Learning that the weather on the New Year Bank Holiday was due to be bright, I prepared the night before by getting to bed somewhat earlier than is my wont – if I expected to sleep longer as a result, I was to be disillusioned, as I awoke long before the alarm! It was still very dark, but to get some idea of how long before I need to rise, I ventured to switch on the bedside light to learn it was three-thirty, so I closed my eyes tighter and woke finally to the alarm for six.
Only a white van with fishermen was parked upon my arrival at Marsworth reservoir, I nodded to them as I trudged past with my camera and tripod and headed through the woods and past the stream and the reed beds, and took a look at Startops from the hide. Both these reservoirs were still very low, although Tringford was a tad higher, but overall all three were the lowest I have seen for several years.
I setup just short of where the fork in the path was, because the gulls were constantly flying over this corner, which gave me a chance to stay in one place to endeavour to catch them in flight and taking off from the water with the 150-400mm Sigma, the sun was yet to rise, so there was little light making even shooting at 1600 ISO challenging – 1/100 sec at f/7.1, if I was lucky, then before the sun rose too high I grabbed some shots of it peeking over the hill with the fence in silhouette.
A heron arrived and sat initially on a post close to the bank and would occasionally fly a circuit and return or rest on some other posts by the buoys and nets. there were also smaller birds nearby and a chaffinch found some nuts and seeds atop the waste bin affording me a few shots. I stuck around till ten o’clock, with frozen feet and ears from the biting wind, but I was happy I had some shots of interest from my time there.
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