Little Bird, Big Birds

By Words | Published December 18, 2012

Two very different sequences today, all taken at lunchtime. The morning had the usual cormorants and some reddish (but cloudy) skied. By lunchtime the sun had emerged and Falmer pond and village were looking fine.

Over on the far bank (as seen from the previous shot) a pied wagtail was pecking around looking for food. I took more shots than were necessary, but here are just a couple.

As I was heading back to work I happened to glance back down towards the fields beyond the pond. It's always a bit tricky judging distances, but it can't have been less than about half a mile away that a slight disturbance over the ground caught my eye. A pair of buzzards were jousting. These shots (bar one) are all fairly outrageous crops and don't really capture the full sense of seeing these magnificent birds showing off all their intricate moves.

This next shot is uncropped.

And now the same frame cropped at 100%.

The buzzards moved away from the open field shortly after that and presented the challenge of capturing them against the dense and dark background of the local wood.

At that point I had to leave to get back to work, but there was one more treat in store. A lone spitfire flew over in the distance. It's a Mark IX, built in 1944. More information on it (and a much better photo) can be found over here.

Not a bad day at all.
Nature Blog Network
site stats
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

This entry was posted in Bird of Prey, Birds, Uncategorized and tagged , , .

13 Comments

  1. derWandersmann December 19, 2012 at 4:12 am #

    I agree.

  2. SittingFox December 19, 2012 at 8:12 am #

    Interesting sequence of the buzzards. For large birds, they're certainly in command of their wings.

  3. gdare December 20, 2012 at 1:12 am #

    I've never seen a photo of training version of Spitfire before. Thanks for posting it :up:

  4. Words December 21, 2012 at 11:12 pm #

    dW, thanks!

  5. Words December 22, 2012 at 12:12 am #

    Adele, there's little that beats watching buzzards duelling in the air. They are spectacular birds. I only wish I'd been a few hundred yards closer.

  6. Words December 22, 2012 at 12:12 am #

    Darko, a pleasure. That rear 'bump' had me confused until I found which particular plane it was. I love the way aircraft identification is so easy.

  7. gdare December 22, 2012 at 3:12 am #

    Now you've reminded me on Opera user Mark, he was a regular visitor of your blog. He was excellent in aircraft identification :up:

  8. ICU109 December 22, 2012 at 7:12 am #

    sweet wagtail pics

  9. ICU109 December 22, 2012 at 7:12 am #

    And nice Christmas fox at top! how did u get him to pose with the hat? lol! I kid.

  10. Words December 30, 2012 at 2:12 pm #

    Darko, he's still plane spotting!

  11. Words December 30, 2012 at 2:12 pm #

    Kathy, thanks! Foxes love dressing up :right:

  12. ICU109 January 14, 2013 at 2:01 pm #

    lol! don't forget to grab me a pup!

  13. Words January 14, 2013 at 11:01 pm #

    Kathy, LOL! I might manage a photo if we're lucky.