Much of a Muchness

It’s been a while since I’ve seriously been out with my camera which has been reflected in this blog, but in the last few weeks I’ve finally managed to motivate myself to get out there.  The trouble is my expectations are sometimes too high when it comes to photographic success when maybe I should just be going out there to enjoy nature.  I went out twice over the weekend, the first time was without expectation – just to enjoy an almost spring like day – but also to do a bit of ‘reconnaissance’, checking over a few of the usual areas I visit. One of those areas has brought me a lot of success in viewing and photographing Rabbits up close but in recent years they have dramatically disappeared which I had previously blogged.  I had hoped that this year was the year they had recovered but not only were there still no signs of life in the warrens I used to visit, but every warren in the whole area was now abandoned and there was no signs of any rabbits anywhere. It’s been a bit of a mystery as to what has happened, disease being the likely culprit though which one I don’t know.  I didn’t see any signs when watching them last as it would be obvious if Myxomatosis.  It has coincided with the increased amount of dog walkers and the observed attacks on the Rabbits that I saw, along with the same happening to birds on the small lake there, which they are also now gone.  However, if this was a major problem, they would just be nocturnal, so the actual reasons may remain unknown – possibly a combination of both. I took a few photos of the various warrens, but with my Nikon Coolpix, which I normally use for reference shots, was not working, I had to resort to a combination of IPod and phone, hence the poor quality.  The first two warren images were, three years ago, very active and now clearly abandoned.  The last one was elsewhere on the site and still being used up to last year. For most, the disappearance of Rabbits would not be a problem – as they are largely viewed as pests, but I found them not only very photogenic, but also just interesting to watch and observe.  Of course, this has a knock on effect with predators, notably Foxes which have also seemed to have vanished from the area.  Hopefully Rabbit numbers will pick up again and they will return to this area.

Taken three years ago at the same location

Most recently abandoned warren

Activity Elsewhere

Various visits to woodland, shoreline and lakes produced little signs of activity, at least to photograph.  Only a lone Heron was seen, patiently stalking the reed beds, with success.  From what I saw, about 4 out of 5 strikes achieved a meal.  Photogenic as always, it spent most of the time hidden in the reeds but did venture into the open on occasion enabling me some shots of it ‘spearing’ its prey.

And then it was gone!