{"id":2450,"date":"2012-11-18T23:11:40","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T23:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/archives\/2450"},"modified":"2013-11-03T00:24:59","modified_gmt":"2013-11-03T00:24:59","slug":"on-the-cliff-edge-rottingdean-to-saltdean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/on-the-cliff-edge-rottingdean-to-saltdean\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Cliff Edge (Rottingdean to Saltdean)"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

For the first time in several weeks I ventured down to Rottingdean and headed along the Undercliff Walk to Saltdean. I had hoped that the fulmars might have returned for the winter, but it may be too early for them. There were plenty of black-headed gulls, jackdaws, and pigeons about, with the occasional rock pipit also foraging in the cliff-side shrubs.
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The sea was beautifully still, and the tide was in. Pretty, but not generally the best conditions for spotting sea birds. They come in closer when the tide is out, and the feeding grounds exposed. So in the absence of much to cause me to pause, I wandered along the mile towards Saltdean and a good vantage point of the more distant Telscombe cliffs which had appeared to be the destination of a large flock of cormorants. The walk peters out before you can get too close the cliffs (there's another route to the top of them, but time was short as the sun was already dropping close to the horizon) and so I went as far I could. The following photos are all fairly brutal crops.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the cormorants were indeed high on the cliff. Lots of them.
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The cormorants were taking it in turns to circuit over the cliffs, but it was the next cliff along the coast that really caught my eye. Little more than dots to the naked eye, there was no doubt about their identity through the lens. A pair of peregrines were sitting out enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.
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Occasionally a cormorant would fly over to take a closer look. The peregrines stoically ignored them.
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The same can't be said for the cormorants when one of the peregrines took to the air.
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Mass exodus!
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Those were the final shots, apart from one of the setting sun as I headed back to Rottingdean after what had proved to be a very successful couple of hours.
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\"Nature<\/a><\/span>
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Camera note: all bird shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 400mm f\/5.6L USM lens. Sunset taken with the EF 200mm f\/2.8L II USM lens. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[990,980,1044,1003,1022,989],"tags":[449,302,516,1139],"class_list":["post-2450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bird-of-prey","category-birds-2","category-coastal","category-landscape-2","category-sunset-landscape-2","category-water-birds-birds-2","tag-cormorant","tag-peregrine","tag-rock-pipit","tag-sunset","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t