Just a couple of photos
Tuesday, 17. November 2009, 00:41:46
Horse dressed for the weather
Great Spotted WoodpeckerCamera note: both shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Posts tagged with "woodpecker"
Horse dressed for the weatherGreat Spotted WoodpeckerCamera note: both shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Pacing yourself (roe deer and woodpecker)
Thursday, 5. November 2009, 23:51:55
The early mornings are still proving the best time of day to be outside, and today I was lucky enough to stumble upon one of the roe deer which had wandered over to 'my' side of the fields. So for once I wasn't struggling to photograph her against the sun. She was grazing. Very carefully I edged along the side of the field to get a little closer. I take about 10 paces at a time (take a photo) and then another 10 paces. And so on. That way I always have roughly the best shot I'm likely to get. It took about 5 minutes to cover 100 yards. My name is not Bolt. But hers might be!
Roe Deer
And then I took another 10 paces. And she was off!
Roe Deer running
Roe Deer running
The decent light had all but vanished by lunchtime when I saw one of the local green woodpeckers. Once again I used the 10 pace/photo/10 pace technique to get into range.
Green Woodpecker
I'm keeping my eyes open for the campus foxes. There have been several reports of activity, though mainly early morning or in the evening.
It's still quiet out in the garden, but I did catch a glimpse of the bold vixen and a badger on the trail cam last night (not together); and a couple of nights ago one of the other foxes crossed the garden at full pelt. I missed that, but I did manage to photograph the full moon.
Moon
Camera note: today's shots all taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS. The moon was photographed with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
Roe Deer And then I took another 10 paces. And she was off!
Roe Deer running Roe Deer running The decent light had all but vanished by lunchtime when I saw one of the local green woodpeckers. Once again I used the 10 pace/photo/10 pace technique to get into range.
Green Woodpecker I'm keeping my eyes open for the campus foxes. There have been several reports of activity, though mainly early morning or in the evening.
It's still quiet out in the garden, but I did catch a glimpse of the bold vixen and a badger on the trail cam last night (not together); and a couple of nights ago one of the other foxes crossed the garden at full pelt. I missed that, but I did manage to photograph the full moon.
MoonCamera note: today's shots all taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS. The moon was photographed with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
Woodpecker in a Country Lane
Monday, 10. August 2009, 23:28:02
Not the best shot of a green woodpecker that I've taken, but the setting was beautiful. As ever, it disappeared almost as soon as I'd seen it.
And some more video, this time captured at around 6.00am.
Camera note: taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
Mortality
Monday, 29. June 2009, 23:50:52
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 enlarge
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
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.
Woodpecker and Wood Mouse
Wednesday, 22. April 2009, 23:09:12
I'm enjoying the spring weather at the moment. Let's hope it lasts. It's making me more confident about a decent summer. As for the wildlife, well this time of year is excellent and there's plenty to see. There are butterflies (I saw more orange-tips, peacocks, small tortoiseshells and another brimstone today), and there are rabbits hopping all over the place. I even caught another glimpse of the campus fox this afternoon (no photo this time). But the day belongs to animals with 'wood' in their name.
At lunchtime I had time to get out to the woods. I could hear a squeaking noise up in a tree and on closer inspection saw a familiar shape perched high up. I wish I could describe sounds more accurately, but the call was quite unlike the usual high scream that green woodpeckers make. It was a female, and she posed like an angel (most unusual).
Female green woodpecker
Female green woodpecker in flight
A pair of mallards were enjoying the pond outside my window this afternoon, and I looked out for the fox again as I left work this evening, but without any joy. There were lambs out in the fields and I stopped to grab a couple of shots (the traffic was hardly going anywhere and I was stuck by a small lay-by). I would prefer to have taken this in the morning light, but there's no stopping point on that side of the road, so an evening shot - against the light - will have to do.
This evening brought more surprises. A wood mouse was out on one of the feeders, and sufficiently intent to stay put while I took some shots.
Wood Mouse
Wood Mouse
I will get some cam footage up soon. I've more or less got the computer straight (a few more files to transfer, blog feeds to re-create in Opera (which reminds me that I've lost my feed-creation software so that's another thing to sort), and some tweaking of my website photo album scripts to do), but last night included more of the fox (a vixen) and the hedgehogs (yes, two, together), plus another possible bat moment.
More woodpecker shots in the April Birds album, and more of the mouse in The Wood Mouse Files.
Camera note: the birds and the lambs were photographed with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. The mouse was captured with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro and Canon 430EX flash unit (set to 1/4 strength).
At lunchtime I had time to get out to the woods. I could hear a squeaking noise up in a tree and on closer inspection saw a familiar shape perched high up. I wish I could describe sounds more accurately, but the call was quite unlike the usual high scream that green woodpeckers make. It was a female, and she posed like an angel (most unusual).
Female green woodpeckerFemale green woodpecker in flightA pair of mallards were enjoying the pond outside my window this afternoon, and I looked out for the fox again as I left work this evening, but without any joy. There were lambs out in the fields and I stopped to grab a couple of shots (the traffic was hardly going anywhere and I was stuck by a small lay-by). I would prefer to have taken this in the morning light, but there's no stopping point on that side of the road, so an evening shot - against the light - will have to do.
This evening brought more surprises. A wood mouse was out on one of the feeders, and sufficiently intent to stay put while I took some shots.
Wood MouseWood MouseI will get some cam footage up soon. I've more or less got the computer straight (a few more files to transfer, blog feeds to re-create in Opera (which reminds me that I've lost my feed-creation software so that's another thing to sort), and some tweaking of my website photo album scripts to do), but last night included more of the fox (a vixen) and the hedgehogs (yes, two, together), plus another possible bat moment.
More woodpecker shots in the April Birds album, and more of the mouse in The Wood Mouse Files.
Camera note: the birds and the lambs were photographed with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. The mouse was captured with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro and Canon 430EX flash unit (set to 1/4 strength).
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