Home alone

I almost had the perfect picture today. Back on the beach at low tide, I found a dead fish, it's head and tail were intact, but it's entire body was skeletal, the spine and ribs artfully spread over the sand in a very attractive arch. Above and below the arch was the tiniest bit of green seaweed and two winkle shells. I bent down to remove the extraneous shell from the composition, started to focus and......BAM.....a pair of black paws pounced. I watched in horror as a cocker spaniel picked up the fish and started to crunch it. "Basil, come here" called the owner, "he's got my fish" I said (don't know why, stupid really). "He won't eat it" she said...."Basil, Basil.....Basil, come here,.....bad dog, Basil.....BASIL....She may have thought he was called Basil, but it was quite obvious his real name was Fang the Fish Slayer. Eventually, he dropped it, several yards up the beach, now a sand covered pile of fish bones. My husband asked if I had managed to get a grab shot (this is nature photography speak for a quick shot taken before the blooming animal runs/flys/swims away).....no, I didn't, it never occurred to me that it had that much life left in it. Next time I go to the beach I'm taking a taser gun.

So, the back up plan, a derelict bird's nest. You have to wonder how long it took the adult Blackbirds to realise this egg wasn't going to hatch, or more worryingly, why the egg and bits of shell hadn't been cleaned out while the hatchlings were being brooded. Seems as though the the nest was abandoned after predation.

Thanks to Freespiral and Himself for hosting Derelict Thursday.