Everything is Permuted

After the recent diversions it's back to two of my favourites: kestrels and foxes.

The kestrel was a bit of a surprise. I spotted it near the car park at work this morning and followed it as it tree-hopped along the edge of the woods.
Kestrel against the trees

When I finally got close enough for a reasonable shot I realized I'd stumbled upon a youngster of only a few months. It wasn't keen on being photographed and I kept my distance so this is cropped quite heavily. Pretty little thing though. The adult was nearby, circling just beyond some trees.
Young kestrel

I checked out the local pond at lunchtime, but there was no sign of the injured duck. I'll go back next week to see if it is still around (it may already have been rescued as there are a number of regular duck feeders there, and the pond is on the edge of a quiet village green).

While I was there I did manage (easily) my best shots yet of a house martin. Capturing these in flight is on a par with photographing swifts. They twist, turn and swoop ceaselessly and at speed. Two shots from about 50 is decent hit rate in my book
House martin

House martin, pond skimming

This evening though belongs to the foxes. While I was typing the first part of this entry we heard a noise outside. Two cubs were play-fighting on the patio just outside the window One shot off almost immediately, and the second retreated to the rear of the garden (the trail cam will have some footage). No photos, but a joy to see them behaving like that.

Earlier, the bold vixen called by. She was in one of her more quiet moods and sat down on the (wet) grass just a few feet away from me. I ignored the damp, and sat down with her. She's like this occasionally, seemingly just wanting company (or maybe I'm just less hassle than the cubs). This was taken with the lens at 50mm.
The bold vixen

Her eye is virtually healed

Posing for a portrait

Finally a bit of trail cam footage from last night. Six visitors over the course of the night: the bold vixen, a fox cub, a hedgehog, a cat, a badger and (very briefly) a bat. The bat is right at the end. There's also a moth or two in there, but they don't count.



Camera note: the daytime shots all taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens; the fox photos were with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM.

After the recent dismal weather, today turned out to be bright, moderately warm and just a touch windy. The butterflies were back in the garden, most noticeably a pair of painted ladies. Their colour has deepened slightly from the early season visitors, but their willingness to be photographed is undiminished.







The butterflies were doing their best to shelter from the wind, and in the relative security of the garden they didn't have to contend with the worst of it. Not so, the coastal birds.




It was somewhat less windswept a few hundred yards inland, where we came across a family of moorhens on a village pond.
Moorhen feeding its young



The day ended back on the downs, trying in vain to find some shelter from the winds. The kestrels were about, hunting over the long grass with a fair degree of success. Usually they carry prey in their talons, so it was a surprise to see this.





Camera note: the butterflies were photographed with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens. The rest were taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM.

I'm never sure it's a good idea to give precise locations in these instances, but the following photos were taken at a local nature reserve in Sussex. I'd gone in search of demoiselle dragonflies, but before we made it to the ponds we came across one of the nesting boxes. There were four young kestrels skipping in and out, and over a period of time we were rewarded with the adult male coming in twice with prey. The first time the chicks disappeared into the box with it. On the second feeding, the largest of the chicks kept the kill (a bank vole by the look of it) to itself.

This is a small selection of photos. There are more over on my website.

First there was one

Kestrel chick in profile

Then two more appeared

Three's a crowd

Four young kestrels

The adult is overhead

Delivering the food

Off hunting again

Second delivery

The handover

The handover continues

The greedy chick doesn't share this time

Two chicks waiting for Papa!

All the shots were taken from a safe distance away, and many are heavily cropped. I also took some video which has a fairly lengthy feeding sequence near the end. It's long (8 minutes approx).

Direct Link

Camera note: all shots were taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The video was taken with the Sony Handycam DCR SX30, supported on a monopod.