Category Archives: Birds

Sparrowhawk and Herring Gull

March 23, 2014 by Words | 5 Comments

Just a short sequence from yesterday. I was out in the garden watching the skies when the squawking of the local herring gulls alerted me to this sparrowhawk flying overhead.

Sparrowhawk

Most of the gulls were keeping their distance and just being noisy about the passing intruder over their patch. One gull, however, took matters into its own hands (or wings) and commenced on a solo mobbing. These are hefty crops as the action was a considerable distance away.

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

Sparrowhawk and herring gull

The sparrowhawk eventually got fed up with the close attentions of the larger bird and dove down across the valley, easily outpacing the gull which was content to return to the main flock.

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

Also posted in Bird of Prey Tagged , , |

Down on the Farm

March 22, 2014 by Words | Comments Off

Back to the sunshine and a chance to head down to local farmland at the edge of Falmer. I stopped off to photograph this elegant horse…

Horse

… and this pretty white pony.

White pony

Out across the fields a flock of woodpigeons was flitting from point to point.

Flock of woodpigeons

While in the distance the real farming is underway as the fields are prepared, much to the delight of the herring gulls who were keeping a close watch on the freshly tilled earth.

Tractor followed by herring gulls

The one real surprise of the day was down at the pond where a heron put in a brief appearance, conveniently resting on a “No Fishing” sign. It didn’t stay long though, and I watched as it headed out over the Downs.

Grey heron on No Fishing sign

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

Also posted in Farming, horse, water birds

Water Birds at Falmer Pond

March 20, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

More portraits of the bird life down at Falmer Pond, though this time I’ve focused on the species that tend to live in rather than around the water.

I can’t do a post like this without including a mallard duck, so here’s one standing on a submerged rock in the morning light.

Mallard duck

We have two species of rail at the pond: the moorhen, which is by far the most numerous:

Moorhen

And the coot, which is quite a bit larger. I’ve seen three at Falmer this year, a slight improvement on numbers over 2013.

Coot

I’ve posted plenty of pictures of the local greylags recently, but here’s one more: Greylag among the Daffodils.

Greylag goose and daffodils

Closing picture? Another mallard.

Mallard duck

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

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