Category Archives: Bird of Prey

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.

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Pretty Photos

Just three pretty photos, but possibly not what you were expecting from the title.

The first is this pretty group of ducks down at the pond. The sun was just about making its presence known during the day, and though the wind was sharp it was something of a relief to have some temporary respite from the gloom. It won’t last. More rain – and gales – are on the way.

ducks

The second photo is an unusual one for me. A rural landscapewithout any animals in it. This was taken by the fields along Ridge Road, just outside Falmer.

Fields at Falmer

I was watching for buzzards at the time but could only manage a few long range shots.

buzzard

To close, one of the Pretty who usually features. Here she is enjoying a good old stretch along the garden wall.

Fox stretching

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, apart from the fox which was taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.

Also posted in Farming, Foxes, Landscape, South Downs National Park Tagged , , , , |

A Healthy Walk (fox special)

We had sunshine today, and there’s the promise of at least a couple of dry(ish) days before the bad weather returns. You can never be quite sure about longer term forecasts (and I count 4 or 5 days as longer term), but we could certainly do with a dry spell.

Out in the garden we had sparrowhawks flying overhead (several times), and as dusk descended a buzzard was escorted past by a pair of herring gulls. It was already too dull to try for a photo, but I did manage several of the various sparrowhawks.

Sparrowhawk

This post though is called ‘A Healthy Walk’ and is supposed to be fox-related. The walk in question is Pretty’s, and it’s healthy because she is finally using her injured hind leg with only the barest trace of a limp. I took a long sequence of photos of how as she roamed the garden. These are a small taster.

fox walking

fox walking

fox walking

fox walking

fox walking

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

Also posted in Foxes Tagged , |