My neighbours the animals

Lockdown again.  Forensic exploration of our own neighbourhood again, as we set off for daily exercise.  Yet one way or another, I’ve posted dozens of shots of the area I call home, and I can’t expect others to delight in it as I do. The other day though I noticed, as I hadn’t since the car-free spring lockdown when birds were vying for territory and nesting, distant birdsong.

It made me think about the creatures who share our daily round.  Not the elusive ones – the stoats, weasels, foxes, deer who decline to stick around as you get your camera out.  The types like Basil and Brenda, as our neighbours call the over-sexed pigeons who stomp across their roof, noisily indulging their passion at 6.00 a.m. 

Basil? Brenda? Who knows?

The horse who moved in with the Jacob sheep in the next field at the beginning of lockdown when her stables closed for business.  She’s still here. The hens next door, who sometimes deliver eggs for our breakfast.

The large flocks of sheep who are part of every farmer’s daily round in these parts – no cattle for us..

The heron who nicks fish from our landlord’s pond.

The mallards on the village pond, and the crows on the rooftops.  The squirrels dashing across our path and up the nearest tree.  The pheasants who are even more abundant this year, as lockdown’s put a stop to the shooting parties they were specifically bred for.  Rabbits too.  So many rabbits.  Why haven’t I got any photos of them?

The featured photos shows our much-frequented path through Sleningford Hall at Easter time, with all the new lambs.

Lens-Artists Challenge #123: Found in the Neighbourhood.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

61 thoughts on “My neighbours the animals”

  1. What a menagerie! And beautifully presented 🙂 🙂 That heron is a cracking shot, Margaret. You’re obviously using the early hours to your advantage. You’ve posted some lovely things lately.

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    1. That heron’s a bit of a cheat really – no skill involved. It was the Night Camera wot dun it. But my early hours are driving me nuts. 4.00 a.m.today. Grrrr.

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      1. And you’re nodding off by 9. No fun, is it, and a self-perpetuating cycle. I tried to stay in bed later this morning but I just get a headache. Might as well be up 🙂 🙂

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      5. I hate getting up in the dark, and trying not to disturb Mick, but once I’m up I can be kwite productive… or not, as the mood goes. 🙂 And one of these days I’ll get a new laptop! Off out soon?

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  6. you do have a lovely neighbourhood Margaret. And I still think of you daily, whenever I allow myself some more Heartbeat – you’d think that Yorkshire at large and that little film village in particular is far more dangerous than London….. all those police cases 😉

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  7. Your wonderful zoological collection made me smile. Cheers to the biodiversity that is around each of us. Great pic of the heron – and seems to be (to me) the same kind as the ones in my area and at the beach. Great Blue Heron?

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  9. Lovely neighbours indeed, Margaret! And such a varied assembly. What long legged hens? And Pheasants are really colourful birds – what a great new life for them without hunters at their heels… Loved the description of the pigeons – but the names? Are they random or from a TV series or something? What came to mind immediately was Basil and Sybil – Fawlty Towers.

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    1. I think the pigeons’ names are simply alliterative. There’s a Boris in there somewhere too. And those hens are striking too, aren’t they – they lay such tiny eggs! Pheasants are always common round here – they have no road sense whatever, so how so many survive is beyond me!

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  12. Well this is a lovely theme. I do wish my neighbour would concentrate on sheep and not cattle, sheep are less annoying, unless they escape and eat my flowers. There was a particularly vocal cow/bullock in the barn last night, who knew how many sounds cattle can make. And I love the feature photo – desaturated?

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    1. Nope. Just cold that day. Sheep can be (a) noisy, and (b) escapologists. Last year, one escaped from the field, couldn’t work out how to get back in, and broke her leg trying to batter the fence down.

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      3. Well, thanks so much. No I hadn’t seen it. Is it an English blog? I guess so. The only bit that seemed odd was the line about No reductions in winter. With not a flower in sight, it’s a garden that is as good to be in in winter as in summer – in fact I prefer it!

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