It was a case of pairs this morning. First a pair of cormorants. One was down on the water, fishing in deep shade, but the second was on the wing, circling the pond as the sun rose above the distant Downs.

Cormorant

The second pair were herons. Again one was keeping to the shade down on the water, with the second high overhead. I watched as it circled and came in to land on a tall tree on the far side of the pond.

Heron landing on a tree

Heron landing on a tree

Heron landing on a tree

Heron landing on a tree

Heron landing on a tree

That heron took off into the distance shortly after those photos, but the other heron hung around and despite its attempts to remain hidden in shade it couldn’t avoid cutting across the open pond as it searched out prime fishing locations.

heron

Neither pair were evident at lunchtime, but the water still held some attractions… even furry ones. This rat proved a powerful swimmer.

Swimming rat

swimming rat

It too was one of a pair. Here’s the second rat, sensibly keeping dry.

rat

I still think they’re cute!

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

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Herons look clumsy but they manage to land on trees :up:

  2. Darko, it did extremely well to land there. The branches didn’t look nearly strong enough to hold such a large bird.

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