~ Spring ~
The very first sign of spring, is an orgy of epic proportions! For these gnarly toads, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and they rise from their winter sleep in the soil to trek for miles across field and road to reach the village pond. A thrashing mass of bodies makes the water boil, and come dawn, necklaces of eggs carefully placed through the water weeds are the only evidence of last nights fun,
A revitalised town canal is great for paddle boarding, but it has also recently been taken over by a family of cheeky otters, the cubs were born at Christmas, and at eight weeks old are about to have their first swimming lesson. After a couple of days of doggy paddle, it’s time to learn to chase some fish through the newly clear waters.
Spring nights are often frosty, but on the eastern hill slopes the warm sun quickly melts the ice from the bracken. An adder, black diamonds and burning red eyes, inches out into the light, and basks. He needs to warm up as fast as possible, as he can’t move with a cold body, and there’s
a race about to happen. Adders need to breed as early as possible to give their babies the best chance over the short summer, and the females will couple with the first to be up and active. A writhing race across the grassy village common wins the right to mate!
As Easter approaches, hares box across fields of fresh wheat and in the bluebell woods, badger cubs drink from pools of water that collect in tree hollows.
It’s all about love here, two little owls are preparing to hatch eggs in the same old oak they use every year while the roe deer nurse their tiny fawns in the buttercups below.
~ Summer ~
The hectic pace of Spring is about to accelerate as the sunshine sets in and the landscape turns from pale green to golden. For the wild creatures, summer means work, mostly raising the young they’ve just produced and prepping them for independence.
The little owls have hatched 3 eggs, and the screams coming from the hollow tree tell us that they’re constantly starving. They hunt at dawn and dusk, and will grab anything from crickets to harvest mice in the meadow below their nest. Tiny, but deadly!
The harvest mice will breed all summer – their survival rate is 100-1 so to replace themselves they need to produce that many babies in their short lives. There’s one pair that’s on their second year, a near miracle already, can they make it through another summer and break the meadow record? Their nest is weaved like a bauble into the long grass, and their feet gripping the stalks are so sensitive, they can feel the vibrations of a predator stalking below them. It doesn’t help them with danger from the air though… They’ve nested too close to the little owls…
In the next field along, fox cubs are leaping for may-bugs while the farmer takes the first hay cut, when they’ve had enough to eat, they play tag over the giant bales.
At Bibury trout farm the river keeper recognises all the animals, he’s been here for nearly 70 years, he knows which otters are bold enough to raid the trout – he used to persecute them, but he’s softened with old age and grown to love them.
The tensions are rising in a nearby stone barn, as barn owl and kestrel fight over the nest sites in the old roof and then fight over the mice in the field beyond – to the point of stealing off each other!
~ Autumn ~
And just like that, summer is over, the wind brings a chill at night, and it’s time to take stock and plan ahead for winter. The clever otters never miss an opportunity, and hunt white clawed crayfish under the moonlight in the woods – never filmed before, there’s few places left in the country where they still exist together..
The swallows are circling en masse above the meadows, gathering the last of the insects before their epic journey to Africa while the farmers harvest the last of their crops before the weather finally turns.
The beech woods finally show us their full glory, mile after mile of reds and oranges cross the Cotswolds plateau, a pine marten chases a grey squirrel that was so busy collecting nuts he forgot to keep an eye out, jays pick up acorns and plant them for next year.. The roe deer lock tiny horns, this is their season for love, and the females watch on to see which buck looks the best in a fight.
Dippers, the only aquatic song birds, brave the cold waters of the stream to catch the last of
the insects, caddis fly larvae are pulled out and their protective house of sticks and stones is unceremoniously bashed to pieces before they vanish in a gulp. These dippers had a late brood, and are frantically teaching their young to feed before winter sets in. One fledgling isn’t getting the hang of it, he throws away the larva and eats the shell instead!
~ Winter ~
The first snows of Winter brings stillness and silence to the landscape but it doesn’t last long, it was just a warning of what’s to come. Dormice are fast asleep in hollow trees, but the harvest mice in the meadow have to stay awake through the winter. They’ve survived the little owls, but there’s a huge shadow passing over the weak sun. A short eared owl has just arrived from Scandinavia, it’s quartering the meadow and it will hunt every daylight hour, surely all the mice are doomed? Luckily for them, they prefer voles, easier to spot on the ground!
The fox cubs have been chased away by their parents and cross the landscape looking for new territories, not all will make it… Specially if they keep raiding village chicken coops! The badgers stick together, a big colony can be 25 strong and they trot out the woods at dusk to forage through the farmland, digging for worms in the frost is hard work, but badgers have seriously strong claws.
Red kites are starting to roost en masse in the grounds of Sherborne estate, a stunning spectacle that’s not recorded anywhere else in the country.
Kestrel and owl have called a truce, and take it in turns to roost in the barn, kestrel by night, owl by day, so they don’t have to see too much of each other!
As the pagans celebrate solstice, some do Christmas and the rest hit the pubs, the otters in Stroud are getting ready for their own special event. They have their babies in winter – and it looks like there’s some encouraging signs on Christmas Day itself!
Proudly powered by WordPress