A bit of a gloomy day on the weather front, but it was dry and the sea is always worth a look on days like this. The tide may have been out when I headed down to Rottingdean, but the gulls were in.
Feeding was the order of the day, but you have to hang on to what you've got and that's not always easy.
The most interesting sighting was a juvenile greater black backed gull, handily standing alongside a smaller herring gull which makes for a good comparison of these two species.
To sign off, another in the increasingly regular sequence of fox and badger encounters. This one is from last night. The fox clearly knows its place in the garden pecking order.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Video via the Bushnell Trophy Cam.
derWandersmann
1 Oct 2012Love that first pic, Words!
And the crab sequence is interesting … I wonder why he dropped it?
studio41
1 Oct 2012Originally posted by derWandersmann:
munched what he wanted & not a member of the clean plate club? no butter sauce? 😀
nice photos!
Words
1 Oct 2012Jill, I feel sorry for the crabs being tossed about like that, chewed and spat out. So undignified!
Words
1 Oct 2012dW, thanks! The gulls just lifted up en masse when I got that first shot. Something must have spooked them. Gulls often drop what they're carrying. It's the thrill of the chase and sometimes personal survival takes over from mere greed when there are too many other gulls joining in.
gdare
2 Oct 2012And this is a juvenile gull? :insane:
SittingFox
3 Oct 2012Excellent shot of the two gull species. Herring gulls look big enough when they're loitering about town but the great black backs are almost albratrosses!
And the gull in the first shot was perhaps suffering from beak-ache, trying to hold a crab like that!
derWandersmann
3 Oct 2012Originally posted by Words:
I expect that some other birds will attend to cleaning up.
Words
3 Oct 2012Adele, the size difference was more accentuated with the juveniles, but interesting to see. We seem to have a fair few of the larger species around at the moment. A good year for them.
With the tide out I often wonder why the gulls work so hard to feed. There are easy pickings everywhere.
Words
3 Oct 2012Darko, yes that;'s a youngster. Big though! Black-backed gulls are extremely large, and quite aggressive.
studio41
5 Oct 2012My casual joking and nonchalance sounds calloused as you put it that way. My children and I watched a bald eagle span the sky with its prey (some time ago)- it landed in a tree and we continued to watch as it devoured its dinner, not by intention or greed allowing any to fall away-
yet, there it was, hair and flesh pecked and falling about as the eagle ravaged to appease its ravaging appetite. I was rather disgusted by it and yet fascinated enough that we were witnessing it, with camera in tow. I was turned off as I walked beneath the tree to continue our hike- bit of the prey landing all about me as I couldn't avoid walking underneath to continue on the path.
But, feeling sorry for the field mouse I wasn't. The natural order of nature. My daughter felt terribly for (was it a?) mouse.
Words
5 Oct 2012Jill, I wasn't getting at you at all. Watching birds of prey feast is fascinating, and as you say there's no point in feeling bad about the prey animals. The relationships between species is complex, and they pretty much need each other to maintain an appropriate and supportive environment. On an individual level it seems harsh, but the cycle continues to turn.
derWandersmann
6 Oct 2012The rough bit it watching a smaller hawk eat something about its own size … they are not always careful (indeed, they may be unable) to kill before they eat. The cries and struggles of the prey are difficult to take.
Words
8 Oct 2012dW, the only time I've witnessed a real struggle was a stoat with a rabbit.
studio41
12 Oct 2012Originally posted by Words:
yes, as you say… must admit the eaten and tossed down photo has colour and interest…
would make a good painting, if I could paint. perhaps in its splendour, it would make an even better one!
Words
18 Oct 2012Originally posted by studio41:
It would still make a good painting, even if you can't (neither can I as it happens). 😉