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.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
derWandersmann
19 Dec 2012I agree.
SittingFox
19 Dec 2012Interesting sequence of the buzzards. For large birds, they're certainly in command of their wings.
gdare
20 Dec 2012I've never seen a photo of training version of Spitfire before. Thanks for posting it :up:
Words
21 Dec 2012dW, thanks!
Words
22 Dec 2012Adele, 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.
Words
22 Dec 2012Darko, 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.
gdare
22 Dec 2012Now you've reminded me on Opera user Mark, he was a regular visitor of your blog. He was excellent in aircraft identification :up:
ICU109
22 Dec 2012sweet wagtail pics
ICU109
22 Dec 2012And nice Christmas fox at top! how did u get him to pose with the hat? lol! I kid.
Words
30 Dec 2012Darko, he's still plane spotting!
Words
30 Dec 2012Kathy, thanks! Foxes love dressing up :right:
ICU109
14 Jan 2013lol! don't forget to grab me a pup!
Words
14 Jan 2013Kathy, LOL! I might manage a photo if we're lucky.