Day 173 - Li'l White Tiger

evil eye

Apparently Kim really enjoyed the photo of the cat from the other day...so today we have a reprise!

She's obviously found a spot she likes, and is going to use it....presumably a good vantage point from which to hunt.   Once again, she's checking me out as I take photo's, before apparently deciding that I'm no threat.

Here is a wider shot, where you can see how she's sheltering under the leafy, overhanging branches, whilst surveying the long grass for signs of prey...of which there is plenty.  

queen of her domain

The field is left to grow for a few weeks at this time of year, before being harvested for hay.  If you walk through it, you can hear voles and field mice squeaking all around.

A few years ago, a local barn owl (who I shall refer to as Barnie) was hunting the field every afternoon.  He would hover silently a few feet over the grass, listening for rodents.

Barn Owls hunt mainly by hearing, and their flat, round face acts as a great ear, gathering sound and channelling it into their face and head...they have super sensitive hearing.

So they hover, face down, and listen...once they hear prey, they simply drop from the skies and take it in their talons. 

That summer, Barnie was catching something every few minutes, and flying back with it, across the lane to his home tree, where he had at least three hungry young. 

I'd love such an opportunity to try to get a photo of Barnie now...he's been around for years, but we've not seen him lately and haven't visited his tree to check, as it's away across the wheat field. 

If I find that he's around, you can be sure I will be making every effort to get a shot of him, which of course I will share. 

In the meantime, I might just keep posting photo's of cats...everyone knows the internet loves cats!

:-)

PS Just to let you know, I discovered I could change the commenting rules, so sign-in is no longer required...you should now be able to comment with both impunity and anonymity!