Category Archives: Landscape

West Pier and other Brighton Sights

May 18, 2014 by Words | 5 Comments

We had to go down into Brighton today and while we were in town we made the most of the beautiful sunshine and went for a stroll along the promenade. The area near the Palace Pier (the lively, fairground pier) was mobbed, as might be expected on what was probably the warmest Sunday of the year so far. We headed west towards the quieter Hove end of the promenade and the West Pier, which for me far outshines its more successful sibling.

More of the West Pier collapsed during the winter storms, but for all that it remains a wonderfully iconic feature. Click on the image to enlarge (it should roughly fill your screen).

West Pier, Brighton

Many years ago I used to live on the sea front in Hove. That was when I was a student (late 1970s). I was in a basement at the far end of Brunswick Terrace. The place was damp, dingy and running with rodents. It was also huge, with an 80 foot corridor running the length of it. The buildings have had something of a face lift since those days and now go for a not so small fortune.

Brunswick Terrace

I didn’t notice when I took this photo, but if you look to the right-hand side at the ice cream van you’ll notice someone standing just in front of it filming with a tripod. And down at ground level, this sign. I’ve no idea whether it is for real or not, but it seems so typically Brighton (or Hove, actually… by about 50 yards).

ice cream for dogs

Brighton (and Hove) is certainly quirky, and is the only place in the country with a Green MP and a Green Council (ironically we also have some of the worst recycling rates in the UK and they’ve got worse under the Green regime). With the Euro elections this week the Green Party Bus was out drumming up support (there was a distinct lack of activity in its vicinity while we were there). The bus, I’m told, runs on bio-fuel (aka re-used cooking oil).

Green Party Bus

As for wildlife you probably expect some gulls, or possibly a cormorant. They were certainly around, though the latter were out of range of my 70-300mm lens. I’ve got something rather better though. These shots were taken as we walked up West Street, just off the seafront.

Peregrine falcon over West Street, Brighton

Peregrine falcon over West Street, Brighton

Peregrine falcon over West Street, Brighton

Unmistakably a peregrine falcon, and almost certainly one of the pair that breed on the roof of Sussex Heights, a towering block of flats in central Brighton.

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS lens.

Also posted in Bird of Prey, coastal, Seaside Views Tagged , , , , , |

From Sheepcote to Ovingdean

May 5, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

Another reasonably sunny day and a chance to take another local walk, this time from Sheepcote Valley to Ovingdean, along a winding path between the fields.

Path from Sheepcote Valley to Ovingdean

The skylarks were out in number, filling the air with their insistent trilling as they hovered and hunted out insects.

skylark

When they come down to land, they hide in the thicker grass where they are almost impossible to see. I was startled by this one taking to the air (or perhaps it was startled by me).

skylark

Further along, the song changed to that of the whitethroat. This one was flitting in and out of the hedgerow. There were young about, but well hidden and being well guarded by the adults.

whitethroat

whitethroat

Two more treats greeted me when I reached Ovingdean. At the farm just outside the village a pair of pheasants ran across the path. This is the male. The female had scurried away between some farm buildings.

pheasant

I’ve saved the best (in terms of sightings) until last. The swallows and house martins arrived in Sussex a couple of weeks or so ago, but today they were joined by the latest arrival from Africa, the swift. Summer is now officially on the way. About a dozen were flying over the farm, inevitably proving a difficult challenge to capture in a photo so I was more than pleased to manage two swifts in one shot. There really is nothing quite like a swift for sheer aerial grace.

Swifts

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

Also posted in Birds Tagged , , , , |

Fox and Badger Video

April 15, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

This is a bit of a mixed bag. I spent most of my free time looking for small woodland birds. I could hear them, but getting a clear line of sight proved somewhat more difficult. I had better luck with the speckled wood butterflies which were out in number.

Speckled wood butterfly

This is a view of the woodland path I was following. It’s very pretty and runs adjacent to the fields where I was photographing buzzards yesterday.

woodland path

I made a very brief visit to the pond at Falmer Village to check up on the moorhen chicks. They’re doing fine. 😀

Moorhen chick and adult

Back home the garden is lively at night with foxes and badgers. I’ve even managed a couple of direct sightings of the bolder of the still shy pack. This is from last night.

fox

The trail camera is doing rather better than me at the moment and there are some nice behavioural interactions among these clips of foxes and badgers taken over the past two nights.

I’ll close with the moon from this evening. It’s just a few hour past full and was still quite low in the sky when I took this.

moon

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

Also posted in Badger, Behaviour, Butterfly, Foxes, Moon, South Downs National Park, water birds Tagged , , , , , , , , |