I''m going to start today's post with a couple of shots left over from yesterday, including these house martins which were busy gathering mud for nests. 
And from the latter end of yesterday a shot of a fulmar squeezing itself into a hollow in the cliffs at Rottingdean.
The young moorhens were out again this morning. They are such wonderfully bizarre little things that I can never quite believe they are real. They seem to be doing well enough though, and they have two doting parents to look after them.
The big sighting of the day came as I was leaving work to the sound of a very loud housemartin.
If that picture has left you bemused (and I can see why it might), then I should explain. The boxes (presumably full of gig merchandise) are inside the Falmer Stadium which is hosting the Fatboy Slim 'Big Beach Boutique' gig (FbS aka Norman Cook, one time member of the Housmartins). That was convoluted to say the least, but anyway the music was starting up as I was leaving work. In fact it had been going for a while, but by 5.00pm the volume was beginning to increase. The usual squadron of gulls that circles overhead at just about every time of day were absent. I thought maybe the music had driven them away, but a second scan of the skies suggested that their absence was for a quite different reason.
Gliding in at a relatively modest altitude was the unmistakeable shape of a red kite. Maybe it was attracted by the 120bpm music (maybe not) but it was by some way the closest encounter I've had with a red kite over the Sussex Downs. The shots aren't great (poor light and they were grabbed very rapidly), but I'm not going to not post them 😉
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
gdare
2 Jun 2012:alien: chicks 😀
derWandersmann
2 Jun 2012LOL Yes, they are very queer-looking.
The kite shots are interesting.
SittingFox
2 Jun 2012Another red kite sighting! Beautiful, beautiful bird.
Words
3 Jun 2012dW, the oddest little chicks on the pond. The kite was a very welcome sighting. They are slowly colonizing this part of the country but we are still on the outer edge of their range. Good to see them here.
Words
3 Jun 2012Darko, alien, very alien!
Words
3 Jun 2012Adele, the kites do seem to be slowly increasing in number locally. Always wonderful to see.