Category Archives: rats

Greedy Little Rat, Hungry Fish

March 7, 2014 by Words | 5 Comments

There was hint of sunshine this morning. It didn’t last and we’re currently shrouded in mists this evening, high up in the South Downs. But the sun was nice while it was there, and it brought out the early morning duck feeders to Falmer pond. I’m sure the ducks did well enough, but whatever the ducks don’t get, there are always other hungry and watchful creatures around determined not to miss out on the free grub.

rat

rat

Patience proved to be a virtue, and after several scurries back out of sight, the rat was rewarded with by the appearance of several pieces of bread.

rat with bread

With each piece it would disappear into the undergrowth, before re-emerging a minute or two later empty handed. I watched its route each time.

rat with bread

rat with bread

This is where it was taking its hand-outs. To the top of the tree in the left of this shot. I suspect it may have a nest up there. It stands just over 6 feet high, and it undoubtedly safe from any potential flooding. Wise little rat who lives in a tree 😉

tree

Later in the day a similar pattern played out as some of the lunchtime duck-feeders distributed more bread. This time the bread was going into the water, not on the bank. A lesser black-backed gull circled several times and took its share, but the main beneficiaries were the carp.

carp eating bread

carp eating bread

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

Also posted in Fish Tagged , |

Sunny Day at Falmer Pond

March 5, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

More sunshine today, though I didn’t have long to enjoy it. Still, it was a pleasure not to be dodging rain and there were some nice images among the few photos I had time to take.

In this first one a moorhen investigates the No Fishing sign.

Moorhen and No Fishing sign

And here’s a simple portrait shot of one of its kin, on the glassy still water. Not only no rain, but no wind. 🙂

Moorhen on still pond

The gulls were largely absent, so it was relatively quiet as well; until some noisy ducks flew in over the village.

Trio of ducks flying past village cottage

Duck landing in pond

It took some searching out, but I eventually also found one of the local rats. It had eluded me at first as it was sitting several feet above the water, resting in the fine branches of an overhanging tree.

Rat in tree above Falmer Pond

Rat in tree above Falmer Pond

Rat in tree above Falmer Pond

Back home, Pretty’s mange treatment seems to be having some effect. She’s still scratching at her coat, but much less intensely than before. She is probably now the most consistent of all the fox visitors we’ve had in about 9 years of watching them. There’s barely been a week when she hasn’t appeared, and generally she shows up several times a day.

Fox scratching

Fox not scratching

Camera note: all daytime photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox photos are with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

Also posted in Foxes, mange, water birds Tagged , , , , , |

Down at the Pond and into the Woods

February 18, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

Well it was dry today. Dull, with little or no sign of the sun until it was setting in the late afternoon. But dry is good; better than many of the days we’ve had in recent months so I won’t complain.

The early morning sequence was taken at Falmer Pond. It’s still very quiet there at the moment, but I did spot one cute little rat making its way carefully around the edge of the pond. The main route is now via the water.

Out to the edge of tree…
Rat at the edge of Falmer Pond

A strong paddle across the open water…
Rat swimming in Falmer Pond

And then clamber up into something a little more solid and secure.
Rat at the edge of Falmer Pond

I gave the pond a miss at lunchtime, and instead donned some wellington boots and headed off into the woodland at the edge of campus. It’s the first time I’ve been in the woods since the storms, and sure enough there were numerous fallen branches. I think this tree probably came down in a previous storm. It looked too well-set and comfortable to be a recent casualty.

Fallen tree in Westlain Plantation

The next shot was also taken in the woods. It’s the only usable one I managed (and it barely even qualifies as that), but having seen a buzzard flying in and around (and over) the trees several times while I was there I need something to record the encounter. Most of the time it was flying just over the trees, but once or twice it swooped along the paths. I’ve spotted buzzards here before so it wasn’t an unexpected sighting, just a rather good one.

buzzard

Back in the garden I’ve switched the trail camera back over to video. There were a couple of decent clips last night of Pretty with two different foxes (separate encounters). I’ll edit some sequences together over the next few days, but close tonight’s blog with a photo of her from a few minutes ago.

Fox

Camera note: rat and buzzard photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens; woodland scene taken with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens; and the fox with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM.

Also posted in Bird of Prey, Foxes, Landscape, Wildlife Tagged , , , , |