Tag Archives: rat

Down at the Pond and into the Woods

Well it was dry today. Dull, with little or no sign of the sun until it was setting in the late afternoon. But dry is good; better than many of the days we’ve had in recent months so I won’t complain.

The early morning sequence was taken at Falmer Pond. It’s still very quiet there at the moment, but I did spot one cute little rat making its way carefully around the edge of the pond. The main route is now via the water.

Out to the edge of tree…
Rat at the edge of Falmer Pond

A strong paddle across the open water…
Rat swimming in Falmer Pond

And then clamber up into something a little more solid and secure.
Rat at the edge of Falmer Pond

I gave the pond a miss at lunchtime, and instead donned some wellington boots and headed off into the woodland at the edge of campus. It’s the first time I’ve been in the woods since the storms, and sure enough there were numerous fallen branches. I think this tree probably came down in a previous storm. It looked too well-set and comfortable to be a recent casualty.

Fallen tree in Westlain Plantation

The next shot was also taken in the woods. It’s the only usable one I managed (and it barely even qualifies as that), but having seen a buzzard flying in and around (and over) the trees several times while I was there I need something to record the encounter. Most of the time it was flying just over the trees, but once or twice it swooped along the paths. I’ve spotted buzzards here before so it wasn’t an unexpected sighting, just a rather good one.

buzzard

Back in the garden I’ve switched the trail camera back over to video. There were a couple of decent clips last night of Pretty with two different foxes (separate encounters). I’ll edit some sequences together over the next few days, but close tonight’s blog with a photo of her from a few minutes ago.

Fox

Camera note: rat and buzzard photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens; woodland scene taken with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens; and the fox with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM.

Posted in Bird of Prey, Foxes, Landscape, rats, Wildlife Also tagged , , , |

Falmer Rats 2014

After a dismal start to the day and a couple of hail showers, the weather cleared to provide a beautiful sunny day. A cormorant was busy at the pond (photos tomorrow), and around the fringes several rats were navigating the fringes, clambering over rocks and swimming across the more difficult gaps. Tonight’s blog features a few of the shots, but there are more in the new Falmer Rats 2014 gallery.

rat on rock

On the edge

Rat swimming

Testing the water

Rat swimming past rock

Swimming past a rock

Rat on rock

And back on dry land.

Rat crossing water

And off once again…

Friday looks like rain, so I’m holding back a few treats until then. Today though was as good as it’s been for a long time.

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

Posted in rats

Rat on a Rock

These photos were taken yesterday (Tuesday), early morning. A rat on a rock, just as it says in the title.

Rat on a rock

Rat on a rock

Rat on a rock

Rat on a rock

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

Posted in rats