Monday 10 April 2023

Easter and photo catch-up time Pt II: Rural

Walking around Jakubowizna and district, I see plenty of  wild deer; elk are rarer (two sightings in five and half years). Females tend to roam in small groups of between three to six individuals, while males, like this young one below, tend to be solitary. 

Jakubowizna has a large pheasant population; this rather wet chappie I snapped from my bedroom window one rainy Lenten morn.

Below: Eurasian blue tit (modraszka zwyczajna or sikora modra, Cyanistes caeruleus ) from my kitchen window. There's quite a flock of these in my garden.


Below: buzzard (myszołów zwyczajny, Buteo buteo) also photographed from my kitchen window.


Below: dead buzzard in a nearby orchard. Can't see its head - was it killed by a fox, or mobbed to death by crows? Or poisoned by agrichemicals? Or shot?

The buzzard is the most common bird of prey around Jakubowizna. Often seen hovering over forests, the buzzard feeds on voles and other small mammals as well a fledgling birds, which is why crows tend to mob them in flight, especially during the nesting season. Below: a long way off (crop from a 300mm zoom)

The jay  (sójka zwyczajna, Garrulus glandarius) is a colourful and frequent visitor, also snapped from the kitchen window. Note the first sign of leaves appearing.

If the grey heron is the wetland bird of Jeziorki, around Jakubowizna it is the crane (żuraw zwyczajny, Grus grus). Larger (and noisier) than herons, cranes also nest among reeds, they have a wingspan of over two metres, weighing up to 6kg.


The 46 days of Lent bridge winter and spring. On 5 March, my walk between orchards was through a snowy blizzard.


By 29 March, the sun would be higher, and cloudless days could be quite warm.


By the end of this month, the birches should be back in leaf,  and the land green again.


This time last year:
Fasting and Temptation

This time two years ago:
Long walk, back in the swing

This time three years ago:

This time seven years ago:
Speeches for Leaders, by Charles Crawford

This time eight years ago:
In Memoriam - those who died at Smolensk

This time ten years ago:
Warszawa 1935: 3D film reconstructs lost city

This time 11 years ago:
Cats and consciousness

This time 13 years ago:
Smolensk - why did this happen?

This time 14 years ago:
Britain's grey squirrels turning red


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