Category Archives: Behaviour

Baby Blue Tit

The baby blue tits I’ve been listening to for the past week or so are very near to fledging. The adults were busy bringing food back to the nest box, but between visits the young birds were beginning to get their first view of the outside world.

Baby blue tits

Baby blue tits

Baby blue tits

Baby blue tits

And one photo from a few minutes ago. The nicked-ear fox is still cautious, but slowly becoming more tolerant.

fox

Camera note: all blue tit photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox was taken with the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM lens.

Also posted in Birds, Foxes Tagged , , |

Fledgling Time

It’s been a Bank Holiday – hence wet and miserable weather-wise. Yesterday was better which is when I grabbed these first two photos of newly fledged birds.

The first is rather a large baby… a young woodpigeon already showing its aerial capabilities. At this age they tend to look somewhat scrawny and lack the neck markings of the adults.

fledgling woodpigeon

Late yesterday afternoon a small group of more typical fledglings turned up en masse. A family of blue tits. The light was all but gone, but a corner of the garden was just catching the last of the sunshine.

Fledgling blue tit

Today it’s been pretty much a constant drizzle, but fledglings can’t stop for the weather and we had two more visits. Well, there were probably more than that but I was inside sheltering from the rain. First is a young great tit.

Fledgling great tit

And then a little later on the family of blue tits were back. These were taken from the far end of the garden, in the drizzle so apologies for the lack of quality. In the first two frames two fledglings can be seen (one’s at the back, out of focus). The adult then appears and feeds the one nearer the camera before continuing in its search for food.

Fledgling great tit

Fledgling great tit

Fledgling great tit

Fledgling great tit

Fledgling great tit

Camera note: photos 1 and 2 taken with the Canon 7D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. The rest were taken with the trusty EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Also posted in Birds Tagged , , , |

Kestrel plus Young Rats

Two short sequences from today. The first is of a kestrel at Sheepcote Valley early this morning. I stopped off there on my way to work, tramped around the valley for a while without seeing much of anything only to spot the kestrel hovering over the car park as I was about to leave. There was no time to follow it around, so just a couple of photos (nicely set off against the blue sky which conveniently emerged from behind the earlier cloud cover).

kestrel

kestrel

Back at Falmer Pond I think the great tits have fledged, and I think this is one of the youngsters. It was hopping around in the branches of a tree near the nest hole (which was quiet).

Fledgling great tit

As for the rats, they too are busy breeding. They would be. They’re rats. Still, rats can be cute in a roguish sort of way.

rat

Just checking the coast is clear

rat

Looks safe to me

Baby rats

Are you feeling brave?

eats

Sorted!

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, Birds, rats Tagged , , , |