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.

Marston Lake – Offchance Visit

It was possible there might be some breaks in the cloud cover, so I took a chance to see whether there might be some avian activity on the small fishing lake that is a short drive from home. Once I was lakeside, I spotted some distant evidence of anglers, but no one actually fishing, but there was a pair of crested Grebe in the middle of the lake, and they were heading towards the bottom area of the lake towards the enclosed area. I therefore took my Benbo tripod-mounted camera down the right hand path to the last swim on this side of the lake. Sadly they did seem to be heading further away, which was a shame as I had not taken along my 1.4x Converter.

Although initially the pair had distanced themselves from me, but by the time I was ready to shoot they had come slightly closer, and I had been watching the territorial dispute behaviour of Gulls on some of the branches of submerged trees by the extensive reed beds to my left.

Once the Grebe pair had seemed to begin their ritual courtship dance, I began to hope this might develop, but although the early signs looked hopeful, the interaction lacked precision timing and it seemed as if this was one dance that did not gell. Perhaps, it was not yet warm enough, or simply a trial run. I went back to concentrating on the Gull activity, and the immaculately groomed male Mallard ducks as they sailed with their less colourful partners. I also recorded the last Autumn colours in the hedgerows and the fresh Spring blossom just appearing on some of the branches.

The brief spell at this lake was still fruitful whilst I await the repair of the EOS R and damaged personal Sigma 60-600mm lens, whose return is hopefully less than a fortnight away.

Marsworth Reservoir – its Abundant Birdlife

It is a complete fallacy that Britain does not have exciting wildlife of its own, and the Tring reservoirs are abundant evidence of this, as I witnessed for myself this afternoon, in glorious crisp sunshine and for the most part edge to edge blue sky. So much so that for most of the time even though I was comparatively motionless, I was very warm! It was only as clouds came across the sun, that the temperature dropped dramatically and made me realise that I had not worn adequate clothing and needed to consider bringing my photography to a close.

I was not able to capture evidence of every different bird species I came across, but to have got shots of a heron, a kingfisher, a Pied wagtail, a Little Grebe, a Crested Grebe pair, and a Robin is a fair testament to the variety found in this neck of the woods. In walking along the path between two of the lakes and the lakes and the Grand Union Canal, I fell into conversation with several people who had seen Bittern, Egret, Water Rail, Pochard and Snipe, but sadly none of those came my way!

I thoroughly enjoyed my few hours spent at the water’s edge, and my only regret was that a pair of Crested Grebe seemed to break off their courtship without completing their routine, and were also too far from the shore. My shots of the heron through a veil of intervening branches more than made up for that, and I count myself lucky I managed to save myself from falling in the water whilst trying to get the shots.