I'm cheating this week, just giving information from the internet. I have had an excellent week fauna-wise but haven't taken any photos to post.
Last Saturday I saw hedgehog droppings in the back garden and - very exciting indeed - badger 'soup' under the garden hedge. It's sort of diarrhoea (though not exactly) but soup is easier to spell. It's sort of sloppy runs that they do to mark territory and I have posted on it in the past. Earlier that day my friend Mary saw a vole when we were walking together, though I didn't.
On Monday three wrens visited the garden all at once and churrrred for ages at Ludo as he lay on the patio.
Late on Tuesday night a badger crossed the lane in front of my car then I saw a hedgehog when out seeing to the ponies in the dark. I went back for my camera but it has disappeared.
On Wednesday at the stables I rode Napoleon instead of Squirrel. This was unexpected because Squirrel was a bit off colour, so I hadn't brought my camera. Napoleon is a Hafflinger.
After that I had a walk and saw a flock of long-tailed tits and a grey wagtail.
On Thursday (today) I was walking and saw two dead mice without heads, a dead mole and an enormous badger sett in a wood.
Anyway I thought for Fauna Friday I really ought to put up something Scottish, just to be topical. I don't know the result as this is Thursday and I am going to schedule this to publish on Friday when I am out for the day.
The Orkney Vole is related to the common vole but only occurs in certain islands in Orkney. Because of this rarity it is specially protected. It is the only rodent in Orkney which goes about its business by day, so of course it's the only rodent food available to lots of animals that like to eat it. No doubt that includes the domestic cat. Poor little vole. Isn't it just the cutest little thing?
I am going to set my radio to record from 6am to 7 tomorrow morning so I should know the result before I go to the second day of the Kington walking festival. (If I just switch it on, they will all be babbling on and I will be too stupid to tell from what they are saying whether it is a Yes or a No, so by recording the a programme from the start I should hear the official announcement.) But I am now going to make a prediction. I think, as I write this at 6.18 pm on Thursday, that it's going to be No. We'll see what happens, eh? Either way, there will be much work for 'them' to do.
A fauna filled week indeed !
ReplyDeleteA Scottish friend sent this to me via Facebook. I thought it was very good.
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PLEASE SHARE: Historian and star of the amazing BBC series Coast has written an open letter to the people of Scotland. It is just brilliant:
I will lay my cards on the table from the start: I will be voting No.
I have no economic argument to make. Frankly, I am sick and tired of hearing people argue the toss about the pound, pensions and the rest. I am voting No because for me, the offering by the Yes camp lacks nobility and humanity. Even more importantly, it lacks class, far less any kind of panache.
Having spent years working on the television series Coast, I think it’s fair to say I’ve seen as much of this United Kingdom of ours as anyone else living here. It’s a project that has changed my life in several ways. It has certainly caused me to fall in love with the place – the whole place. Circumnavigate these islands as I have, as often as I have, and one thing above all becomes clear: the national boundaries within are invisible and therefore meaningless.
People living in a fishing town in Cornwall have more in common with the inhabitants of a fishing town in Fife than either population has with the folk of a town in the Midlands. They have a shared experience and a common history of coping with lives shaped by the sea. The coast is another country – the fifth country – and it unites us and binds us like the hem of a garment.
The differences that are discernible as you travel around Britain are regional ones – made of accents and architecture, geology and geography. I am all in favour of people having the power to make decisions about their own patch: but I am utterly opposed to the idea of breaking centuries old bonds in order to make that happen."
Let's hope it all settles down and there is not a huge divide in Scotland now.
Helsie: That's really well written. Was it Neil Oliver? Who knows. The writer obviously lives in Scotland but needn't actually be Scottish. Yes, I hope it all settles down. It's got to. I wonder if there could be a cost party. You know, Tories, Labour, Lib Dems, Greens and Coast! Hee hee.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was Neil Oliver. Lovely accent. Now it's all over it has disappeared from our news . Been replaced by horrible stories of beheadings. It's a scary world.
ReplyDeleteHi Helsie: Oh, the world news is dreadful.
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish referendum has disappeared from the national GB news too which makes a change but I wonder what is happening about the extended powers they were going to give the parliament?