Marston Lake — Slow Start…

When I first arrived, there was not a sign of bird life on the water, but there were several anglers and their tents dotted around the shores, and I even considered changing venue, however, I am eternally grateful I did not make that decision. When I arrived there was an overcast sky and a gentle breeze, but l walked to the end of the right fork, and found a trio of friends who having set their rods were standing chatting.

I introduced myself as a photographer and asked what I might find in the way of aquatic birds I might find, and to my pleasant surprise they volunteered that kingfishers had been spotted here, beyond where we were, and on the far side. In the ensuing conversation, it became obvious that a very early start was recommended, which was welcome news, since a fruitless early start did not appeal.

So far, I had not even taken a camera out, but on my way back to the car, I spotted some beautiful young leaves, so since I had still not seen anything more than some lone Coots in the distance, so I decided to at least capture some fresh young leaves before leaving. The sun even came out for a spell, but its arrival was almost immediately followed by rain! On my return after grabbing a few shots I got into conversation with an angler whom I later found to be named Sean, who previously had been facing the lake. It was during this chat with him, that we spotted a Grebe fishing some distance out, though I did grab some shots, then decided to head back and change cameras, from the 5D MkII with 24-70mm lens to the EOS R And the Sigma 60-600mm and mounted it on the sturdy Benbo. Sean had some binoculars and very generously began acting as my spotter! He also told me about a   spot which still had the sun behind me which was in the direction taken by the Grebe.

This was to prove the making of this trip, so if you at least take a look beyond the leaf images you will be rewarded with some worthwhile shots of a pair of these Great Crested Grebe which with my added 1.4x Converter are far more detailed. It was very lucky that I found a spot where only my head and camera was in view above reeds, so I did not intrude upon the pair I was shooting. Once I had these shots I headed back to say thanks to Sean and show him some of what I had captured. Then came back to process the pictures and put up the gallery.