Everything is Permuted

A bright but very cold day today, barely scraping above 0°C and it was probably slightly below that when I took this shot of the sunrise.


Surprisingly the pond has only a shimmering of ice near the fringes, which is keeping the ducks happy.


And the ever-present jackdaws were also enjoying the winter sunshine (and a stylish new hair-do).


The prettiest shots of the day were the goldfinches, which were flitting between the hedgerow and trees surrounding the pond.




One last shot (not of a pair) to make up for yesterday's absence. Another pony. Equally as pretty and once again sporting a lovely shaggy coat to keep out the cold.



Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

The pond was frozen over this morning, and there was a decent frost on the ground which had transformed from soft mud to a hard, icy crust. Not many birds around this morning, but I did see that shaggy pony again.


I was in Eastbourne later in the day. I've not yet had a chance to investigate much of the area, but I ended up near a golf course with some decent woodland fringes.


The wind was whipping around, and it was still too cold for more than a brief exploration. I could hear green woodpeckers in the distance, but the only birds I saw were rooks.


Back in the garden the badger has become a regular night time visitor, and has even taken up a bit of jogging.


SB, the fox, is altogether more sedate...


Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, apart from the fox which was taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.

The sun disappeared shortly before we made it out this afternoon. We headed for Castle Hill, a local nature reserve which is an archetypical downland landscape of rolling hills dotted with fields.


You can sometimes see buzzards overhead, but none were about today. You can always see kestrels, though it can be difficult to get close to them.
Kestrel in flight

On our way in we had spotted some kestrel feathers on the ground, and nearby rather more feathers from another bird. It looked as though there had been some sort of scrap between them (with the kestrel coming off rather better). There were also what looked like pellets on the ground, but I'm hopeless at identifying these and I could be completely wrong about what they are. There were two or three within a small area, near the kestrel's feathers.
Kestrel feather

Pellet?

Down in the valley we came across a small group of ponies. These are quite unusual on the Downs. We often see horses in fields (with and without riders), but I've never seen free-grazing ponies before.
Ponies

Far more common are cattle, though you need to be wary round these creatures especially when they decide to stampede towards the nearest watering trough.
Cattle 'stampede'

And of course, the Sussex Downs wouldn't be the Downs without sheep. These are by Balsdean Farm, part of a village area that was abandoned during the last war (it was used by the military for artillery practice at the time), and apart from a couple of post war barns (now disused) has all but vanished.
Sheep at Balsdean

Finally, there were the pigeons. Flocks of them rising from the fields, circling and then settling down again.
Click to enlarge

Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS, except the landscape which was taken with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens.