Life at Falmer Pond is generally fairly predictable. The gulls and geese come and go according to the season, the ducks stay around for the year, and the heron pops in every now and then. Once in a while though new ducks appear. Last year we had a couple of Muscovy ducks. The most recent additions are two near-white ducks which I saw for the first time yesterday (the photos are from today).

I expect them to be around for a while and they seem to be integrating well. Whether they arrived under their own steam, or were released, is another matter entirely.

One of the less frequent visitors is also one of our smallest wading birds, the common sandpiper. They tend to be shy (even of other birds), and I spotted this one picking its way through a shaded corner of the pond.

The last photo for today is a rather fine sparrowhawk, which was circling the car park when I arrived back at work after lunch.

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