Just a short sequence taken this evening. The cubs are becoming more comfortable with me and it’s now becoming possible to get some more natural shots. These were taken with my oldest lens (the 70-300 DO) and my newest camera the 1DX MkII. The cubs are about 10 weeks old now.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 1DX Mark II and EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS lens.
Ok, it’s a long while since I’ve simply themed a page like this, but everything here is red… (even when they don’t look like they are).
The first is a red-eared terrapin. They are feral (discarded domestic animals). The terrapins have survived for a number of years in Falmer Pond as – essentially – they are at the top of the local food chain with no natural predators. There are several, and this one is close to the size of a dinner plate. It’s unlikely that they’ll be able to breed in our climate as the eggs are laid on the ground and need a consistent temperature above 25C for a couple of months.
Red-eared Terrapin basking at Falmer Pond, East Sussex
The next little sequence is another non-native species, but rather less damaging to local wildlife. This one was sharing calls with a mate (who was out of sight). It’s a red-legged partridge.
Red-legged partridge crossing the road at at Falmer Village, East Sussex
Red-legged partridge basking in the sun
Red-legged partridge in the shade of the trees
This one is easy… red sky!
Sunset over Woodingdean
Lastly, the inevitable red fox (to give its proper name). It’s a short sequence of Pretty sharing a markie biscuit with one of the cubs.
Pretty sharing with a cub
Fox cub begging
Whoops.. they’ve dropped it
Camera note: all daytime photos taken with the Canon 1DX Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. The EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM was used for the foxes.
You may start to notice a subtle change of location over the coming weeks. Nothing too outlandish, but I have finally packed in working for good and am enjoying an early retirement. At the moment it feels like a holiday… I like it!
I headed down to Rottingdean this morning to see what was going on. The tide was out, as were a couple of cormorants. Not that they did very much other. The first one flew off while I was trying to gain a better vantage point. The second simply perched on a yellow warning sign for the better part of an hour. I gave up first.
Cormorant number 1 at Rottingdean Beach.
This is the second cormorant. It shifted position very occasionally, and defecated twice. Other than that, it did just about nothing!
The most exciting move of the day!
And in close up…
Between some of those shots I did wander along the cliffs to see what the fulmars were up to. There are still some about, and they are still playing their usual game of endlessly trying to land on the sheer cliff face.
Fulmar failing to land at Rottingdean cliffs, East Sussex
Fulmar at Rottingdean cliffs, East Sussex
And finally a quick shot of a rock pipit digging out a grub from the cliff walls.
Rock pipit catching bugs at Rottingdean cliffs, East Sussex
More fox cubs soon (and regular shots over on Fox of the Day).
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens.
