Down at the Pond and into the Woods

Well it was dry today. Dull, with little or no sign of the sun until it was setting in the late afternoon. But dry is good; better than many of the days we’ve had in recent months so I won’t complain.

The early morning sequence was taken at Falmer Pond. It’s still very quiet there at the moment, but I did spot one cute little rat making its way carefully around the edge of the pond. The main route is now via the water.

Out to the edge of tree…
Rat at the edge of Falmer Pond

A strong paddle across the open water…
Rat swimming in Falmer Pond

And then clamber up into something a little more solid and secure.
Rat at the edge of Falmer Pond

I gave the pond a miss at lunchtime, and instead donned some wellington boots and headed off into the woodland at the edge of campus. It’s the first time I’ve been in the woods since the storms, and sure enough there were numerous fallen branches. I think this tree probably came down in a previous storm. It looked too well-set and comfortable to be a recent casualty.

Fallen tree in Westlain Plantation

The next shot was also taken in the woods. It’s the only usable one I managed (and it barely even qualifies as that), but having seen a buzzard flying in and around (and over) the trees several times while I was there I need something to record the encounter. Most of the time it was flying just over the trees, but once or twice it swooped along the paths. I’ve spotted buzzards here before so it wasn’t an unexpected sighting, just a rather good one.

buzzard

Back in the garden I’ve switched the trail camera back over to video. There were a couple of decent clips last night of Pretty with two different foxes (separate encounters). I’ll edit some sequences together over the next few days, but close tonight’s blog with a photo of her from a few minutes ago.

Fox

Camera note: rat and buzzard photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens; woodland scene taken with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens; and the fox with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM.

Posted in Bird of Prey, Foxes, Landscape, rats, Wildlife Tagged , , , , |

Inelegant in Flight (Muscovy)

Yesterday’s sun was a blip. Overcast once again today, and the pond is full to the brim.

No Fishing sign in flooded pond at Falmer

The main sequence is the Muscovy drake, coming in to land having flown the length of the pond. He had spotted one of the locals who arrive regularly to feed the ducks in the morning and was anxious to make sure he didn’t miss out on any grub. Muscovy ducks are surprisingly good in the air (flight seems a near impossible feat when you watch them waddle on the ground), but they are a touch inelegant, especially when they realize it’s time to touch down again. These are four consecutive shots taken over around half a second.

Muscovy duck (male/drake) in flight

Muscovy duck (male/drake) in flight

Muscovy duck (male/drake) in flight

Muscovy duck (male/drake) 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 water birds Tagged |

Kestrel Sequence at Sheepcote Valley

I don’t think it rained today. Not a drop, which makes it something of a red letter day in itself. It also meant that it was time to get started on some overdue jobs around the place. When I’m outside I keep an eye on what’s around and there was some good sightings, including my first butterfly of the year (probably a red admiral, though the sighting was all too brief).

I was up a ladder repairing some guttering when a buzzard (with accompanying escort of herring gulls) flew overhead; and later while I was shifting some garden rubbish a sparrowhawk flew low across the garden scattering pigeons in its path. I did get a chance to use the camera though. I stopped off at Sheepcote Valley on the way back from my first trip to the local dump. A small herd of sheep were grazing the scrub.

Sheep in Sheepcote Valley

A kestrel was out hunting. It was scouting along a ridge line and I watched it for 10 minutes or so before it headed off into the distance

Kestrel over Sheepcote Valley

Kestrel over Sheepcote Valley

Kestrel over Sheepcote Valley

Kestrel over Sheepcote Valley

Kestrel over Sheepcote Valley

We’ve had a brief glimpse of Pretty in the garden tonight, but she was more interested in fox business and stayed at the rear of the garden listening intently to another fox calling from one of the neighbouring gardens. She’ll probably turn up again later. She usually does.

One minor tweak to the blog. I’ve added an email subscription as a means of getting alerts when new posts are made. The emails are sent as plain text as I still have something of an aversion to html emails.

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 , , |