The morning was a literal washout, with heavy rain putting pay to any thought of getting out with the camera. It brightened up a little later on, but the day was a quiet one with little to draw the camera.

The ducks were at the pond (as they would be). This little white duck is a firm favourite, but tends to stay a little away from people.

White duck on Falmer Pond

rather more sociable is this Muscovy. A relative newcomer to the pond, I’m certain it is a domestic duck. Whenever it sees people it wanders up to them ‘wagging’ its tail feathers! Here he is peering into the camera.

Male Muscovy duck

I’d all but given up hope on finding anything unusual to photograph and was scanning the darker fringes of the pond when I spotted a rare visitor. It was a grey wagtail, which locally at least, are much less common a sighting than the very bold and numerous pied wagtails. The grey is rather more colourful than its name suggests and sport a bright yellow rump and tail.

Grey wagtail

Grey wagtail

Grey wagtail

I’m hoping for some better weather as we head into another Bank Holiday. There’s a chance of heavy rain on Saturday, but beyond that the forecast looks good and we may be in for another mini heatwave (or at least a second dose of summer).

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

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