This is really the Easter Monday post. We spent the afternoon at Woods Mill, the headquarters of the Sussex Wildlife Trust. We started by checking out the kestrel, and while an adult was in evidence there are – as yet – no signs of the chicks. It may be a few more weeks before they appear.

There were plenty of small birds around (chiffchaffs, robins, long-tailed tits), but the best moments were down by the lake where a pair of little grebes (aka dabchicks) – in full breeding plumage – were parading up and down the water. It was a still day, and we were there towards the end of the afternoon. Near perfect conditions and light, though I would have been even happier if they had come just a little closer to the bank. Anyway, I posted one shot yesterday. Here are a few more.

We also checked out the hide. Lots of blue tits and great tits, plus dunnocks and even a squirrel.

Blue tit at Woods Mill

Blue tit on a feeder

Squirrel in woodland

Just two shots from today (I have plenty more, but this is getting long). The first is a trio of dunnocks in their ritual mating dance. Dunnocks are unusual in that their common breeding group comprises three birds (two males and female – she mates with both males).

The last shots are a first for me. Not the fact that it’s a rat, but that it is perched on a dead carp floating at the side of the pond. Oh yes, it’s also sticking its tongue out! 😛

Rat sticking out its tongue

Rat eating a floating dead carp

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