It was raining this morning and when Pretty, the most congenial of the local foxes, put in her customary appearance it was clear that she’d been caught out in the open. Her coat was damp and just a little on the fluffy side. Cute 🙂
True to form she wandered in and out of the garden through the middle of the day. Heere she is a couple of hours later when the weak sun was struggling to break through.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.
We are back to misty mornings, but the struggle to see through the gloom was was rewarded by a brief (and this year, a rare) sighting of a jay. These multicoloured birds are close relatives of the crow and the magpie, but are generally shy and more difficult to spot. This one stayed around just for a few seconds. Long enough though.
It had brightened up a touch by the middle of the day. Nothing too exciting to see, so these are just a few shots that I quite liked. The first is one of the local white ducks.
Next up is a very standard shot of a gull (black-headed variety in its winter plumage) in flight. The reason I’ve included it is that I was quite taken with the exceptionally miserable look on the bird’s face!
I was pleased with this final shot. The little pied wagtails are a common sight locally, and the relatively mild weather means that they are still leaping about over the rooftops catching insects on the wing.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Very typical weather today. I left home in high hope of some decent light, but by the time I’d arrived at Falmer the gloom had already set in. It was a dark and somewhat dismal scene, but it held one welcome surprise in the form of a cormorant. It’s been a quiet year for them here, but this lone bird was quietly gliding around the pond as the heavens opened and the rain came down.
Almost as quickly as it had started (though not so quickly that I didn’t get soaked) the rain relented, and the cormorant took the opportunity to dry off.
The weather was still struggling to make up its mind at lunchtime. The sun emerged long enough to entice this common darter out…
The rats prefer a touch of sunshine even though they mainly lurk in the shade. These are my favourites of the numerous shots I took of them today.
The end of the day was beautiful. The skies cleared and we were blessed with warm red light as the sun descended to the horizon. And all that needs to set it off perfectly is a pretty red fox.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
