What? Where? There?

I almost had my blip today, but when I went for a walk along the edge of the stream Middy-cat decided to scout around on the branches of a tree - so I took some shots. I liked this one so much it became my blip.

LARGER.

The original blip was going to be this visitor to my bird table. Now I know most will go 'yeuk', but putting aside their rather nasty trait of carrying Leptospirosis (not their fault really, they don't do it deliberately) I have the utmost admiration for rats for their intelligence, resourcefulness and agility (and having kept a couple of fancy rats as pets in the past, their affectionate and playful natures won me over). The grey plastic tubing into which the stem of the bird table is inserted is intended to keep them from climbing up (and has worked well for many years). Alas the stem broke at the base and for the time being I've had to secure it by binding it to the wooden stake - which the rat has soon navigated and managed to reach the table for a feed. But hey, it's just another of Mother Nature's creatures trying to survive, just as we all do - as long as they stay out of the house, I've no issues with them.