It is not a great photo, but this Common Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) was very hard to photograph! I was creeping silently along the bracken edge trying to find an adder but all I saw were these. Not that I am very disappointed, this is the first time I've ever seen these for long enough to actually look at them, let alone try and take a photo. The problem was that I would only spot them if they were moving and if they were moving they were probably moving to find cover. At least they were not startled. I suspect that if these didn't hear me coming then neither would an adder. Who knows!
Whilst looking for more lizards to photograph I lifted some fallen bracken and found this slightly irritable caterpillar underneath. I think it is a White Ermine moth (Spilosoma lubricipeda). What I didn't notice at the time was the small parasites on the outside of its body. No wonder it appeared to be irritable!
This beauty is Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus). The last time I saw one of these was at Bradgate Park whilst I was looking for adders! They never settle with their wings apart so you tend to see them like this. I like its eyes. Take a real close look, they are amazing!
After a while the sun went in and I turned my attention to the view instead. I have often sat at Old John tower and looked east at the huge expanse of Leicestershire but I have rarely sat the war memorial and looked west. The view is more subtle but non the less worth some attention. The picture above has a little white pillar in it (just to the left of the pylon). That is the BT tower at Birmingham. The hill behind it is Four Stones hill about 42 miles away.
As you turn clockwise away from birmingham you soon loose the distant view behind the flank of Bardon Hill but before you do you can just see the antennae adorned summit of Turners Hill near Dudley (about 38 miles away).
Then you have the huge mass that is Bardon Hill, its little stubby antennae dwarfed by the two huge masts at Copt Oak.
Towards the north Beacon Hill is slightly less than obvious. The hill is largely obscured by its forested flanks though a couple of people can be seen at the toposcope on the picture above.
The view to the north east reaches across Swithland reservoir, beyond the gypsum works at Mountsorrel, beyond the Wreake Valley to the distant flat topped hill of Terrace Hill (about 27 miles away). This hill sits next Belvoir Castle.
As the clouds grew darker, I moved down towards the stream to spot this really charming Wigeon (Anas penelope). This is my first descent picture of a wigeon despite them being really quite common. Even so I didn't even recognise that this was a wigeon. Google image search wigeon and you will see that they don't normally look like this. This male wigeon is in his eclipse plumage. This plumage appears amongst drakes after the breading season. They loose there bright conspicuous feathers and transform into subtler more camouflaged animals for the winter.
Last but not least Bradgate is well known for its deer. This Fallow Deer (Dama dama) was so tame that I probably could have ridden it. Maybe Bradgate needs a couple of wolves to re-sensitise these animals! (joking by the way)
