Birds on the Sussex Downs

The inconsistency of English weather is almost the only consistent thing about it. Today we had sunshine. A few gulls were noisily roof hopping along the gardens, and a sparrowhawk glided serenely overhead while I was bagging up some garden cuttings.

A squirrel was flitting back and forth along the fence, and a goldfinch rested briefly in the trees.

Later I headed out to the Downs, to the start of the Castle Hill nature reserve. A beautiful spot and one I should explore more often. The kestrels were out, hovering over the edge of the valley.

Down below, a small flock of magpies were raucously making their presence known.

While in the distance a lone pheasant was grazing the rich pickings in the fields.

The crows meanwhile were fence-post hopping.

There were sheep on the hills, and a few cattle. The herd of ponies we saw a week or so ago were still there too.

Up above, the skylarks were singing.

And the vibrant yellowhammers were busily flying from tree to tree.

All told, a perfect autumn afternoon.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

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This Post Has 12 Comments

  1. gdare

    11 Oct 2009

    I saw a pheasant few days ago, on the edge of a park in Belgrade :faint: I was in a bus and didn`t have time to grab camera. It was so unexpected, center of a Belgrade is only 10 minutes away and I can`t remember if I ever saw one there :eyes:

    Nice photo of a kestrel :up:

  2. SittingFox

    11 Oct 2009

    Looks very pleasant back in England! That's a great photo of the kestrel, but the gull is marvelous with the light in its wings :up:

  3. Flying Red Fox Blog

    11 Oct 2009

    Very cool! I saw a Kestrel at Heathrow yesterday, it was hovering quite dangerously on t6he flightpath of planes before it flew away……. then i heard on my scanner that a plane reported hitting a bird on touchdown! :no:

    Then the runway checker reported it to be a Pigeon, poor Pigeon but glad the Kestrel was ok! 😛 oh and the plane too of course!

  4. Words

    11 Oct 2009

    Adele, one day pleasant, one day not seems to be the rhythm at the moment. I got a series of that gull. I liked the way this particular of the kestrel shot showed the alulas fully extended.

  5. Words

    11 Oct 2009

    Mark, I'm glad to hear that the kestrel escaped (and the plane, yes… and the plane), though I'm sure the local sparrowhawks will lament the loss of the pigeon :whistle:

  6. Words

    11 Oct 2009

    Darko, I did see another pheasant, much closer. I heard some noise over a hedge and went to look. It took off and flew straight past me. I was too startled to get a photo!

  7. gdare

    12 Oct 2009

    😆

  8. studio41

    13 Oct 2009

    like the colour in the last photo, striking picture of the bird!

  9. Words

    13 Oct 2009

    Thanks Jill. They are just about the brightest coloured bird I see.

  10. studio41

    14 Oct 2009

    they are wonderful. I get excited when I see a splash of colour across the sky… the occastional cardinal, goldfinch or jay, but other than that just a robin redbreast…

  11. Ukwildlife

    14 Oct 2009

    Great photos, taking advantage of the good light well 🙂

  12. Words

    15 Oct 2009

    Thanks Neil!

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