You know you get up early in the country when…

[Istheparsleygrowing654]

The dogs are still asleep when you leave the house

You scare pheasants roosting on fence posts and tiny birds drinking from puddles as you walk along.

Thank you for these lovely descriptions. Warms the cockles of my heart and feels like I was out there enjoying those moments

You can hear the parlour motors switching on.

DHorse fast asleep snoring with his best friend keeping watch

It's that stage of monochrome light and the geese fly overhead.

As I was falling asleep last night, I could hear a flock of geese overhead.

I live in the suburbs and am not an early riser but I love the pictures being conjured up by this thread. My journey to work used to take me through a small stretch of countryside and in the winter I used to love to see the mist over the fields with the orange sun rising. Beautiful.

I like it when I'm driving past the river / estuary and there's steam condensation coming off it. And there's a low mist coming off the fields

You set off to walk the dogs in the dark and the owls are still calling.

Oh yes I love autumn mists rolling in from the fields as dawn is breaking.

I’m still enjoying reading all of these posts…

Last night as I came home I heard a barn owl, this is new, we know we have tawny and little owls around us. I get so excited by living surrounded by wildlife and knowing that we live in a way that allows the wildlife to flourish.
That combined with last night being a clear night with us and seeing incredible stars.

The wood shed machines start up.

When the deer are still asleep in your garden.

@outdooryone

awwwwww... have they got up yet or are they demanding toast and a cuppa.

I've spent too long this morning watching the 2 squirrels battle on the bird feeders and the Robin and friends hopping on the lawns picking up bits the squirrels are dropping.

@Pancakeflipper

They leg it sharpish. Perhaps they understand the freezer awaits if I'm given the opportunity...

When the wild peacock on the fence talks

Driving to work, you have to wait for the dairy cows to cross the road from their barn to the field.

Up at 5 and I get a 3 mile walk though fields.
Some days Muntjacs cross my path and I've seen big deer really up close.
Mostly squirrels,and rabbits though.
Summertime it fantastic winter still awe inspiring if a little dark.

In the late summer just before dawn, get out of bed and look out of the bedroom window to see the mist hugging the ground lying low in the valley.

The deer are having shouting matches!

You need a head torch to put the bins out. 🤣

So happy to see this thread is still going!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and wishing everyone picturesque early mornings throughout 2025!

Mine are currently dominated by mud! 😀

Milking parlours and bulk tankers arriving early to collect.

I am not in the countryside but you still need a torch to find your way to work

Putting the kitchen blind up while the kettle boils for the first cup of tea of the day and a Barn Owl is sitting on a fence post looking back at you.

Opening the back door and startling a brock with it's snout in the compost bin.

Driving down a country lane between two hedges and a hawk is flying right alongside you, keeping pace with the car, until it suddenly soars up and away like a Red Arrow.

Coming round a bend on a country lane and having to stop the car because there appears to be a large meeting of Red Deer in the middle of the road, including lots of young stags. They glance at you but seem unfazed and peacefully surround the car. You open the window and you can really see, hear and smell them at close quarters, until they gradually drift away and you can drive on.

How lovely.

It sounds as if you live somewhere really remote TheHillsIsLonely.

I have had the same experience with a hawk keeping pace!

I can’t match your close up barn owl and deer encounters though. Those sound really special.