmers normally keep them in fields until they're older.

Then, in the distance, I spotted a mare and foal. Foal D. 

Another dark coloured one. Not black, but after last year's endless skewbalds, it's lovely to see more traditional Dartmoor colours. They were very shy, so the zoom was in action, hence slight fuzziness:

A Meadow Pippet. There were lots and lots of them out today.

A small Tortoiseshell by the stream. Terrible picture - sorry. Zoom rather than macro.I was just amazed to see one at all.

Plant life in the stream. Didn't have time to trawl through books to check what it is.....apologies.

As we walked up the hill away form the stream, I spotted ANOTHER mare and foal. Foal E. Another dark one and enchanting again:

A long walk home again with a few misses again. Only managed to capture another Meadow Pippet:

A cup of Lapsang Souchong and a slice of walnut cake once home. Out again at 3.00pm to feed Trigger. We have a resident Pied Wagtail who joins us at feeding time:

Home again to wait for the school bus. A lovely day including starting a drawing which I'll post about another day. Until next time, here's Snippet today.

TWO MORE FOALS AND TRIGGER NO LONGER ALONE...

Whilst out searching for Daisy (again) yesterday, I came across these two lovely new foals. Since they were numbered last year, I'll give them letters this time. So, the black one is A, and these two B (above) and C the one with the strange little shoulder mark. Here they are.

Here's C.....

And both together.........

When I went to feed Trigger his vast bucket of food this morning, I was shocked to find the shrinking violets transformed into a rampaging pack of socialites, eager to steal the aforementioned food. I spent half an hour fighting them off. Delightful though they are, I'm beginning to wish they'd stayed deep in the gorse forest in fear. I don't really mean that - it's great that Trig has some company, even if they're not exactly being friendly yet. Here are some pictures I managed to take between wafting my arms at them as they adopted a pincer movement attack. 

All together....sort of

When I went to Exeter for the shoulder physio, that turned out to just be a chat with the specialist and out again in three minutes flat, I stopped off in Drewsteignton like last time, to give Snippet a run. In a field down the bridle path, I saw this absolutely enchanting lamb. 

And these with their mum...

I will absolutely not post again until I've found Daisy and her foal....in the meantime could you all please think of some suitable names for what I think may well be a filly? Black flowers perhaps? 

Until next time, here's Trigger in the morning sun today; the terrifying threesome were creeping up on me as I took this. Have a great Sunday.