Close encounter.

Close encounter of the fox kind. A photo-heavy post of a nice condition young fox while walking in the rain at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve yesterday. Always nice to see, and even better when they just wander past when you stand still.

off she goes!

St Catherine’s Hill

St Catherine’s Hill, Winchester, is a 58-hectare chalk grassland. It is a nature reserve managed by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. There are ramparts of the Iron Age hill fort cut into the 70m high hill, buried ruins of the Norman chapel that gives the site its name and several rectangular burial mounds along Plague Pit Valley, which mark the location of mass graves. It offers views over Winchester, the Itchen Valley and the surrounding countryside. As part of the management of the chalk grassland, cattle are used to help prevent scrub from building up.

Resting place.

The tide was exceptionally high yesterday, with strong winds in the Solent, so the water in Titchfield Haven was also very high, flooding many of the small islands where the birds roost.

These Lapwings were competing for a place on these wooden posts.

Island D is missing!