Everything is Permuted

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

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Posts tagged with "raptors"

Four Raptors

Friday, April 23, 2010 12:05:58 AM

Not a bad day wink
Sparrowhawk

Buzzard

Kestrel

And even another red kite!
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

14 comments

Birds on the Sussex Downs

Saturday, October 10, 2009 10:42:43 PM

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The inconsistency of English weather is almost the only consistent thing about it. Today we had sunshine. A few gulls were noisily roof hopping along the gardens, and a sparrowhawk glided serenely overhead while I was bagging up some garden cuttings.




A squirrel was flitting back and forth along the fence, and a goldfinch rested briefly in the trees.

Later I headed out to the Downs, to the start of the Castle Hill nature reserve. A beautiful spot and one I should explore more often. The kestrels were out, hovering over the edge of the valley.


Down below, a small flock of magpies were raucously making their presence known.


While in the distance a lone pheasant was grazing the rich pickings in the fields.


The crows meanwhile were fence-post hopping.


There were sheep on the hills, and a few cattle. The herd of ponies we saw a week or so ago were still there too.


Up above, the skylarks were singing.


And the vibrant yellowhammers were busily flying from tree to tree.


All told, a perfect autumn afternoon.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

12 comments

Kestrel Chicks (picture special)

Monday, June 15, 2009 10:07:48 PM

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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.

kestrel chicksFirst there was one

kestrel chicksKestrel chick in profile

kestrel chicksThen two more appeared

kestrel chicksThree's a crowd

kestrel chicksFour young kestrels

kestrel chicksThe adult is overhead

kestrel chicksDelivering the food

kestrel chicksOff hunting again

kestrel chicksSecond delivery

kestrel chicksThe handover

kestrel chicksThe handover continues

kestrel chicksThe greedy chick doesn't share this time

kestrel chicksTwo 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
Nature Blog Network
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.

25 comments

Distant Raptors - It's just a hobby

Monday, March 30, 2009 11:12:06 PM

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Yes they're back after their winter holidays. I saw a pair fly over the garden on Sunday. As ever they were too far off for more than a quick reference shot, but nice to see them back over the Sussex skies.

hobbyHobby

They weren't the only raptors about. A pair of sparrowhawks circled overhead, until the local gulls ganged up on them and sent them packing.

sparrowhawksA pair of sparrowhawks

This morning provided yet another opportunity for a ridiculously long shot. This time, it was a pair of buzzards coming in to land in a field. This is one of them.

buzzardBuzzard coming in to land

To complete the set I have managed one rather better shot recently (not forgetting the owl), which takes me back to Saturday when I grabbed a shot of a passing kestrel.

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

12 comments

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