To stay healthy, and keep within the Quarantine guidelines, I have tried to take walks in the nearby open spaces, and to keep my brain active, I keep my lightweight camera, the LUMIX fz10002 handy for such occasions. Although it was fitfully sunny, the signs of Spring in the nearby woods at Marston Thrift gave me the opportunity to capture worthwhile images and be active.
I have tried to find locations that are not packed, yet give me photo opportunities, and are reasonably close, and I had not visited this area for some time. Unlike the Forest Centre which was but a walk away, this destination is just too far to reach by walking alone, so it is fortunate it has a small car park, and upon arrival there was only one other car within.
Like my visit a few days back there were very few people to be seen, and all those I came across stayed well above the minimum recommended distance, and almost all were very grateful for me keeping my distance. When visiting the local Co-op everyone would hail others who were out walking, where beyond a month back everyone passed without even recognition, let alone a greeting! I wonder whether after the epidemic this behaviour between strangers persists.
This leads me to ask another question — can dogs be carriers of Corona virus? So far, I have kept clear of the dogs as well as their owners, but perhaps that should become a prerequisite too.
This woodland is certainly coming alive with Primroses and there seem to be an abundance of small clumps throughout the woods and aside many of the paths. I also spotted a few bluebells, so perhaps these may come soon to add their colour to the mix.
The first part of my walk was beneath the canopy of trees, and on both sides of the path I was following were shallow streams flowing deep in their cuttings, but eventually I came out into what I would describe as the heathland area with small groups of comparatively recent young trees. By following some of the wide grassy stretches, I also came across paths that were more gravelly, and caught sight of two lakes, but I did not see any birds on them.
I circled the larger one, and began to return along a grassy avenue in the direction of the Car Park. It was here that I caught sight of a grey Squirrel in one of the trees to my left. Here was a chance to see how my LUMIX fz10002 fared. For most of the time at this spot, the light level was reasonable, so though the camera still found the branches upon which to focus, the depth of field was generally adequate to cover the Squirrel as well. I was also lucky that although I could hear others along parallel paths, none came along mine, so for about three minutes the Squirrel was undisturbed, allowing me to get a few shots of it without being completely obscured by intervening branches.
It soon decided that my shooting period was over and disappeared into a hole further up the main trunk. I stayed a short while longer, but soon moved on, and later spotted a Robin, but it never allowed me to get anywhere near the distance I had been to the Squirrel, so a five pixel image of a Robin was never going to cut it! The cloud cover was now increasing, so the final shots were really examples of growths on trees that caught my eye.
My trip served its purpose in providing fresh air, some sunshine, and some pleasing images of a Squirrel, and no close contact with humans, and would fill some of my time later, putting together an album of images.