Rainbows on daffodils!

A beautiful rainbow appeared to enhance the pretty daffodils along our driveway yesterday evening and the hedge rows are beginning to green up now as they burst into leaf. Spring at last!!!

Piggy weather!

So much for the weather  forecasters who said Easter was to be nothing but dreadful weather! We have basked in glorious sunshine all day here in the north east of Yorkshire!
I went to my neighbouring farm to buy some hay for my horse and the farmer said to me 'Just look over that wall' I looked over and there she was, this beautiful sow with  her little piglets that had been born that day. Can you see they are mostly spotty and one ginger one. They were suckling away on their mum as she laid contently feeding them. Awe!

Sow with her new born piglets.

Spring has sprung!

Aconites and Snow Drops in our Orchard today, enjoying the sun!

Spring has arrived! Our farmhouse with pretty Aconites in the foreground.

Snow comes to Yorkshire!

Snow arrived again last week, we had about 4 inches, everything looked so pretty until it thawed!
We were very excited a few days ago, when we went into the tractor shed to use the tractor a barn owl flew off the top of the tractor cab! I have never known one actually roost in one of our buildings. Usually they use an old barn down the road. We are hoping that the owl makes our shed their home. We only ever use that shed every few months so it is very quiet for them. Here's hoping!

Compare our pond prior to the snow!

Our pond covered in snow

A barn owl photographed at the farm.

Wet comparisons

I thought it fun to compare the pond at Springtime, summer in a drought and this winter when the pond is the fullest it has ever been.

Pond in a drought ridden summer, not this past year though and now after all the wet weather.

 

 

Wet wet wet!!!

Here is our pond in the spring and then the other photo was taken today after all the rain and wet weather we have had. I have never known our pond to be so full and dont think it will soak away fast as the fields were already water logged! it doesn't really show how high the water is but we will soon be hiring boats out and competing with the Norfolk Broads for boating holidays!

Spring time 2012 when the pond is full after last winter

November 2012 the pond is the fullest it has ever been, it is nearly to the summerhouse.

Our patio through the seasons!

I thought it would be interesting to see our patio through the seasons. This first photo is in  early Spring before the leaves are on the trees but you can just see some daffodils at the far side of the orchard.

Summertime brings a million shades of green and we decorate the patio with  tubs of flowers.

Autumn brings blustry showers and leaves everywhere!

Winter snow covers the patio!

Goldfinch rebellion

These Goldfinch were busy feeding this morning when the sparrow came to feed try his luck too. You can imagine the Goldfinch on the left shouting up to the one on the feeder ' Eh! what about me, throw me some down and never mind that thieving sparrow!'

Rainbows and Puccini

Puccini my horse and his big beautiful eyes!

Today I saw this beautiful rainbow looking from the farm towards the hills and I always knew we were just a mile or two in the wrong place as at the bottom of a rainbow is a pot of gold!

Rainbow as seen from the corner of the cottages

Squirrels, Hawks and pigeons

It has been quite a busy time for wildlife this last few weeks and here are some of my latest sightings!

Our cheeky squirrel now sneaks onto the patio to steal the bird seed! 

Our resident racing pigeon and can you see the pheasant eating by the wall? She is well camouflaged.

 This racing pigeon has made Rains Farm it's home for the last few weeks, he hangs around the patio and watches the other birds. I think he must be one of the pigeons that are part of a baffling mystery. Not that far from here there is what they now call the "Birdmuda triangle" Many racing pigeons when released  never make it back home, literally hundreds don't return at times and it is very puzzling. Well, I have one here!

Now that winters coming the pheasants are coming back to the orchard to feed. This is a young male and female, they could easily be from the brood that hatched here last spring.

I am not the only one who finds pheasants fascinating!

This beautiful Sparrowhawk flew into our garden and tried to snatch a small bird but missed. He decided to pause a while on a garden post. I grabbed my camera and the memory card was full!!!! That is so frustrating! I did click this photo, unbelievably I was in our kitchen about 6 foot back from the window and zoomed him in through the window and double glazing. I can't believe how it came out as I was just hand holding the camera too!

Keep off my pears!

After a very busy few days with guests I managed to spot this beautiful squirrel in our orchard. I know that many people think they are a pest but because we are really a little oasis with trees in an area surrounded by fields we never get over run with squirrels. This fact makes them seem very special to me and this cheeky one was eating a dropped pear from a tree in our orchard. You have to admit  he looks cute!

On the wings of a Dove!

Today has been rather wet at times and a bit grey like these two Doves I spotted on our garden fence. They sat there and then in unison they would raise one wing, it all looked very funny!

'Oh look over there, it's her from next door'

'She's seen us, wave, cooee, it's us'

Harvest sunrise

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this beautiful sunrise, a typical  harvest sunrise during August.

Paramotoring, birds are not the only flyers!

Last night my brother and his friend came and did some paramotoring from the farm. It's not only the birds that fly here! Sometimes my brother comes and takes to the air, hence the aerial photos of the farm I  use on  my web site!

Big feet and sunny patio

Just to prove that we do get sunshine here at Rains Farm, here's a photo of  our patio this evening in the late sun's glow. The other picture is of a Moorhen chick on my patio wall, just look at the size of his feet!