Sunday, 3. August 2008, 23:02:31
rottingdean, sea, pond
More rain today, and although it eventually stopped mid afternoon the light remained poor. No hint of yesterday's sunshine. On days like this you have to make do with the little light that's available, which means long exposures and a steady hand (or in this case, a tripod).
I started out by taking some shots of the sea. The numbers indicate the aperture and shutter speed used. I was aiming to get a reasonable depth of field, and to smooth out the flow of the waves.
f/20 - 1/15s
f/32 - 1/4sThe technique isn't ideal for birds in flight, plus I was wary of getting too much spray on the camera (I must get a protective filter for the lens), so although I took a few shots of some
black-headed gulls on the beach, I decided to head off to the local pond where I was fairly sure to find some ducks (and generally calmer conditions). This first shot is the general scene, and again I used a relatively slow exposure to make the best of the available light.
f/13 - 1/20sFinally I turned to the ducks which, helpfully, were dozing on the grass at the edge of the pond. For these I made use of flash (so much easier).
f/9 - 1/200sThere are about a dozen shots from today at the beginning of the
Rottingdean album.
Camera note: all the shots here taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, with the exception of the pond. For that I used the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM.
Tuesday, 1. July 2008, 22:44:50
frog, dragonfly, birds, fox
...
Glorious sunshine today, and a perfect opportunity to spend an hour by the dew pond. The chasers were out in force, but still no sign of the common darters. I set this shot up to some extent. The chasers like to rest on vertical twigs at the side of the water. I placed one in a good spot so I could get in close, and have the sun behind me. Within a couple of minutes, this male chaser obliged.
Broad Bodied ChaserBut it was the birds which were the feature of the visit. The hot weather brought several down to the pond side, starting with this collared dove. It's the first I've seen there, though they are common enough in the area.
Collared DoveNext up was a crow, seen here admiring its reflection while taking a drink.
CrowNot to be outdone, a pair of goldfinches flitted down to the waterside.
Pair of goldfinchesThis one was also in reflective mood.
GoldfinchA few posts ago, I mentioned that there were
newts in the pond, and while I knew that there are frogs (the spawn was a giveaway back in early spring) I hadn't actually seen one there until today when this popped its head out of the water.
Common frogAs for the garden, the old dog fox has been back on his rounds. These from the last couple of nights.
Camera note: all the birds, the frog and the dragonfly taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, except the collared dove which was taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens. The fox shots were taken with the EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM (close-up) and the EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM (standing tall).
Thursday, 8. May 2008, 23:42:05
crow, pond, newts
Lunchtime today
This evening in the gardenCamera note: crow taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens; the newts were taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro + Kenko Teleplus 1.4x Pro 300 DG teleconverter
Friday, 29. February 2008, 00:24:05
frog, toad, newt, pond
There's still no spawn in the garden pond, though the frogs are continuing to 'pair up'. I did come across more successful breeding in some local ponds earlier in the week, as well as a veritable swarm of breeding toads. That was on a dawn walk on Tuesday with the RSPB, in mist and rain. Absurdly I only took one photo, and that of a lone toad.
I've had better luck with the newts tonight. They were highly active and several were out on what passes for dry ground (it's been wet most of this week).
Newt displaying breeding colours
On the grassOne final photo from tonight. It's a re-take of a shot I took a
couple of days ago, but I prefer this one.
The Frog and Feather (re-visited)Camera note: the toad was photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The newts and frog were all with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro.
Tuesday, 19. February 2008, 23:58:11
pond, fox
In the previous post I mentioned that I was concerned that the nicked-ear vixen might be suffering from mange. I'm less sure now. She came by tonight and I managed to get a few photos of both flanks, and although they are slightly darkened there's nothing too alarming to report. She is limping quite heavily though, so it's possible that her scruffy state is to do with an injury. And her brush has a slightly tatty appearance, but not as severe as I'd feared.
I'll keep an eye out for her, and see how things progress. The photographs are a huge advantage in trying to monitor her condition. It's very difficult to see much detail at night, and since (unlike the dog fox) she won't come too close I'm always 20 feet or more away from her.
Meanwhile the old dog fox is still calling by, and still posing like a professional. This shot was from the early hours of Sunday night/Monday morning. He's in fine shape.
Finally, on a different note, I ventured out to the second local dew pond at lunchtime today. It's about a 20 minute walk to get up there which is why I don't go too often (the one I usually photograph is less than 5 minutes walk), but it's nicely hidden away in a wooded clearing. It's also much larger, and is - I'm told -occasionally visited by deer in the early morning.
Camera note: Foxes all taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens. The pond was photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS.
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