The first of two posts tonight. This, strictly speaking, is yesterday’s but I didn’t get time to post it. The bird is a black redstart, a relatively uncommon species. There ae less than 100 breeding pairs in the UK, and fewer than 1000 wintering in this country. I saw it at Falmer, in the local churchyard, perching prettily on the gravestones.
Black redstart on gravestone in St Laurence Churchyard,
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Three more birds to start the week. Yesterday’s rain and gloom eased slightly today and between some very heavy showers there were brief periods of sunshine. The day started well enough, and the little wren ventured out on to the grass bank at the edge of Falmer Pond.
Wren in early morning sunshine
Lots of herring gulls around as well. This is a juvenile. Nothing very special about it, but a crisp shot and decent light.
Juvenile herring gull
After that the weather deteriorated, and most of the day was wet. Most, but not all. There was a brief break in the weather when I drove through Seven Sisters at lunchtime and grabbed a couple of photos of a passing little egret.
Little egret flying over the South Downs at Seven Sisters.
Blue sky, clouds and a little egret
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
The recent dry weather looks set to come to an end next week, but it was fine today and Falmer Pond was lively. A terrapin was basking on a rock (I was really sorry to see that at least one is still there), and several very pretty grey wagtails were flitting around the shaded fringe of the pond.
Grey wagtail at the water’s edge
Further along the bank I spotted a wren darting between the trees. It proved a tricky customer, very rarely keeping still, but eventually paused for a few moments.
Wren perching on tree trunk
Spending so much time at the edge of the pond it was little surprise that the local rats put in an appearance.
Rat on grassy bank
Rat perched at the edge of the bank
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
