I had some great moments today

I got to spend a couple of hours today out with some colleagues roaming the south downs. The weather wasn't too good. We even had some sleet. Photographically not the best day out, but I had two encounters that are worth reporting on. The photos aren't great but the moments were special to me.

The magpie versus the kestrel

We were on the wrong side of the field to see this, but in the distance a kestrel was worrying some magpies. The camera was set up for an altogether different sort of shot, but I managed to squeeze these two of the magpie getting the better of the kestrel.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker
Regular readers will recall my frustration at photographing a woodpecker. Well thanks to my colleagues I now know where to look. And today I was rewarded with two fleeting glimpses. It's much smaller than I expected and these are hefty crops. But they absolutely are of a Great Spotted Woodpecker! 😀

If you are having trouble seeing the woodpeckers (they seem web averse at times as well :eyes: ), you can find them in the March Birds album.

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This Post Has 11 Comments

  1. anonymous

    20 Mar 2007

    Zachary writes:

    That action shot of the magpie and kestrel is impressive!

  2. Flying Red Fox Blog

    20 Mar 2007

    Lovelly pics, iam glad you got the change to get a spotted woodpecker on camera:) The magpie chasing the kestrel must have been funny:P

  3. SittingFox

    20 Mar 2007

    Yes, very impressive action sequence :up: I assume a kestrel would get the better of an actual fight and it goes to show how important bluffing is in the animal world.

    Magpies really are very persistant in defence of their nests. I saw a couple chasing a squirrel away once.

  4. anonymous

    20 Mar 2007

    Anonymous writes:

    not able to see the gsw

  5. anonymous

    20 Mar 2007

    Anonymous writes:

    Anonymous – it was there when I first looked, but all the pics have moved over to the right since I admired them. Hope it straightens up again soon.

  6. anonymous

    20 Mar 2007

    Greendove writes:

    That second magpie pic is so funny. The magpie looks as it it's leaping rather than flying, though of course it's an optical illusion. How marvellous that you were there to catch the moment.

  7. Words

    20 Mar 2007

    Odd that the pix were playing up. I've just tested on three different browsers and it seems fine now. Put it down to the gremlins, and the fact that GSWs really don't much like being seen 😉

  8. SittingFox

    20 Mar 2007

    I couldn't see the woodpecker when I looked at this on my work computer, but it seems fine on my home one :confused:

  9. SittingFox

    21 Mar 2007

    I'm looking at this again at work and the woodpecker has disappeared once more 🙁 Can't see why. I'm using IE6 (not through choice, I hasten to add :rolleyes:) and 1024 x 768. Were the images more than 550pixels wide? I'm wondering if this system isn't resizing them automatically.

  10. anonymous

    21 Mar 2007

    Anonymous writes:

    Still unable to see GSW,but the Magpie and Kestrel
    pictures are amazing

  11. Words

    21 Mar 2007

    I've put a link in the thread to the album. The images are the full size version (900×600) but should resize with the blog software to fit. Strange.

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