Everything is Permuted

Sometimes you don't have to go too far to find something worth photographing. These first shots were taken in the garden this morning. The small birds were active on the feeders, and the wood pigeons were strutting as though they owned the place. The gulls were lazily circling overhead. Until, that is, an intruder crossed the sky. The small birds vanished and the gulls called urgently. I looked up. It took me a few moments to find the cause of the disruption to the avian routines, but sure enough a sparrowhawk was out hunting.

Occasionally they'll swoop low into garden, or chase a starling, but most times - as today - the gulls will see them off.
Gull chasing a sparrowhawk

Unlike the sparrowhawk, I rarely see kestrels over the gardens. Different prey means different territory. The sparrowhawk goes after birds, and gardens are like magnets. Kestrels prefer small rodents, and the long grass of the fields suits them rather better. In the afternoon I headed over to the Downs, and once again a male and female were out hunting. The light had deteriorated by then, but I was able to watch the female of the pair for about half an hour as she made repeated passes over the fields.
Kestrel swooping

Female kestrel perching

Finally, a brief fox (non)up-date. Nicked-ear is still around, still being flighty, and still avoiding the camera. Hopefully that will change as the year progresses, but it has given me the opportunity to go back over some old photos for my 'fox of the day' page, which is currently featuring pictures taken in January 2008 (when I was still calling nicked-ear the 'shy' vixen... seems I might have to start calling her that again). Here she is from January 24th, last year.
The shy vixen (nicked-ear), January 2008

Camera note: sparrowhawk and kestrel photos taken with the Canon EOS 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The vixen was photographed with the Canon EOS 400D and Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.