Tag Archives: rat

A Normal Day at Falmer Pond

It was very much business as usual at Falmer Pond today. The rabbits were out in the fields in the morning. There are plenty of young ones about, looking healthy and bright-eyed.

Rabbit in field

Rabbit in field

The big white goose continues to make splash.

White goose

It can’t compete though with this pair of greylags playing chase across the surface of the pond.

greylag geese

greylag geese

The oddest encounter is this final sequence of the Falmer rats. Not that it’s unusual to see them, but this young rat was being fed scraps of ham by two women who were delighted and intrigued by its cute behaviour, even going so far as to shoo away the ducks in case they frightened it.

rat

rat

rat

All in all, a normal day at Falmer Pond.

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

Posted in rabbit, rats, water birds Also tagged , |

Elegant Young Moorhen

The grey weather is still with us, but that doesn’t really bother juvenile moorhens too much. These are three photos taken yesterday and today of one of the youngsters at the edge of Falmer Pond. I love them at this very elegant stage in their development.

Juvenile moorhen

Juvenile moorhen

Juvenile moorhen

A nearby rat looks to see what all the fuss is about. It wasn’t impressed.

rat

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

Posted in Birds, rats, water birds Also tagged |

Kestrel plus Young Rats

Two short sequences from today. The first is of a kestrel at Sheepcote Valley early this morning. I stopped off there on my way to work, tramped around the valley for a while without seeing much of anything only to spot the kestrel hovering over the car park as I was about to leave. There was no time to follow it around, so just a couple of photos (nicely set off against the blue sky which conveniently emerged from behind the earlier cloud cover).

kestrel

kestrel

Back at Falmer Pond I think the great tits have fledged, and I think this is one of the youngsters. It was hopping around in the branches of a tree near the nest hole (which was quiet).

Fledgling great tit

As for the rats, they too are busy breeding. They would be. They’re rats. Still, rats can be cute in a roguish sort of way.

rat

Just checking the coast is clear

rat

Looks safe to me

Baby rats

Are you feeling brave?

eats

Sorted!

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

Posted in Behaviour, Bird of Prey, Birds, rats Also tagged , , |