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Tales of a South Downs fox... and other ramblings

Birds on the Sussex Downs

Saturday, 10. October 2009, 22:42:43

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The inconsistency of English weather is almost the only consistent thing about it. Today we had sunshine. A few gulls were noisily roof hopping along the gardens, and a sparrowhawk glided serenely overhead while I was bagging up some garden cuttings.




A squirrel was flitting back and forth along the fence, and a goldfinch rested briefly in the trees.

Later I headed out to the Downs, to the start of the Castle Hill nature reserve. A beautiful spot and one I should explore more often. The kestrels were out, hovering over the edge of the valley.


Down below, a small flock of magpies were raucously making their presence known.


While in the distance a lone pheasant was grazing the rich pickings in the fields.


The crows meanwhile were fence-post hopping.


There were sheep on the hills, and a few cattle. The herd of ponies we saw a week or so ago were still there too.


Up above, the skylarks were singing.


And the vibrant yellowhammers were busily flying from tree to tree.


All told, a perfect autumn afternoon.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

And then there were three (foxes)Seafood Special (Great Black-Backed Gull)

Comments

Darko 11. October 2009, 05:53

I saw a pheasant few days ago, on the edge of a park in Belgrade :faint: I was in a bus and didn`t have time to grab camera. It was so unexpected, center of a Belgrade is only 10 minutes away and I can`t remember if I ever saw one there :eyes:

Nice photo of a kestrel :up:

Adele 11. October 2009, 12:20

Looks very pleasant back in England! That's a great photo of the kestrel, but the gull is marvelous with the light in its wings :up:

Mark Jones 11. October 2009, 18:05

Very cool! I saw a Kestrel at Heathrow yesterday, it was hovering quite dangerously on t6he flightpath of planes before it flew away....... then i heard on my scanner that a plane reported hitting a bird on touchdown! :no:

Then the runway checker reported it to be a Pigeon, poor Pigeon but glad the Kestrel was ok! P: oh and the plane too of course!

Words 11. October 2009, 21:09

Darko, I did see another pheasant, much closer. I heard some noise over a hedge and went to look. It took off and flew straight past me. I was too startled to get a photo!

Words 11. October 2009, 21:15

Adele, one day pleasant, one day not seems to be the rhythm at the moment. I got a series of that gull. I liked the way this particular of the kestrel shot showed the alulas fully extended.

Words 11. October 2009, 21:16

Mark, I'm glad to hear that the kestrel escaped (and the plane, yes... and the plane), though I'm sure the local sparrowhawks will lament the loss of the pigeon :whistle:

Darko 12. October 2009, 05:08

:lol:

studio41 13. October 2009, 08:34

like the colour in the last photo, striking picture of the bird!

Words 13. October 2009, 19:33

Thanks Jill. They are just about the brightest coloured bird I see.

studio41 14. October 2009, 06:23

they are wonderful. I get excited when I see a splash of colour across the sky... the occastional cardinal, goldfinch or jay, but other than that just a robin redbreast...

Neil 14. October 2009, 20:14

Great photos, taking advantage of the good light well :smile:

Words 15. October 2009, 06:36

Thanks Neil!

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