More Visitors to my Garden

Tags

bumble bee, Damselfly, Dragonfly, frog, pond skater, Rabbit, squirrel, Suffolk, summer

This is a post title I have used before and a very useful one it is too!

I have been going through the photographs I took last year in my garden and have found a few that I didn’t post for one reason or another.  Some of them are ok and some of them are definitely not but I will include a few of the latter as a record to myself of what I saw.  I won’t bore you with all the shots at once but will split them up into digestible portions.

A young Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) photographed one evening in June

I veer about in my attitude towards rabbits.  When I see rabbit kittens and young rabbits like this one I am full of love towards them.  How sweet they are!  I once looked out of an upstairs window early one morning and saw a couple of adult rabbits with a tiny rabbit kitten.  The adults were watching the baby and eating grass now and then while the kitten was exploring and skittering about, having fun.  It then ran up to the adults and rolled on its back just in front of them.  One of the adults nuzzled its head against the baby.  It all looked so peaceful.

I don’t feel quite the same about rabbits when I find large holes dug in the flower bed or bark chewed off my favourite trees and shrubs.  I am grateful for the control exerted on our rabbit population by stoats.

While hanging washing out on the line one summer a young rabbit ran past me.  I could tell from the way it ran that it was distressed and wasn’t sure where to go.  It headed for one of our vegetable plots.  I then saw the cause of the rabbit’s fear;  a stoat appeared round the corner of the house and well, skipped past me and made straight for the vegetable patch.  I couldn’t bear to watch any more so I went back indoors.  We haven’t seen any stoats in the garden for a couple of years – but we haven’t had too many rabbits either!

A sun-bathing, dozing rabbit seen one morning in late June

This is (I think) a Red-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus lapidarius) on a Welsh Onion flower.

A Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

This frog would not turn round so I could only photograph its back.  Common Frogs can be found in shades of yellow, orange, red, green, brown and even blue and usually have dark spots and markings on them.  They also have a dark patch behind the eye.

A Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)  This one is very thin!

Grey Squirrels were introduced into this country in the mid-19th century but didn’t become established here until the beginning of the 20th century after many releases.

 

 

 

Ruddy Darter dragonfly; male ( Sympetrum sanguineum )

Banded Demoiselle damselfly; male

 

 

This is a little out of focus but you can still see the dark iridescent band on this male’s wing

These beautiful damselflies are quite large and flutter their wings more as a butterfly does

 

Pond Skater ( Gerris lacustris )

They use their short front legs to capture prey that has fallen onto the surface of the water.

That’s it for now.