Everything is Permuted

It's raining heavily right now, but this morning the skies were blue and the sun bright. I headed for the fields near work. The yellowhammers were once again busy in the tree tops, flitting busily up and down along the fringe of woodland that runs along the path between the fields.
Yellowhammer

I'd gone in search of the roe deer. They weren't in the higher field, but on my way back to the car I spotted an 'inconsistency' along the hedgerow on the far side. The sun was facing towards me, and the shapes were difficult to discern against the dark shade. A little Photoshop work was needed to bring this shot up to scratch.
Roe deer

At lunchtime it was still bright, but cooler than I'd anticipated. I must remember that winter sunshine is deceptively weak. Some rooks were out in the fields, but mainly it was quiet. The cattle have been moved to new pastures. The trees have shed their leaves as winter approaches.
Downland scene

As I was nearing the brow of the hill, two birds came into view. Low down, on the grass. A pair of partridges.


I watched as they crossed the path and disappeared behind the distant slope.
Red-legged partridge

I'm still monitoring nightly activity via the trail cam. The badger has been back, and early this morning an inquisitive squirrel was chasing birds. This clip though is from a couple of nights ago, and shows two of the foxes interacting.



Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

Sometimes it happens. I headed back out to the fields where I'd seen the deer earlier in the week. They weren't around. Indeed there was nothing much at all in evidence.


A few pigeons swept overhead, and some crows circled aimlessly. A magpie flew by carrying a twig. In the shrubs along the edge of the fields a small flock of yellowhammers were skitting about and doing their level best to avoid the camera.

Yellowhammer

A jay put in a brief appearance. Not my best shot, but the moment was fleeting.

Jay

I took a few other assorted shots, but while it was great to be outside I didn't think I'd seen anything striking. That's fine. Most of the interesting shots amount to a few seconds of activity spread over an hour or more of looking; and the looking has a pleasure of its own. But I was wrong about having seen nothing unusual.

When I was going through the shots the evening I came across a sequence I have no recollection taking, other than a vague memory of having grabbed a quick burst of an unidentified small bird as it flew past. They're not the greatest shots I've ever taken, but I was stunned to see that somehow I'd managed to photograph a great spotted woodpecker in full flight. I only wish I'd been aware of the fact at the time. It seems odd having the photographic evidence of something that I didn't see!



I managed three frames in all. The others are here and here.

No badger tonight (yet), but the nicked-ear vixen passed through the garden, too quickly for a photo but I was pleased to see her at all after several very quiet days.

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