Serene Afternoon for Marsworth Wildlife

I had cleared the decks and had the chance to be out in crisp winter sunshine, sadly not quite as attractive as the day before which had magical mist lying at low level, but you cannot always be so lucky – it was already after noon, but I headed south for Tring reservoirs for the first time this year partly to meet up with Tringford's Water Bailiff and partly to satisfy my want glands for some photography.

Bob would would be down later as he was in Aylesbury for a while yet. I was parked along the wide paved area close to the path dividing Startops End from Marsworth Lake, and decided to travel light with the 150-600mm on a monopod, even though this made for a less than steady means of support, it did allow me more freedom, and I soon spotted a group of three swans, of which two showed early signs of amorous interest, there was tentative interest in mimicking each other's actions, and the lighting was good from my vantage point along the path; perhaps the third member of the trio was looking for hints as to how to proceed?

I stayed awhile here to see what I could capture and this did mean that a couple stopped to chat and watch alongside, and a single birdwatcher fixed his scope on the reed banks beyond and behind me in the hope of spotting a Bittern. The reeds were way too distant for my 600mm and a mere monopod.

Later I turned right and wandered along towards the lock and the small grassy area with a bird feeder slung from a tree above memorial flowers, to see a few bluetits and a robin. Later I spotted a brief glimpse of a grey squirrel and of greater interest a lone kingfisher, before returning to meet Bob and another angler at Tringford where we discussed Bob's fears for Silverstone Race track, and I headed back before sundown.

New Year Concert – Eaton Bray

The Aylesbury Concert Band returned to a popular venue for this concert, and a pleasant afternoon concert was indeed why it proves popular for both the Aylesbury Concert band and the audience at St. Mary the Virgin, Eaton Bray; it was nearing full capacity by the time I arrived, and I was more than half an hour early!

The main reason I was able to get a good seat was because the front row was almost on top of the players! Because I was so close there was little call for a lens longer than 200mm, so the 70-200mm was on the 7D MkII and the 35mm f/1.4 was on the 5D MkIII. I did originally have the 100-400mm on the 7D MkII, but two shots with that was enough to tell me to take it off. Another really excellent feature of this church was the lighting, which was excellent. The only drawback was that being on the same level as the band meant a number of the musicians were obscured by the music stands. I did ask whether it might be possible at a future event that I might be allowed to shoot from the Organ Loft and was delighted that it would indeed be possible. Now if only I was in possession of a cloak of invisibility such that I could also operate from ground level as well!

The choice of pieces was very much to my liking with a number of rhythmic foot tappers, such as the arrangement for Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, as well as the beautiful and melodious, Romance from the Gadfly with a solo by Erica. One of the highlights of the evening was the irrepressible Rupert Johnston who played the Rondo from Mozart’s Horn Concerto No2 in Eb – for those who do not know Rupert’s story, I suggest you acquaint yourself, because he is remarkable, and inspirational. This is one of the reasons I chose the picture of him playing his solo piece with Conductor Rob Wicks to head this piece. (It is both very sad and yet heartwarming, Google his name to learn more.)

I had learned from my daughter that they had been rehearsing Radetzky’s March, but it was not on the programme – I learned why, when the concert concluded and the audience were told they were to be featuring as the Grand Finale. No one was disappointed!

Biddenham Anniversary Trail – An Investigative Visit

Even though it was a dull day, I thought it worthwhile taking a look at the Lottery Funded Anniversary Trail at Biddenham to see what possibilities of wildlife photography might exist there. I entered the trail opposite the Golf Club.

I took a stroll to the left when I had entered, going clockwise for a short distance before deciding it was a tad more promising in the opposing direction, and I followed the main track with excursions down to the riverbank every so often, but the only birds I came across at first were magpies, perched on posts on the right, and long before I got near they took flight to the high trees on the farther shore. 

I met dog strollers along the way and there were three anglers two of whom I did engage in brief conversation to ascertain what had been sighted in terms of wildlife and learned little beyond that it was not visited by many kingfishers, the most promising information was a sighting of an owl, in daylight; from a lady with two dogs she was training, one of whom spent a deal of the time running sideways – a trait she was trying to eradicate, though meeting with little success to date! The angler I did not chat to I did take a shot of as he was exceedingly well-camouflaged!

At one stage I thought I spotted either a butterfly or moth which came as something of a shock as the weather had hardly been conducive to their survival, but before I had a chance to get close enough to see exactly what I had seen it had disappeared. I stayed awhile to see whether I might catch a further glimpse, but without any success. I thought I spotted a distant swan slowly approaching, but as it drew closer it turned out it was a part-submerged, upturned plastic boat! 

Only after a trip to beyond the Mill bridge and back again did a milky sunlight break through the cloud cover, and it was at this stage that I spotted a fox a considerable distance away, since I only had my 300mm lens with me, it was wandering stealthily across the field and I tried to anticipate where it might come closer and walked in the general direction, but when I got a clear view of the field again the fox was nowhere to be seen. For this reason and the lack of colour in the few shots I did take, I converted them to black and white for the gallery.