Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Sex in the Summer

It's that time of year when the bulls are put out on to the reserve for their annual couple of months of lustful enjoyment. Two were put out with the cows and their calves over the weekend and are now happily doing what they're supposed to be doing, or they were while I was there and the one below didn't seem to be happy at being watched.


More new additions to the reserve are this brood of seven Mute Swan cygnets.


And the Greylag Geese continue to hatch more goslings, we have around fifty now, look at the difference in size between these...


....and some of the earlier ones.


The water lilies in one ditch are in full leaf


and beginning to flower.


I often like to photograph flowers that we tend to overlook as ordinary or not spectacular. White Clover has a lovely flower structure when seen up close.


This tiny flower grows in dry, ex-muddy areas on the reserve and I believe is either Lesser or Greater Sea Spurrey.


And lastly, Meadow Vetchling.

Posted by at

11 comments:

  1. Frances31 May 2017 at 14:07

    Thank you so much, Derek, for this tour of new life around Sheppey. It's grand to have this opportunity to get a sense of what is going on so far away from concrete and asphalt. Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Derek Faulkner31 May 2017 at 14:14

    Thanks Frances, I guess this time of year must be difficult for you in the big city, you may have parks but there's nothing like real countryside.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wilma31 May 2017 at 18:02

    Things are looking good, Derek! Lots of life and beauty everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Derek Faulkner1 June 2017 at 08:45

    A visit to the reserve early today found that the swans were missing one cygnet, it's either got left behind somewhere, or predated.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gwil W1 June 2017 at 09:58

    Two photos in yesterday's paper of people having sex in the city's public parks. Police were called. Every job has a silver lining! Not long ago the British Ambassador to Austria was chased by a wild boar. He injured his hand trying to escape over a pile of logs. But not seriously. It happened in one of the city's nature parks called the Lainzer Tiergarten (an old Habsburg hunting ground). Other animals have been coming into the city. A deer was recently run over on the inner ring road and a wild boar entered a children's playground and had to be shot. I've seen badgers and foxes roaming the city - not to mention the ubiquitous rats.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Derek Faulkner1 June 2017 at 11:08

    Gwil, I saw the account of the BA being chased by the boar in my paper recently.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yorkshire Pudding2 June 2017 at 13:52

    Given the title of this post, it is a relief to discover you were not spying on Chardonnay and Kyle from Sheerness as they humped in the reeds.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Derek Faulkner2 June 2017 at 18:56

    I guessed if I put sex in the title that it would draw you in.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Weaver of Grass2 June 2017 at 19:56

    Derek - your photographs are absolutely lovely. Hope you kept well away from that bull, he doesn't look too happy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Derek Faulkner3 June 2017 at 05:17

    Thanks Pat. I wasn't much further away from the bull than the photo looked. The bulls that we use on the reserve have always been pretty stable in temperament.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)