Some familiar faces and an unusual rabbit

The winter light is so good that inevitably I gathered several more photos today. Regular visitors will recall the somewhat blurred shot of a lapwing from Tuesday's post. Well, I had another sighting today, in more or less the same spot. This time though I was able to track it as it flew overhead and although far from the best b-i-f (bird in flight) I've managed, at least it's in focus this time.
Lapwing

There were plenty of the more common local birds in the vicinity, including this crow which flew past while I was surveying the fields from an excellent raised vantage point.
Crow

And I can hardly ignore the robins, which seem to be falling over themselves to get in front of the camera at the moment. This one seemed quite intent on being noticed.
Robin

The final shot tonight is more of a reference photo. I was unable to get anywhere near the subject, but spotted it in the distance and took a few frames as I tried (unsuccessfully) to get within proper range of the lens. Nothing particularly unusual about the species. It's a rabbit, and we have countless rabbits around here. What made this one special though was the colour. It's a black (melanistic) variant, the first such one I've seen in the wild. Melanism, is a pigmentation variant caused by an excess of melanin (logical) and is occasionally seen in foxes, squirrels, rabbits (evidently), and cats (among other mammals). The photo is heavily cropped.
Black (melanistic) rabbit
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Tags: , , ,

This Post Has 21 Comments

  1. Dudley

    10 Jan 2009

    Love those robins

  2. Flying Red Fox Blog

    10 Jan 2009

    Wow nice photo os the Lapwing and Crow and Robin 😀 The Black Rabbit is a pub near Arundel lol 😆

    I hope to go to Gatwick today but delayed myself (should be on the train now…) due to forecasted freezing fog and -8c temps lol, only woth it if you can see what you are looking at! So going to wait until sunrise.

    EDIT: Iam going to try Gatwick tomorrow now as the forecast isnt good for today, BBC Weather seems to not show the actual fog and cloud, good thing i waited until daylight. 🙂

  3. SittingFox

    10 Jan 2009

    Oh, you caught a black rabbit! :yes: I've seen one or two but never got a picture. They're beautiful, really striking. They sure stand out against the grass though! :right:

    Love the "fingers" on the crow's wings :up:

  4. cakkleberrylane

    10 Jan 2009

    Stunning catch of the black rabbit! Great bird shots too!

  5. gdare

    10 Jan 2009

    I don`t think I have ever seen black rabbit. Black crows, on the other hand…. 😀

  6. Words

    10 Jan 2009

    Lois, thanks! The rabbitw was certainly unexpected.

  7. Words

    10 Jan 2009

    Darko, black crows are easy :lol:. How about a bald blackbird 😉

  8. Words

    10 Jan 2009

    Mark, thanks! It was bitterly cold today, barely got above freezing. Not a good day for being outside :smurf: Should be a bit better tomorrow. I hope so!

  9. Words

    10 Jan 2009

    Adele, thanks. I was pleased with the crow. It came across at a perfect height. I saw the rabbit in the distance, well to be truthful I saw 'something' in the distance. The binoculars came in handy for seeing what it was, and having seen it I of course had to investigate.

  10. gdare

    10 Jan 2009

    😆

  12. Words

    10 Jan 2009

    Andy, thanks. They're being great at the moment.

  13. Words

    10 Jan 2009

    Doug, I thought of you as soon as I saw it. I may go back to try to get more photos as I assume I caught it near one of its main warren exits.

  14. Ukwildlife

    10 Jan 2009

    lol I thought of TBR too when I saw a black rabbit a few months ago.

    Great pics btw 🙂

  15. Cynthia23

    11 Jan 2009

    @@ This crow! Yes! This is what crow always looks like to me! Hahahaa … Well done, Words! :up: OH, and so sweet this robin photo! But, this black rabbit I have never seen in nature before, only in cages. WOW! Really cool!

  16. Words

    11 Jan 2009

    Cynthia, thanks. With crows it's all down to the light, but the dropped wings were perfect for catching what detail there is.

  17. Words

    11 Jan 2009

    Neil, yes I guess there must be quite a few of us who see a black rabbit and think of TBR!

  18. sprogger

    17 Jan 2009

    Excellent pics, I particularly like the one of the crow

  19. Words

    17 Jan 2009

    Thanks Sprogger!

  20. Vulpes vulpes

    21 Jan 2009

    Are you sure the rabbit hadn't just been playing in the coal house? :p

  21. Words

    21 Jan 2009

    LOL!

Comments are closed.

Close Menu