Birds, a Confused Terrapin, and more little furry things

The sunshine brought out lots of people today, which put paid to any chance of getting some photos of the rats in decent light. That’s fair enough, and I took the opportunity to photograph some of the other Falmer inhabitants.

There’s a strong colony of jackdaws. They roost in the local church, and provide an appropriately Gothic feel to the place on misty days. On sunny days, they just chatter amongst themselves and occasionally tangle with the gulls. Here’s one taking some time out on a decaying tree stump.

Collared doves are not as numerous as the jackdaws, but are certainly mainstays of the local bird population. Slightly smaller than woodpigeons, they originated in the Middle East and only arrived in the UK in the 1950s. They are now established residents in the UK.

The last of the birds for today is a more infrequent sighting, a great spotted woodpecker.

I’d not seen much of the terrapins this year. These are not native creatures and ideally should be removed from the pond. This one seems to be a tad short-sighted. I think it thinks its found a friend 😉

And yes, I did see some rats. They were generally keeping out of sight and out of the way of the (human) family groups enjoying the sunshine around the pond. In quieter moments they made fleeting appearances. The first shot is of an adult making a dash across some open ground.

To close, a couple of shots of a juvenile rat foraging in the very shallow fringe of the pond. This was quite a secluded area, overhung by the branches of the pond-side trees.

Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.