The Neighbours

 One of the joys of living here, is the diversity of wildlife that we observe, or encounter. The front garden was designed as a formal area, but these days seems only to be used as a bird feeding area. The list of birds which we see there is gratifying, but it also means we occasionally have predatory visitors. This male Sparrowhawk has become a regular. On this particular occasion, he sat on the fence for nearly ten minutes, enabling me to take a number of photographs.

 

Best Beloved was turning the compost heap, and came across this young Grass Snake, buried in the warmth a few inches down. ( He is always cautious when working the compost heap, as we know that there are Grass Snakes around. The last thing we would want, is damage to any of our plots' inhabitants). B.B. also came across a much larger one yesterday, basking in the sun, on the edge of the woods.