Everything is Permuted

A day of two halves. The first part consisted of driving rain and wind which continued for several hours. It finally cleared early afternoon to reveal a beautiful sunny afternoon. I headed to Sheepcote Valley on the edge of the South Downs, hoping to see some kestrels. I didn't; but I did spot one very unusual visitor, presumably blown slightly off course by the ferocious winds earlier in the day. A lapwing. I managed to follow it (from a distance) and though the shots aren't perfect they are easily my best shots of this elegant bird.













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

The winter light is so good that inevitably I gathered several more photos today. Regular visitors will recall the somewhat blurred shot of a lapwing from Tuesday's post. Well, I had another sighting today, in more or less the same spot. This time though I was able to track it as it flew overhead and although far from the best b-i-f (bird in flight) I've managed, at least it's in focus this time.
Lapwing

There were plenty of the more common local birds in the vicinity, including this crow which flew past while I was surveying the fields from an excellent raised vantage point.
Crow

And I can hardly ignore the robins, which seem to be falling over themselves to get in front of the camera at the moment. This one seemed quite intent on being noticed.
Robin

The final shot tonight is more of a reference photo. I was unable to get anywhere near the subject, but spotted it in the distance and took a few frames as I tried (unsuccessfully) to get within proper range of the lens. Nothing particularly unusual about the species. It's a rabbit, and we have countless rabbits around here. What made this one special though was the colour. It's a black (melanistic) variant, the first such one I've seen in the wild. Melanism, is a pigmentation variant caused by an excess of melanin (logical) and is occasionally seen in foxes, squirrels, rabbits (evidently), and cats (among other mammals). The photo is heavily cropped.
Black (melanistic) rabbit

Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.