Little White Duck

March 24, 2014 by Words | Comments Off

That’s the second time I’ve used that particular blog title, though it might seem a touch misleading since I’m going to start today’s entry with a grey collared dove.

Collared dove

Collared dove

Those shots were taken this morning when it was bright out, but cold. It stayed cold all day, and there’s little prospect of it warming up during the week. We may even lose the weak sunshine that helped brighten the middle of the day when I headed out to the fields around north Falmer. The farmers are still busy preparing the fields, and the gulls continue to flock in the tractor’s wake.

Ploughed field and herring gull

Ploughed field and herring gulls

The sharp breeze up on the ridge encouraged me to return to the relative shelter of the village. Plenty of ducks around, taking it in turns to fly circuits of the pond.

flying ducks

And yes, among those three there is indeed a little white duck.

White duck in flight

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

Posted in Farming, Landscape, water birds Tagged , , |

Sparrowhawk and Herring Gull

March 23, 2014 by Words | 5 Comments

Just a short sequence from yesterday. I was out in the garden watching the skies when the squawking of the local herring gulls alerted me to this sparrowhawk flying overhead.

Sparrowhawk

Most of the gulls were keeping their distance and just being noisy about the passing intruder over their patch. One gull, however, took matters into its own hands (or wings) and commenced on a solo mobbing. These are hefty crops as the action was a considerable distance away.

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

The sparrowhawk eventually got fed up with the close attentions of the larger bird and dove down across the valley, easily outpacing the gull which was content to return to the main flock.

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

Posted in Bird of Prey Tagged , , |

Down on the Farm

March 22, 2014 by Words | Comments Off

Back to the sunshine and a chance to head down to local farmland at the edge of Falmer. I stopped off to photograph this elegant horse…

Horse

… and this pretty white pony.

White pony

Out across the fields a flock of woodpigeons was flitting from point to point.

Flock of woodpigeons

While in the distance the real farming is underway as the fields are prepared, much to the delight of the herring gulls who were keeping a close watch on the freshly tilled earth.

Tractor followed by herring gulls

The one real surprise of the day was down at the pond where a heron put in a brief appearance, conveniently resting on a “No Fishing” sign. It didn’t stay long though, and I watched as it headed out over the Downs.

Grey heron on No Fishing sign

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

Posted in Birds, Farming, horse, water birds