Category Archives: Birds

Honey Moon?

June 13, 2014 by Words | 6 Comments

Tonight we are supposedly seeing a very rare moon as it passes low in the sky. I doubt very much that Southern England is the best place to see anything and to be honest the moon looks very much as it usually does. It is low (well I photographed soon after moon rise so it would be low), but because of this it does pick up a good reddish-orange glow from the atmosphere. Both these shots will expand quite a bit if you click on them.

Honey moon

Honey moon

As for the day, the mini heatwave is continuing. There are swifts overhead and they always present a nice challenge in rapid contortionism as you follow them through the lens on their fast and erratic flight. A couple of shots from yesterday.

Swift in flight

Swift in flight

And one from today.

Swift in flight

The final shot is a cute one of two sleepy herring gull chicks settling down for a nap.

Herring gull chick

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

Also posted in Moon, water birds Tagged , , , |

Just a Hobby (Falco subbuteo)

June 12, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

The Hobby is a small, peregrine-like falcon which appears in our skies during the summer months. Hobbies winter in Africa. The can be identified by the vertical barring on their body. They are fast and graceful in flight, and from a distance the pattern of flight can sometimes resemble the swift. I spotted this one over Falmer Pond today. The photos are all very hefty crops, but the first sequence is interesting in that the bird is eating on the wing. Its prey is some sort of insect.

Hobby,

Hobby,

Hobby,

Hobby,

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

Also posted in Bird of Prey Tagged |

Little Bird, Big Voice (Wren)

June 11, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

Just a short sequence today of a little bird with a big voice. You are more likely to hear than see wrens, but as one of our most common birds they are more or less everywhere. It’s just that they like shaded areas and tend to keep low and out of sight. Just now and then they will come out into the open. I spotted this one at Seven Sisters today.

wren

wren

wren

wren

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

Tagged |