July 6th – Also in Sutton Park, this tiny young rabbit would have fitted on the palm of my hand. Tiny, but quite happy to tolerate me at a distance if I didn’t move suddenly or do anything daft. 

Bunny positively posed for me, and seemed very young, but it looked healthy and well fed. 

I was just getting a bit closer when the spell was broken by a passing dog…

June 25th – Out late after a busy day working at home. It was a pleasant evening as I spun up to Chasewater along the canal from Ogley Junction.

I must say, that view of Hammerwich over the Warrenhouse still stuns me after all these years – and with the grass high in the meadow like a gently rippling sea, it’s even more beautiful.

Another lovely thing (though perhaps not if you grow veg!) is the burgeoning rabbit population along the canal and around Chasewater Dam. As you ride on a quiet afternoon, bunnies scuttle for cover from the towpath, nearby scrubs and gardens. They look healthy, and seem to be doing well, which is good news after myxomatosis wiped out the warren at the Chase Road Bridge a few years ago.

A nice afternoon’s bimble.

April 10th – Nice to see a thriving bunny population around the dam and Anglesey Wharf and basin at Chasewater.

There were a large group cropping the turf at the back of the dam cottage, sadly they were skittish and I scared all but this pair away.

They look healthy though. Good to see them after the myxomatosis outbreak near Newtown ended the warren there.

August 8th – I saw a single deer, who was too quick to be captured by camera, but in the languid warmth, the rabbits on the canal weren’t too bothered as long as I keep still and didn’t make any noise.
I really liked the wooden carved badger on a canal boat near Wolseley Bridge, though. I guess that classes as wildlife. Of a sort.