halftwo
Wird Batcher
From the ridge a Short-eared Owl glides downslope and parachutes on backswept upswept wings into the long grass and back up into the warm breeze grazing the moor.
The sun is still up and casting long shadows; and a pale moon opposite rises into the clear sky.
Two Golden Plover call from across the valley. Kestrels hover above the heather, moving from station to station with wind eased ease.
Curlews and Lapwings with young call from the fields below the highest ground when, suddenly a female Peregrine appears - skimming the nearest horizon, heavy and dangerous.
The Curlews bravely give chase while the Lapwings keep to the turf. The falcon keeps going towards the brightening moon.
In the distance a Short-eared Owl is followed in its hunt by two Kestrels as another Peregrine - the male - makes his determined and direct way above and beyond.
Down in the valley a juvenile Little Owl sits on a warm stone wall, its down blowing in the breeze, but otherwise stock still, as a cat with a dish cloth - limp rabbit dangling from its mouth passes in the just-cut hay.
Back up towards the plantation and two Snipe chase above the juncus and thistle - thick meadow. Swifts pass them against a setting sun.
Near dark: a full moon now silver bright above the moor. A young Long-eared Owl calls its kittenish squeak from the pines. Fat orchids fade as the light fails. In the valley beyond Tawny Owls hoot a farewell to the long day.
Suddenly a Long-eared Owl glides silently from the trees and skims the cotton-grass nodding above the furrows. It floats low on shallow wing beats and swerves to land in the grass.
It takes off and closes, flicking, floating, hunting head-on. It disappears onto the night. A Grey Partridge calls.
Nearly dark and the Snipe still circle as bats begin. A Noctule flickers and glides, then dives and loops. Pipistrelles and Long-eared bats begin to fill the summer dark as a Grey Heron squawks the end of day.
The sun is still up and casting long shadows; and a pale moon opposite rises into the clear sky.
Two Golden Plover call from across the valley. Kestrels hover above the heather, moving from station to station with wind eased ease.
Curlews and Lapwings with young call from the fields below the highest ground when, suddenly a female Peregrine appears - skimming the nearest horizon, heavy and dangerous.
The Curlews bravely give chase while the Lapwings keep to the turf. The falcon keeps going towards the brightening moon.
In the distance a Short-eared Owl is followed in its hunt by two Kestrels as another Peregrine - the male - makes his determined and direct way above and beyond.
Down in the valley a juvenile Little Owl sits on a warm stone wall, its down blowing in the breeze, but otherwise stock still, as a cat with a dish cloth - limp rabbit dangling from its mouth passes in the just-cut hay.
Back up towards the plantation and two Snipe chase above the juncus and thistle - thick meadow. Swifts pass them against a setting sun.
Near dark: a full moon now silver bright above the moor. A young Long-eared Owl calls its kittenish squeak from the pines. Fat orchids fade as the light fails. In the valley beyond Tawny Owls hoot a farewell to the long day.
Suddenly a Long-eared Owl glides silently from the trees and skims the cotton-grass nodding above the furrows. It floats low on shallow wing beats and swerves to land in the grass.
It takes off and closes, flicking, floating, hunting head-on. It disappears onto the night. A Grey Partridge calls.
Nearly dark and the Snipe still circle as bats begin. A Noctule flickers and glides, then dives and loops. Pipistrelles and Long-eared bats begin to fill the summer dark as a Grey Heron squawks the end of day.
