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Everything is Permuted

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

Posts tagged with "gulls"

Wildlife at St Davids - pt 2 (Buzzards)

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Solva is just a few miles along the coast from St Davids. It's a small conservation area which comprises steep wooded cliffs around a dog-legged inlet. At low tide the boats are all marooned high and dry at the harbour end. The inlet opens out into a wide sandy bay, with low rocks leading up to the cliffs. A small rocky outcrop completes the view.
The harbour at low tide

Yes, that's me :wink:

You'd be forgiven for expecting sea birds to be the main attraction, and to be fair there was plenty to see, from gulls (black-backed, black-headed and herring gulls are all present) to oystercatchers, but it's the buzzards that provide the outstanding spectacle. They dominate the bay, more so than the local peregrines and sparrowhawks.







Having seen the buzzards from the beach, I decided that it might just be worth seeing if I could get a little closer by taking one of the paths to the top of the cliffs. Now although I'm not bad with heights, I'm not great with them either. Getting up to the top was easy enough. It was a solo trek (Mrs Words has no head for heights at all). The path winds its way through the trees, and although narrow I felt secure enough (the trees hid the view!). And sure enough, as I neared the summit a buzzard flew out from the trees, barely 10 feet ahead of me :faint: A truly close encounter that made it all worthwhile.

It was at the top that I wondered about the wisdom of the climb. One look convinced me that I really didn't fancy the path along the edge of the cliffs, and even perched on the reasonably large grassy area right at the top of the path I felt much more comfortable sitting down. Which is what I did. The only problem was the somewhat worrying sign a few feet ahead of me...


And the gulls which swept across in an endless stream...


And the rooks...


And the vertiginous view back down to earth...


I did, however, see some more buzzards across the valley...


I stayed and watched for about half an hour before bracing myself for the downward 'climb'. It was fine, but did teach me that I'm probably not as good with heights as I would like to be. I can 'do' them, but I don't like them.

And so back on terra firma, where Mrs Words was waiting patiently by the harbour for the intrepid explorer to return.

Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens + UV filter (except the one of me, which was taken by Mrs Words with the Canon S2 IS)

Stormy Seas at Rottingdean (photo special)

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It was one of those late summer days today. High winds, sunshine, a sudden cloudburst as the storm clouds swept in, and then sunshine again. The kind of day when the best place to be is by the coast.

These are a few of the photos from this afternoon. Click on them to zoom.

gullsWhile the sun was shining, the black-headed gulls gathered

seaThe sea was 'choppy'

beach with warning flagThe red warning flag was flying, but a surfer was heading out to the waves

seaThe view towards Brighton

view of brighton marinaThe sea and the marina

seaIt was rough out there

gulls at seaGulls over the sea

No fulmars about today, and no sandwich terns either. A cormorant flew by early in the afternoon, but the most sensible of the birds was a jackdaw which was keeping well away from the sea, preferring (as did we) the shelter by the side of the cliff-top hostelry, and being very determined not to risk leaving terra firma.

jackdaw with white featherJackdaw, with white feather

Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM.

Gulls in Motion

Gulls are such a common sight locally that (other than the chicks) I rarely spend any time photographing them. I took this sequence at lunchtime, just before weather didn't so much break as utterly collapse. The afternoon and early evening were punctuated with torrential downpours and some localized flooding. So much for a long hot summer. The photos were taken at a local village pond.

First a couple of single birds in flight. These are black-headed gulls (so called because of the brown head plumage which they display in summer):

Black-headed gullBlack-headed gull

Black-headed gullBlack-headed gull

While I was watching the birds, someone started feeding them slices of bread. The inevitable chaos ensued as the gulls (black-headeds and heron gulls) swarmed to grab what they could.

Gulls in motionGulls in motion

Gulls after breadGulls after bread.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

By the sea shore

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After yesterday's excitement out on the downs, it was to the altogether calmer environment of Rottingdean Beach today. The slightly overcast weather kept most of the visitors away (human and sea birds), but the scene at low tide is worth a visit in its own right.

rottingdean beachBeach at low tide

rottingdean beach

I've never really explored the rock pools before, but there's certainly plenty to see. There's the seaweed, which is draped over everything...

bladder wrack seaweedBladder wrack

And clinging to every rock there are colonies of limpets...

limpetLimpet

I'd never really given limpets much thought before, but they are quite astounding creatures. They have a 'home' location on the rocks, which fits their shell perfectly. They don't remain rooted all the time but will return to their precise location, which they are also known to defend from intruders by nudging them away with their shell.

Overhead there were of course some gulls...

gull with crabGull with crab

And the fulmars were at home. I could hardly visit without taking a few shots of them. :wink:

fulmarFulmar

There are a few more shots in the Rottingdean album. I'll have to go back at low tide with a macro lens and light (and net and bucket). There's plenty more to discover there.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: the views of the beach, the seaweed and limpet were all taken with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM. I used the on-board flash to assist the close-ups. The fulmars and gull were captured with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

By the sea

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I refuse to be defeated by the weather. Grey, overcast and damp. But there's always light by the coast :wink: And I was keen to give the new lens a more rigorous workout. To begin, a long distance shot of fulmars at sea (to prove that they are indeed sea birds). They seem just as prone to squabbling on the water as they are in their cliff nests. The shot is a fairly hefty crop.

fulmarFulmars out at sea

To make up for that being taken from an absurd distance (they were barely visible from the shore), here's a rather different view of one as it flew in overhead.

fulmarFulmar with close up view of its 'tube nose'.

But for once it was the gulls that kept my attention.

They were posing.

gullsThe Three Muses

gullsHerring gull (semi mature juvenile)

And they were flocking.

gulls in flightA flock of gulls

The 'spotting' highlight was a fly past by a group of oystercatchers as they skimmed the shoreline looking for a quiet spot to come in to feed (the tide was just going out). They seem to have designated one of their number as 'food carrier' :wink:

oystercatchersOystercatchers skimming the coast

There are several more shots from today in the April Birds album.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.