Black Middens, as you will know if you have been following my recent pieces, is just across the Tarset Burn from Sidwood. I travelled up the valley towards Comb, at the end of the metalled lane where the forestry tracks begin. Someone had told me I might expect to find dragonflies in one of the lane-side fields. As I approached the field, my attention was distracted by animal activity at the side of the lane ahead of me. And then, after a moment and walking down the lane towards me, was a young badger. It was about five in the afternoon.
I stopped, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. Perhaps I should have just taken its picture through the car windscreen and hoped for the best. I reached for my camera, however, and gently opened the car door. By this time the badger was sitting at the side of the lane, its head raised as if sniffing me out. On putting a first foot outside of the car, it disappeared into the undergrowth and down the bank towards the burn.
There were no dragonflies in the field but the sighting of the badger more than made up for their absence. Later, I stopped to photograph a Small Tortoiseshell, basking in the sun ...
And this Pied Wagtail, standing on a fence post, finished off a good afternoon.
4 comments:
Lovely photo of the Small Tortoiseshell. They have suddenly multiplied here and there are many flitting around my lavender bushes all day long.
Great looking small Tortoiseshell,also thankyou for your comments on our Blog.
Loved the Pied Wagtail,lovely Image.
John.
What a great encounter, meeting the Badger. That would lift me for weeks :)
Cracking shot of your afternoon too, especially the Wagtail.
Not always possible to get a good image trough car windscreens Emma. Very hit and miss as it often plays havoc with the auto focussing. May have been worth a try though.
Wagtails are always worth a photo.
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