Everything is Permuted

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

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Posts tagged with "chicks"

Portraits of a Young Moorhen

Friday, August 19, 2011 11:07:28 PM

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A mainly photographic entry today (though aren't nearly all my posts?), but this time of a young moorhen 'exercising' at the edge of the pond. I could have included a cormorant (I was wrong about his absence yesterday... he's still frequenting the pond), but won't; nor will I include the heron. So it's moorhen time, or portraits of the one of the most ungainly looking chicks in the avian world.








And the proud parent who were watching close by.


One final shot today, and most unusually it doesn't include any wildlife. I took it this morning as the sun shone through the trees across the churchyard.

Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

12 comments

Cormorant at Falmer Pond

Monday, August 8, 2011 9:43:20 PM

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I'd heard rumours that they sometimes came down to the pond, but I don't recall seeing one here before. It was lunchtime when I saw it, a large cormorant paying no regard whatsoever to the 'No Fishing' sign, though I didn't witness a 'catch'. Here's a few of the photos.










There were of course other birds to see, including the latest clutch of ducklings.


The house martins are still busy at the nest.



Nature Blog Network
Camera note: the first three shots were taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Everything else was taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

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Baby House Martins and other cute birds

Friday, August 5, 2011 11:12:27 PM

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With the return of weather approximating summer I was back at Falmer pond today, before work and again at lunchtime. I'll get to some of the more traditional water fowl later, but for most of the time I was hidden away at the back of the church watching these little house martin chicks.


Getting decent shots is frustrating as the nest is located so that at almost any time of day it's in shade, but at least the regular foraging runs of the adults means that there is plenty to see.








The house martins aren't the only ones with young. The ducks have a new brood, and they were foraging under the shade of the trees.


Meanwhile, one of the adults was standing on the water!


The closing shots for today are a couple of a juvenile moorhen coming in to a high-speed splashdown.



Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

8 comments

House Martin Feeding its Young (and a squirrel up a very tall pole)

Wednesday, August 3, 2011 9:55:35 PM

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Before I get to the main part of the post, just a quick shot of the slightly confused squirrel that greeted me as I left the house this morning. It had managed to get up there, but seemed very uncertain about a way down.




I presume it made a safe escape. It was long gone by the time I got home this evening.

And now to the main part of the post. I've been photographing the local swallows and house martins on a regular basis over the past few weeks, and today I spotted the very distinctive nest of a house martin, clamped to the eaves of the local church.

I settled down to watch, and sure enough after a few minutes a little head peeked out.


Just in time to greet the incoming parent.




The parent(s) were back and forth regularly over the next half hour. Many mouths to feed!


Storms are threatened for tomorrow, but you can be sure I'll be back there when the summer weather returns on Friday. smile
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: squirrel shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. I used the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM for the house martins.

4 comments

The Ghost Bird

Friday, June 17, 2011 11:50:36 PM

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Weather report: rain, rain and more rain. Welcome to a British Summer. The atrocious weather has put paid to any real opportunity to go out with the camera, but there are a few catch-up shots I've been meaning to post. For several nights now one of the local herring gulls has taken to patrolling the skies. When the cloud cover lifts, and the moonlight catches its wings, it's just possible to make out its ghostly night-flight.

I've attempted to photograph it. Not easy, as through the camera it's impossible (or as close as makes no difference) to see anything. Focusing is a no-go. I had to pump the ISO to anything between 3200 and 6400, set the manual focus to just below infinity; and hoped. I've achieved multiple shots of a pitch black night sky, and occasionally... very occasionally... a ghost bird.






But for the rest of the time we've had little else but rain. Constant rain. These poor mites were making the best they could of the limited shelter available.

Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D. The first photo was taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens, the second and third with the EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS. I used the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS for the chicks.

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