Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:01:10 PM
thrush, butterfly, yellowhammer, wheat
...
It started out as another hot sunny day. By mid-afternoon the brief moment of summer had passed. The skies blackened, then opened into a violent thunderstorm. As I said though, it had started out fine. These were taken in the morning, before the weather...
Wheat field in the morning sunThe birds were singing...
Yellowhammer
Song thrushThe butterflies were waking up...
Marbled WhiteAnd a young magpie ventured out on to an open roof.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 10:48:26 PM
sparrowhawk, heron, moorhen, sparrow
...
After a lack of theme yesterday, it feels like I'm back on track. I was once again at the pond, morning and at lunchtime. The weather is beautiful at the moment. Bright, warm sunshine, and it looks set to last.
As I arrived at the pond, a rare (but not totally unexpected) bird was standing by the edge of the water.
It's a couple of months since I've seen a heron (the last time was in London) and seeing it against the morning light was an excellent way to start the day. Of course, my real reason for visiting the pond was somewhat smaller, and I wasn't disappointed. The full clutch seems to have moved away (I wonder whether they are being rather better protected out by the island in the centre of the pond where they will avoid most of the predators), but there was one remaining unhatched egg, and a tiny bundle of fluff. Finding an angle, and enough light in the deep shadow, was a struggle.
Even when the chick paddled over to its parent, the branches proved a reasonable challenge.
While the waterside provides the more obvious highlights, the surrounding trees have their own attractions, especially when the passerines (perching birds) are at their most active. Like this blue tit.
And these house sparrows (female first, then male).
The penultimate photo for today is a (mistle) thrush, taken at shortly after 1pm so I presume this is lunch.
And overhead, someone else was also checking out the daily menu
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:56:40 PM
blackbird, thrush, wood mouse, tadpole
...
The current good weather is holding, at least for a few days more. This is where I had lunch.
It's a good time of year for bird watching. They're busy feeding themselves are the privations of winter, and there's plenty for them to choose from. It's not, however, such a good time of year for the humble worm.
Those were a blackbird photographed at the edge of a churchyard early this morning. Blackbirds tend to keep to the undergrowth. Pied wagtails like to feed out in the open.
I think this next shot is a mistle thrush. Partly because it is out in the open, but also the stance and the irregular patterning.
The tadpoles are continuing to develop well. The newts are leaving them alone; and more have hatched, this time nearer to the surface of the pond.
Oh, and a wood mouse has turned up in the garden. It's a while since I've seen any and they haven't yet discovered the bird feeders this year.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D, The birds were taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, the landscape with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens, and the tadpoles and mouse with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
Monday, June 29, 2009 11:50:52 PM
woodpecker, thrush, 3D, mortality
...
Most days watching nature is a wonderful affirmation of life, but today brought out the other side of the coin. These first two shots were taken a few minutes apart, early this morning.
The first is a juvenile green woodpecker. It was beneath a building and I suspect a window collision as the cause, though there were no visible signs on the building above.
Just a hundred yards away I came across a second fatality, possibly the result of a fall (it was beneath a tree).
Lunchtime I went in search of more pleasant things, and thought I 'd succeeded with this thrush.
The thrush was quietly feeding along a country lane, but a few seconds after this shot it hopped over the hedgerow into a sunlit field. I stepped across to take a better shot, but before I could even raise the camera a sparrowhawk had dropped from an overhanging tree and with the merest flurry of feather and two muted squeals, it was gone (and so was the thush). It lasted less than 2 seconds from start to finish.
Finally, I'm still working on stereoscopic images. They will improve as I get more practice, and I will almost certainly go cross-eyed in the process. But today's effort is I think an improvement on the butterfly (at least I intended to take this). As before, focus in front of the image (click to enlarge it) and the hedge should pop out into 3 dimensions. It can take a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of seeing them it's quite easy.
click to enlargeCamera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
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