I was at Falmer Pond early this morning. As I walked around the fringe of the pond, watching the gulls and ducks, a loud, distinctive call caught my attention. Something was lurking nearby, but away from the pond. I investigated the small, narrow village streets. The village is tiny and it didn’t take me long to track down the source of the slightly raucous calls. It was, as I suspected, the Grand Old Lady of Falmer, otherwise better known as the local pea hen.

I’ve seen her on and off for several years. She’s something of a fixture in the village, but for much of the year stays out of sight. It was nice to see her again, though she quickly popped down into a local garden.

I let her be and explored the pond life. The heron provided the pick of the morning shots.

I was back at lunchtime. The heron was gone for the day, and the pea hen had returned to wherever it is she hides out. There were, however, plenty of new arrivals to see, including a clutch of newly fledged house sparrows, very appropriately perched on the roof of a local house.

It’s always good to see young sparrows as their numbers have declined significantly in recent years. The population locally seems healthy though. As well as sparrows, there are other local house-dwellers: the house martins. Their young are still safely snuggled up in their nests (constructed from the pond-side mud) and securely cemented to the eaves of the local houses. They look like they’ll be ready to leave the nest very soon, but for now they are happy just to be fed.

In case you’re wondering, I watched for a little longer and saw this…

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