The combines have been busy around us for the last couple of days, harvesting the oil seed rape in the warm dry weather.  It set us thinking though and wondering where all the wildlife goes to when the combine harvester takes away their cover.  Our bird feeders are suddenly quiet – the partridges, crows, rabbits and deer that appeared from the crops by the tree where they are located have had to find somewhere else to go.  The local badger sett (see below) has at least 3 entrances that emerged into the crops and they will now feel very exposed. I imagine that they all feel frightened by the sudden change to their environment.

With the sudden open areas you actually start to see more wildlife, even though the majority are now hiding in the hedgerows. We sometimes now catch glimpses of rabbits and hares running through the stubble of the former crops into cover at the edges of the fields.