Tag Archives: greylag gosling

Tufted Ducks at Falmer

May 16, 2015 by Words | 6 Comments

Another day, another surprise. There were four of them… three males and a female tufted duck enjoying the early morning sunshine on Falmer Pond. Clearly passing through (they were gone by lunchtime, but they were a delight to see.

Tufted ducks

Tufted ducks

Tufted ducks

At the edge of the pond a pair of the local rats had found some seed scattered on a rock.

rats

rats

And later in the day, the eight little greylag goslings feasted on plant matter growing on a submerged rock.

greylag goslings

greylag goslings

And then up on to the bank for a well-earned rest.

greylag goslings

greylag goslings

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

Posted in rats, water birds Also tagged , |

Monday Pond Post

July 7, 2014 by Words | 6 Comments

I seem to have been even more intermittent with posts than I intended, but to be honest I’ve not photographed much that I haven’t posted a hundred times before. Still, time to get things moving again for at least a day before the semi-finals kick in (my pick for the final Brazil v Holland). As the title says, this is a pond post featuring some of the regular inhabitants at Falmer.

These two ducks, for example… taking turns standing on a submerged rock.

Duck

Duck

The greylag goslings are growing fast. The first clutch are barely distinguishable from the adults, but this second group still have a fair amount of cuteness factor.

Greylag goslings

The closing sequence is of one of the visitors to the pond (the ducks and geese are resident birds), but it’s a regular. The heron appreciates the thriving fish population and pops in for an early morning snack every now and then.

heron

heron

heron

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

Posted in water birds Also tagged , |

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 , , , , , |