I was over in Eastbourne today, so here are a couple of photos of the local pier.
There were a few gulls lurking down on the beach, but other then that there was precious little to see.
A quiet day.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
No this isn’t a post about rush hour commuter habits, but the title is certainly true. It was early morning… sunrise to be exact and one of the local rats takes a complicated route around the edge of the pond.
And it was a rat run (with a touch of swimming thrown in). The rat first appeared at the opening to one of the burrowed holes in the bank of the pond.
With nowhere else to go, the first stage of the journey was by water.
The destination, a nearby rock that is still just about breaking the surface.
From there it was up and over the tree roots and down to a small area of what passes for solid ground. Time for a brief rest.
And then back to the hard business of swimming into the thicker cover where there are more underground runs where it could relax safely away from human eyes and camera lenses.
This being something of a reflection on yesterday’s post, I’m pleased to say that I have proof of the flying prowess of the Muscovy ducks. Both made a short flight across the pond. This is the female turning in for splashdown.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Falmer pond remains in danger of overflowing, and the surrounding grass banks are sodden. In other words, it’s almost perfect conditions for ducks and none more so than this jaunty pair of Muscovy ducks.
They first appeared at the pond in 2013 but have become firm fixtures, either waddling on the banks (as here), or paddling their way across the water. They can fly (which seems an almost impossible task when you see them), but I suspect their range may be limited. As ducks go they are very human-friendly which makes me think that hey were originally farm birds. They expect to be fed and rush (as best they can) to any passing walker. I’m not a good bet though, as I never feed the wildlife at the pond.
This is the female…
And the male…
Further round the pond, I spotted another regular sitting precariously above the water.
The rat eventually made the decision to take the short swim across to a slightly more densely covered area where it scurried into the bank and out of the wet.
Pretty is still waving the flag for the local foxes. Here she is in the garden in the earlier hours of Tuesday morning.
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, apart from the one of Pretty the fox which was taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.
