Water Birds at Falmer Pond

March 20, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

More portraits of the bird life down at Falmer Pond, though this time I’ve focused on the species that tend to live in rather than around the water.

I can’t do a post like this without including a mallard duck, so here’s one standing on a submerged rock in the morning light.

Mallard duck

We have two species of rail at the pond: the moorhen, which is by far the most numerous:

Moorhen

And the coot, which is quite a bit larger. I’ve seen three at Falmer this year, a slight improvement on numbers over 2013.

Coot

I’ve posted plenty of pictures of the local greylags recently, but here’s one more: Greylag among the Daffodils.

Greylag goose and daffodils

Closing picture? Another mallard.

Mallard duck

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

Posted in hoverfly, water birds Tagged , , , |

Birds around the Pond

March 19, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

It’s been very quiet around Falmer Pond the past few days, but it gives me the chance to post a few shots of the more common birds that are more or less ever present.

There’s a healthy population of collared doves, often seen in pairs.

Collared doves

Collared doves

Back at ground level, the woodpigeons stalk the local churchyard.

Woodpigeon

We also have a thriving community of sparrows, who are noisy but always a pleasure to see.

Sparrow

And up on the church roof (and indeed in the church roof), there are jackdaws… always jackdaws.

Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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

Posted in Birds Tagged , , , |

Geese and other birds at Falmer Pond

March 17, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

After the brief hiatus of the weekend, it’s a new week and new photos from Falmer Pond. No rats today (I promise), but the greylags did themselves proud so get featured a fair bit. The scene first thing this morning was perfect. Sunny, but not too bright, and calm. No sign of the recent fog, thankfully.

Falmer Pond in early morning sunshine

The No Fishing sign was deserted. Not even a gull to disturb the peace.

No Fishing sign

The greylags were gathered around the edge of the pond. I suspect they were waiting to be fed, but they are out of luck with me.

Greylag geese at the edge of Falmer Pond

Greylag geese at the edge of Falmer Pond

Thing s became a little more active later in the day.

greylag geese chasing

greylag goose

But mainly it was quiet. This duck is a relative newcomer to the pond. It was sheltering under some trees close to the water’s edge.

Hybrid duck at Falmer

To close, another peaceful photo: a moorhen sitting on her nest.

moorhen on nest

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

Posted in Landscape, water birds Tagged , , |