beautiful moments

[British Red]

Every now and again the world gives you a gift. The last such for me was a stoat running up to me in the woods when I had a camera in my hand

No camera today but a beautiful moment

Driving across the Lincolnshire fens a pale brown bird took off to our left and flew level with the car windows for a quarter mile over the dyke to our left

As the bird drew level and I looked curiously at it I realised it was a Barn Owl out at 3pm!

The bird looked right at me from 3 feet away and then banked left and flew over the field

The field was harvested yesterday so maybe more voles were out than normal? I will never know but it was very special to watch a Barnie in daylight so close

Anyone else had a magicf moment lately?

Red

 

[Toddy]

A robin not a foot away from me out by the compost heaps and I had a fat ball in my hand so broke him some crumbly bits. Happy wee bird, happy Toddy

I put some walnuts out for the squirrels this afternoon. Ever seen Ice Age and the primeval rodent with that gleeful look as it found a nut bigger than itself ?..........that's how that squirrel looked as it bounded off into the hedge

No where near as rare as a Barn Owl, but they pleased me immeasurably on an overcast cold day

cheers,
M

 

[Front Room Woodlander]

Barn Owls are splendid. A local business man bred them at his home and I would often see them on my drive home. Always a thrill.

 

[andybysea]

Not quite as good as a stoat or barn owl but i was out splitting wood last week when a robin came round the corner(never fed it before etc) it hopped on my foot,so i stood still it then hoped on to my knee( i had a tear in my trousers with material hanging down) then on to the handle of my axe, down on to the floor and began to peck around, i assume for insects and grubs from the wood i was splitting, this happened 3 times with one occasion,landing on my back after chasing off a rival that had appeared,later on as my misses was putting the kids in the car on her way out it followed her down the step's and perched on the car roof whilst she strapped the kids in, not seen it before or since.

 

[British Red]

I must make a box for the Barnies. They seem to hunt the garden most nights. First time I've seen them here though

We had snipe in the garden the other day. This salt marsh environment is fascinating to a guy who is used to living in Downland and woods

I miss the deer though

Red

Eta

Love the Robin and squiggel stories. To me the magic is that intimate contact rather than rarity per se

 

[Lincs Bushman]

I live and work in Lincolnshire, and travel a round trip of about 40 miles, that trip is across gorgeous countryside, and often given the pleasures of seeing a Barn Owl 'quartering', a Deers hind quarters disappearing into a hedge, a Fox darting across the road... I occassionally tire of doing the travelling, but never of the wonders I see, and that nature allows us.

 

[spiritwalker]

when at uni we camped in the new forest it was a drunken affair i left the uncomfort of 7 ****** lads in a four man tent to go for a pee where i was sick and passed out under a tree. I awoken in the morning cold and alone except for a deer staring at me i was soaken wet from the night but at that moment the sun came out i was under an oak tree and hanging from almost every leaf was a green caterpillar on a silk thread glowing in the sun it was a moment of magic to me. I eventually got my bearings at strolled back to camp only to find all the lads tucked up in the car i never did tell them the sight i witnessed figured it was just for me :-D

 

[Mesquite]

One of my most magical moments for me was I had to get up early one winters morning.

There had been a really hard frost so the sky was crystal clear, the stars shining brightly and the moon was the tiniest sliver off of a new moon but you could make it out. As I looked up at the moon a shooting star shot across it. Beautiful sight.

 

[Nagual]

A couple of deer on the road the other night, and a peasant in the garden yesterday. A few Jays kicking about too, nothing particularly rare or unusual yet, though the night is young.

 

[VirusKiller]

Driving back home at 1:30 last night and startling a muntjac which was wandering about in the middle of our lane. How things are different at night...

 

[BorderReiver]

The weekend before the snow started I was up in the Scottish borders visiting my sister. She was driving us back from a visit to Berwick along one of the small roads and as we took a corner we saw a large bird at the side of the road.

It was a buzzard and it took off right in front of us, filling the windscreen of the car. It was a quick view but the closest I have been to a wild buzzard.

How it didn't hit the windscreen I don't know but it flew off unharmed. I doubt that it would return to it's roadside meal.

 

[Shewie]

Had a similar experience with a full grown Stag once. Driving home down a country lane about midnight when a Stag jumped over the wall to my left and ran alongside me for about fifty metres before jumping over a fence.

