Rottingdean Life

By Paul Cecil | Published November 27, 2011

Beautiful sunshine this afternoon, and the winds were moderate. Enough to get me down to Rottingdean again in search of fulmars. I was out of luck with them. It may be too early for nesting and yesterday's sighting may simply have been reconnaissance. The coast is, however, a busy place and there were numerous cormorants enjoy the fishing.

Down on the gravel beach, a young herring gull was making quick work of a crab. Feeding must be good as it didn't have to fight of any rivals and was able to tuck in in relative peace.

The undoubted stars though were the jackdaws. Large numbers inhabit the cliff face (sharing it with pipits, pigeons, and fulmars). Inevitably with such social birds, fights break out over which is the very best nook or cranny in the area.

There are several more photos in the Duelling Jackdaws gallery on my photography site.

By the time I left the sun was setting, and the gulls were gathering at the local watering hole (the local pub) which sits at the top of the cliffs.

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Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF and 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

This entry was posted in coastal, Sunset, water birds and tagged , , .

17 Comments

  1. derWandersmann November 28, 2011 at 5:11 am #

    That first shot is poetry!
    The jackdaws are amazing … and confusing, LOL.

  2. claudeb November 28, 2011 at 7:11 am #

    Not to mention the last.

    Funny birds, these jackdaws.

  3. gdare November 28, 2011 at 3:11 pm #

    Yes, first and last :up:

  4. Cynthia23 November 28, 2011 at 7:11 pm #

    First and last photos are amazing!

  5. Words November 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm #

    Darko, thanks!

  6. Words November 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm #

    Cynthia, thanks too!

  7. Words November 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm #

    Felix, thanks. The gull refused to fly, which is what I was really waiting for. But I got a nice little sequence of it.

  8. Words November 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm #

    dW, thanks! Once in a while I like to have shots with plenty of scenery, and the sea is perfect for that. The jackdaws were great to watch. The photos work best full size as it's hard to see the detail (but it's there).

  9. serola November 29, 2011 at 7:11 am #

    WOW! Excellent pictures

  10. Words November 30, 2011 at 12:11 am #

    Sami, thanks!

  11. Words November 30, 2011 at 12:11 am #

    Erwin, thanks!

  12. SittingFox December 2, 2011 at 7:12 pm #

    Love the sunset and gull shot! And the jackdaws…I saw magpies fighting yesterday. Maybe the corvids think that it's spring already!

  13. Words December 2, 2011 at 10:12 pm #

    Adele, thanks! The gull was perfectly positioned, but it was the jackdaws that really grabbed my attention. Given the warm weather (now fast vanishing) you could be right about the spring in their step.

  14. SittingFox December 3, 2011 at 9:12 am #

    Warm weather? I'm wearing my Saskatchewan-proof coat up here! :smurf:

  15. Words December 3, 2011 at 10:12 pm #

    Ah, the frozen north!

  16. Mickeyjoe-Irl December 6, 2011 at 5:12 pm #

    Originally posted by SittingFox:

    my Saskatchewan-proof coat

    😆

  17. Wulpen October 19, 2012 at 8:10 pm #

    Excellent shots