Cormorant plus others

April 3, 2017 by Words | 5 Comments

This is a bit of a reversion to some very traditional posts. A variety of birds from the local village pond at Falmer, plus a couple of bits and pieces taken in the garden.

I’ll start with the main event, the cormorant, photographed last Friday morning at Falmer Pond. It was warm and sunny, and my second time over there in the week.

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Cormorant running on Falmer Pond

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Cormorant coming in to land in a tree

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Cormorant perching up high

The cormorant wasn’t alone. A heron was also lurking…

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Grey heron in a tree at Falmer

That was a good start to the day, but after that there’s nothing until Sunday afternoon in the garden. Mid-afternoon several buzzards flew over (pursued by herring gulls), but among them I spotted a pair of peregrines as well.

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One of several buzzards over Woodingdean on Sunday

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Peregrine falcon over Woodingdean

Last night (Sunday) I also got a number of photos of the male fox, one of several that frequent the garden at night. This is the one with the nicked ear, and he’s still shy, still won’t let me within about 8 or 9 metres of him. But I will persevere…

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Fox with nicked ear at night

There’s also a vixen plus a couple of other foxes that I’ve spotted on teh trail camera… and another badger/fox dust-up (all still to be processed).

Last thing tonight is one more shot of the cormorant from Friday.

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Cormorant at Falmer Pond, East Sussex

Camera note: all birds taken with the Canon 7D Mark II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. I used the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM lens for the fox.

Posted in Bird of Prey, Foxes, water birds Tagged , , |

Morning Pond, Lunchtime Buzzard

March 30, 2017 by Words | 3 Comments

I was up at Falmer this morning (early meeting, but I got there with enough time to spend 20 minutes at the pond). Not much wildlife in evidence (some geese and ducks and the gulls) so I ended up taking a few shots of the pond itself. The light was great, and the two moorhens just add enough detail to this shot for me to like it.

Falmer Pond, East Sussex


It was genuinely warm at lunchtime, sufficient for me to take the short trek up to the Downs (I was back at Moulsecoomb by then). I had 30 minutes of nothing at all, but just before I headed back a number of buzzards appeared (six in total). A couple came in close enough for workable shots.

Buzzards at Moulsecoomb

Buzzards at Moulsecoomb

Buzzards at Moulsecoomb

I’m back at Falmer tomorrow (training day), but will hit the pond again in the morning if the weather holds out.

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

Posted in Bird of Prey, Birds, Landscape Tagged , , |

Fox and Badger Encounter

March 19, 2017 by Words | 3 Comments

The trail camera has been busy over the past couple of weeks. There are several foxes (at least four) visiting the garden, including a lactating vixen. These clips are of another of teh foxes (the dominant male) encountering a badger. They get into a minor dispute… Keep the sound up as some of the audible action takes place off-camera.

Footage take on a Bushnell Trophy Cam HD.

Posted in Badger, Behaviour, Foxes, Wildlife Tagged , |