 

[DavidJT]

Saw a beautiful big stag up close in Sweden over Christmas. Should have been exciting enough, but at that moment we were out with sledge, and for a bit of fun had the mother in laws dog tied up to the sledge, pulling my 5 year old lad along.
So you can guess what happened, junior got the ride of his life when the dog bolted after the stag. Eventually tipped out in a snow drift. Dog ended up wrapped around a tree, and the stag snootily trotted away over the horizon with it's nose in the air.

 

[launditch1]

Latest one has been watching a group of 4 roe deer walking across the fields near where i live early in the morning.
Other memorable sights have been watching a golden eagle flying in the Hebridies,10,000's of rooks coming in to roost at Buckenham roost(norfolk)
Barn owls nesting in the barn on the farm that i work on(3rd year running..)so watching both parents flying in with voles,mice ect..
Various sunrises..

 

[legin]

As the bird drew level and I looked curiously at it I realised it was a Barn Owl out at 3pm!

South Lincolnshire is one of the strongholds for Barn Owls. A local person used to put up nesting boxes and this was continued through to other places with thriving populations. When I was working I would occasionally drive along Deeping High Bank and have a Barn Owl escort as it flew between the road and the river. I also enjoyed watching Great Crested Grebes "dancing" together on the water and hares "boxing" in the fields. I once went for a stroll along the river bank and saw 47 different bird species in an hour. We have a Sparrow Hawk that lives in our area and occasionally I will see it over our back garden and in the trees of a neighbours' garden. Every now and again there are feathers on the lawn and I know it has had a kill. It uses the fence for cover, spotting the prey and flying one side of the fence. It then times a quick hop over the fence to surprise a collared dove or other bird.

Nigel.

 

[stevesteve]

I had one of those dull walks to the station the other week. My wife was doing the school run before going to work herself and I had blagged a lift part of the way. Between the town and the station is an area of moorland held by a trust, crossed by a small river and a canal. Trudging along, head down, feeling a bit like Eeyore with the prospect of a day commuting to London.

Then it happened. As I crossed the small river I looked down to a small brick wall by the water to see a kingfisher sat there. It was glowing in the early morning sunlight. I stood stock-still and watched it for a few moments. Then it seemed to notice me and it flew away ~30yrds down over the surface of the water, looking like a minature irridecent blue meteor.

Suddenly the world didn't seem so dull and I found my heart lifted all the way to work.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Omegarod]

I am fortunate to see many animals in my walks, but one of the best was when I was walking a path in the forest ..... and three yards away in front of me a big badger ambled slowly out of the thicket.

I stopped..... He stopped in the middle of the path and looked up at me..... we made eye contact for a few seconds, both of us wondering what was going to happen next.... I said gently "Hello fella.... I'm not going to hurt you"..... a couple of seconds later he turned round and headed slowly back the way he had come.

Rod

 

[mr dazzler]

I was out getting sloe berries about 2 weeks back. I got about a half tesco bag full. Me and the youngest boy were on the way home when there was a sudden loud shrieking noise, from silence to ear piercing in <0.5 seconds..... I insticntively looked up into the nearest big oak in the hedgrow, then a flurry of activity caught my eye. It was a stoat (or weasel? dont know the difference....) having a fight with a rabbit right next to the ditch. It was awesome, the stoat had the rabbits nose and wouldnt let go, the rabit was doing its best mick mcmanus moves to try and slam the stoat off this way and that-with no success. I thought this is going to be interesting, I want to see how the stoat will kill the rabbit (and then try to get the rabbit LOL ferriting with a stoat....) and so we walked closer, but I think we spooked the stoat, the 2 of them disapeared under clumps of snowy grass and the racket ended just as suddenly as it had started....I like to see real nature, and naturaly the boy was very excited to see it too. Just good to be in the right place at the right time etc

 

[mr dazzler]

and a peasant in the garden yesterday.

Was he carrying a svord knife then?

 

[y0dsa]

Taking the dog for a walk this evening with snow gently falling, and trying out my new camera.

Not exactly recently, but seeing a fawn in a thicket just a few feet from the path; and rainbow sparkles from water dripping from moss on a hillside.

Oh, and remembering last night to have a good look at the moon: it was a blue one made even rarer by a partial eclipse, with magical clouds and then later Chinese lanterns floating away.