Category Archives: water birds

Birds and Butterflies

October 30, 2013 by Words | Comments Off

The storm has passed and we are back with fine autumnal weather. Cool, but the skies are clear. Outside tonight I can see Jupiter shining brightly and Orion rising. Much earlier today the skies were blue, perfectly setting off the pure white of a little egret.

Little egret

Little egret

Little egret

The Canada geese were also enjoying the calm.

Canada geese

Canada geese

Canada geese

At lunchtime I stepped out on to the start of the South Downs Way. Here the smaller birds dominate. There was a lone (and very late) swallow overhead, and a colourful jay criss-crossing between the trees.

Jay

If the swallow (the photo is not worth posting) was a late visitor, I was equally surprised to see numerous butterflies including several red admirals and this beautiful clouded yellow.

Clouded yellow butterfly

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

Also posted in Birds, Butterfly, Insects Tagged , , , |

Collared Doves (after the storm)

October 29, 2013 by Words | 2 Comments

The Big Storm of 2013 didn’t really happen for Sussex. We had strong winds, gusts up to around 70mph, and minor damage (some trees and fences down). We missed the brunt of it, but things were a lot worse elsewhere. Locally we were pretty much unscathed, and the worst of the damage I saw was a panel hanging loose on the roof of the Amex Stadium (seen here being fixed before Brighton’s game this evening).

Amex Stadium

The ground this morning was sodden, and the pond at Falmer has filled significantly. I spotted one broken branch and plenty of leaf debris on the ground. The usual birds were around, but the most noticeable sight was the flock of collared doves who were gathered in a large group on the willow in the centre of the pond.

Collared doves

Collared doves

Collared doves

The cormorants are still around. There were three at the pond today, two hiding at the edge of the small island.

cormorants

The third was busy doing exercises 😉

British Coastal Birds

cormorants

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

Also posted in Amex Community Stadium, Birds, Landscape Tagged , , |

All in a Blur (Little Grebe)

October 26, 2013 by Words | Comments Off

The early light has all but vanished (the clocks go back this weekend which should improve things for a while). I was scouting round the fringes of Falmer Pond this morning when I spotted a most unusual little visitor. Not a rat (or even a mouse). This was on the water, and though a familiar sighting in other locations, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one on the pond.

I instinctively grabbed a couple of shots as it darted across the water, but even at ISO 1600 the shutter barely crept to 1/20s (which happens to be about my optimum choice for motion blur).

Little grebe

Little grebe

The title gives it away, but that blur of movement is a little grebe.

It was still there at lunchtime, and the light was much improved. These shots of it swimming among the local ducks gives shows just how small it is. For once, a well-named bird.

Little grebe

Little grebe

At the other end of the size scale comes the cormorant. The light was good, and the cormorant was in a fine posing mood.

Cormorant

Cormorant

Cormorant

Cormorant taking off

That’s all for this evening, though I’ve got some more shots from tonight which I will include at some point tomorrow. Pretty came by, so the inevitable fox photo will be included; but I’ve also got a couple of shots of a levitating newt! Really!

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

Also posted in Birds Tagged , |