Tag Archives: Buzzard

Mainly Cute

June 17, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

I may be a bit erratic posting over the next two or three weeks (World Cup and all that eating into the evenings), but in the main I should still be making the most of the decent weather to get out and about with the camera. This post combines the best of yesterday and today, and has lots of babies in it.

First up are the herring gull chicks from yesterday morning. This clutch is on one of the green roofs at work. It’s overlooked by a large balcony area so the adults are very used to people being around (but very secure as well). The young gulls seem to enjoy hiding in the vegetation.

herring gull chicks

herring gull chicks

There are lots of young rabbits out in the fields. This pair is also from yesterday. I liked the pose.

Two young rabbits

Keeping on theme, these are the latest clutch of goslings back at Falmer Pond.

Greylag goslings

Plus (the latest arrivals) three pretty little ducklings.

Duckling at Falmer Pond

Moving away from the cuteness theme, I’m going to complete the recent sightings. The rats are always about, but I love photographing them so you are going to have to humour me if you don’t share my enthusiasm for these incredibly adaptive creatures. Plus I do think they are quite cute.

rat

rat

I can’t really pretend buzzards are cute, because they so clearly aren’t. But they are splendid in their own way and I saw a couple flying out over the fields at lunchtime.

buzzard

The final photo for today is the vixen in the garden, from Sunday.

vixen

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, apart from the vixen which was taken with the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM lens.

Posted in Bird of Prey, Foxes, rats, water birds Also tagged , , , , , |

Buzzards Galore, a Brimstone, a wren and a lively squirrel

April 14, 2014 by Words | Comments Off

Today was one of those days when taking a camera out is like being a child in a sweetshop. Too much to choose from, but all of it nice. It started early with this very pretty female blackbird sitting in woodland at the edge of Falmer Pond.

Blackbird

Everything else is from the middle of the day. I headed out in a different direction, taking in t he woodland and fields behind the rear of the campus. It’s an area I’ve wandered over to occasionally, but not explored to its full potential. Odds are I’ll be heading back in that direction while the weather’s fine.

I started with some shots of blue tits. Nothing spectacular, but catching one in flight is always something of a challenge.

Blue tit in flight

I couldn’t get particularly close to them so explored some more accessible trees. I was attracted by the distinctive and persistent call of a wren. They are strongly territorial and sound a constant warning to other birds to keep away.

Wren

Wren

I couldn’t help but notice the large brimstone butterflies flitting along the edge of the field. They are a brilliant yellow in flight, but much harder to spot when they come to rest (when they mimic a leaf rather well).

Brimstone butterfly

That was down at ground level. High overhead another treat was waiting for me. A small group of buzzards came over. Four of them, though I could only manage three together in frame.

Birds of prey

Three buzzards

The fourth buzzard wasn’t faring so well. A pair of rooks had latched on to it and were intent on a quite persistent mobbing.

Buzzard being mobbed by rooks

Buzzard being mobbed by rooks

Buzzard being mobbed by rooks

The final sequence of a lengthy post was somewhere between ground level and the sky… a lively squirrel negotiating its way through the treetops.

squirrel

squirrel

squirrel

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Posted in Bird of Prey, Birds, Butterfly, squirrel Also tagged , , , , , , , |

Why Leave the Garden?

March 9, 2014 by Words | 6 Comments

Why leave the garden? It was another beautiful sunny day. Quite mild, and more time for getting on with the spring clear up. Not that it’s too much of a hardship with so much to see just by looking around. And there’s one big surprise at the end.

Overhead, several buzzards flew over late morning. The gulls chased them without ever really getting serious; just enough to shepherd the buzzards directly over the garden.

Common buzzard over garden

Common buzzard over garden

Common buzzard over garden

The gulls were rather more upset when a heron crossed the sky. They cleared a large passage for it, and by the sound of them were clearly not happy. It’s the first time I’ve seen a heron from the garden so although it was some distance away and the shot isn’t up to much, it’s here as part of the ongoing record.

grey heron over Woodingdean

A good part of the afternoon was spent removing weeds and leaves from the garden pond. It was somewhat neglected last year and was becoming a bit of a tangle. I clean it out by hand and spotted several newts (plus I inadvertently caught one, but quickly returned it to the water). The job’s only part done, but it does mean that tonight I was able to take this photo of one of the many newts.

smooth newt

Slightly off topic is this next shot. It was taken during the day but I’ve converted it to black and white. I had hoped to see a plane leave trails directly across the moon (I think I’ve got a shot like that from several years ago), but this will do.

moon and plane

The big (and very welcome) surprise comes towards the end of these video clips from the trail camera. Plenty of foxes, and a couple of badgers to enjoy.

Watch the video and you’ll know what I’m looking forward to seeing soon!

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens except the newt which was taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

Posted in Badger, Bird of Prey, Foxes, Moon, Newt, water birds Also tagged , , , , |