It was actually sunny today… well, for most of the day. It's raining again now, but it's better than it's been for several days. Down at the pond this morning I spotted a pretty new arrival. A single duckling. Odd to see one on its own (with parent ducks in close attention). Possibly an early arrival, or a sole survivor. I don't know. Anyway here it is, prettily swimming on the water.
Another first sighting of the came at lunchtime. The same pond, but a less welcome species. It's a terrapin (first of the year, and the first time I've photographed one swimming). They are discarded pets, and supposedly don't breed in our climate. That may be so, but they are predatory and I'm sure this one is larger than the ones I saw last year. This may not be good news for the ducklings, though there are plenty of other risks out there for them; in the air, and on land. 
The final shot is a slight break from my normal stuff. I've been trying for ages to get a decent photo of the Amex Community Stadium (Brighton & Hove Albion's home). This I think might be it. 
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
derWandersmann
1 May 2012Very pretty shot of the duckling, Words. The terrapin doesn't show enough for me to identify it precisely, but it looks suspiciously like the yellow-bellied slider, as it is called over here. I didn't know they were native to the UK.
The good ol' boys down south shoot them on logs as they sun themselves, using a .22 rifle, and eat them.
SittingFox
1 May 2012Glad to hear that the rain is easing off a bit. Everyone I've spoken to in England over the last week has been commenting on the, er, drought.
Pretty duckling, and I hope that's the only terrapin in that pond.
gdare
1 May 2012That part of stadium looks like… anything 😀
Words
1 May 2012Adele, we had more 'drought' last night, but today has been fair weather after a damp start. I think there are three terrapins in the pond. 🙁
Words
1 May 2012Darko, I may take some other shots of the stadium at some point to show the rest of it. I'm sure it looks better from the inside.
Words
1 May 2012dW, your identification is spot on. They're not native. There was a fad to have them as pets (mutant ninja turtle-mania) and I suspect these were 'thrown out' when the kids got bored. There are two or three in the pond. In theory it's too cold for them to breed but they are not good for local wildlife. These ones have been in the pond for several years.
Words
5 May 2012Erwin, thanks!
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Very Nice