Sunday 24 October 2010

Full moon and white owl...

Although I did have the camera with me last night I doubt if I could have caught the picture I wanted. It was a full moon and the sky was clear,the usual autumn nip in the air. I took the pups for their last run before bedtime, on one of the fence posts down the drive sat a white owl. He was obviously waiting to catch a mouse or vole . We have lots of owls about as you can often hear them hooting at night and sometimes those horrible ones that shriek. Barn owls are special,maybe because there are so few about, it is always a joy to see a white barn owl.Fortunately now there are 4 or 5 in the area . You see them at dusk skimming low in the fields backwards and forwards for twenty minutes or so. They seems to glide so graciously a few inched above a thorn hedge. These are the things that make staying in the countryside so special. The green woodpecker is also about again after his summer decamp into the deeper parts of the wood but is too quick to catch with my amateur skills with the camera. A dormouse enjoying the afternoon sun and nibbling on a fallen apple in the orchard. Jack snipes are also to be seen, a clue that winter is on its way.