Marsworth January 2018 Reservoir Visit

After several days with almost no sun, this day held promise, but the high wind did require some thought be given to how to reduce windchill; in sheltered areas this was less of an issue and with no rain. I set off south via country roads in case trunk roads were congested or suffered from wind-related accidents, and headed towards Tring Reservoirs.

 I chose a heavy corduroy overcoat and my fingerless gloves with silk gloves beneath. I can say this was indeed a good choice, because when topped off with a woolly hat that came over my ears, I was not in the least bothered by the cold! The wind did dictate a heavy tripod, so my load could not be classed as light in weight, and necessitated changes over which shoulder I carried the assembled Gitzo-mounted, 7D MkII, with the 150-600m Sigma lens. This was as much to check nothing had worked loose as to give me a rest.

On the journey I was called back by a government-sponsored survey that seemed almost impossible to avoid, so although I concentrated on road safety, I put less effort into choosing the route I was taking and no sooner had this been completed, my phone rang again and it was the Water Bailliff for Tringford Reservoir, so I stopped in the wide entrance to a caravan park to take the call. Before leaving I spotted the Ivinghoe Beacon’s iconic shape in the distance so decided to grab some shots with it on the distant skyline before continuing, since Bob was just leaving having been there for some hours, so there was no hurry.

I had forgotten to bring my key to the parking area which was a shame, but at least there was plenty of space due probably to the cold. I assembled my gear and headed towards the canal, and found myself able to cover River and Canal Trust making their way through the locks which made interesting images of their transit. The reed beds had suffered a battering in the last few days of heavy wind, but every so often those that still stood made interesting pictures, and were a sufficient challenge to capture, as were a Pochard and Gull, and so rather than lump the three disparate groups of images into a single gallery, I have given them a gallery each, which are Canal Trust Transit, Pochard Preening, and Attempted Gull Landing Aborted.

So here are their Links – Click on either of the images to reach the relevant gallery thumbnails.

It was good to be outside taking photos again, this day at least had some sunshine!

Wilstone Reservoir – More Birds

The house was tidy enough for the second viewing of the day, and the next couple were coming for their second viewing, so I felt they should be without my presence, and despite the poor weather conditions I felt the pull of the reservoirs and the desire to take more pictures. I took only the one camera and lens, but did take the tripod on this occasion, though there were occasions when I took the camera off the tripod and shot handheld.

The Cormorants are not my favourite bird, but it was interesting to watch one that was nest-building; high in the trees of the island.

In general the birds were further from the shore on this visit, and I watched the Greylag Geese arrive, but only took a single shot at this time. Later when I heard the announcement of imminent take-off, I had the camera in my hand and for a change got some quite nice shots as they came by and headed for the nearby field, I missed the first group, got some nice shots of the second departure, but failed miserably with the final group!

Despite my ungainly load, I trekked all the way round to the Hide, and got the shots of Pochard, Teal and Grebe from there before my return to the lake side and the lone Pied Wagtail and the afore-mentioned Greylag leaving. It was during that episode that I got into a conversation with a Group who were going to the Wildlife pictures at Tring Museum, which I had wrongly assumed was the exhibition at the Stockwood Discovery Centre.

It was one of the Greylag pictures that pleased me most from this trip.

Winter Sun at Wilstone

http://www.fntn.co.uk/rodwp/WilstoneWinterBirdlife

Getting up very early on Sunday was never going to be an option as the evening before had been spent over near Aylesbury to allow my daughter and her husband to celebrate the anniversary of their first meeting, and with their two Duracell-powered children, they rarely get peaceful time together alone, hence my going over to provide cover such that they could relax in a more peaceful atmosphere at a local restaurant. They need never have worried as there was only one very minor whimper from my granddaughter, but presumably it was in her sleep, because it faded before I had even reached the bottom of the stairs, and never recurred.

I decided that with such bright sunlight beckoning, I would visit the reservoir at Wilstone once again. The journey over was measured at a constant 1˚C as it had been for most of the preceding week, so no surprise there, but on arrival, the temperature must have risen as I clomped through thick, glutinous mud to reach the banks of the lake. It is at times like this that I do begin to wish for the more solid underfoot experience of the recent frosts.

I had come with a monopod on this occasion to keep the weight down and due to the risks of slipping and falling did not attach the camera and lens till I had arrived at the water’s edge – the water level was much higher than my last visit which was bad news for wading birds, but good for the reed beds. At the nearest corner there was still ice at the edge of the reeds. It was here that I took advantage of the metal covers over presumably sluices, to get the camera onto the monopod and balance the lens using the slider on the quick-release plate. I waited awhile here to see whether anything stirred amongst the reeds, but soon started gingerly along the narrow stone edging to keep out of the mud as much as possible. I took up a position just after the first bush in case the wagtails were around, but they kept their distance.

I came alongside an angler where a few Grebe were, and soon found myself in conversation and learned he generally found he had better luck close to where the Grebe frequented. Occasionally I greeted other photographers as they came past and some were happy to chat as I waited to spot the grey wagtail that had appeared. After awhile I moved further along the edge and soon was lucky enough to spot a lone Teal with its partner, this was my first chance to see Teal close-to.

I spent quite a deal of time trying to capture the diving of a particularly busy Pochard and I had an almost 99% failure rate because it moved so fast and I was unable to spot any precursor movement; it was even harder to capture the Grebe diving, as it slid under rather than leapt as the Pochard was wont to do, so I have numerous shots to simply bin when it comes to the processing!

Altogether though I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours once again taking photos with the 150-600mm and the EOS 7D MkII, but in future I will try to manhandle a tripod rather than the monopod in the future.

Tring Reservoirs – 7D MkII 2nd Test

A second outing with the Canon EOS 7D MkII, again with the 150-600mm Tamron Lens, this time on all three of the Tring reservoirs, Startops End, Marsworth and Tringford and once again in bright sunshine; not that it contributed to my warmth, that was provided by far more insulated undergarments.

The subject matter was varied, but unexciting, but I was there primarily to get to understand the features of the new camera body, whilst there was reasonably good sunlight.

The response of the new body was excellent and I was impressed by the burst rate, now if I only my body would react with equal agility, my anticipation and reaction still need to improve if I am to get the peak of actions such as a duck diving, a dragonfly or a kingfisher taking off. Frozen limbs and fingers do not help; had I kept my hand on the camera the entire time, it would likely need thawing with a hair dryer! Memory is another of my failings, I forgot that the gimbal head does not remain in the car boot, so had to use a ball head in its stead.

The last shots of the gulls were taken using either the tripod with only one leg extended to form a monopod or hand held, as they were swooping and diving close to the bank. I also found that when the camera was on the tripod animals were happy to come close but off to one side, leaving me only able to watch helplessly, unable to release the camera quietly and speedily. This time it was a mink which climbed down a branch above me, then across another to disappear beyond the tree trunk and back into its hollow in a dead tree stump at the water’s edge. I suppose I should not be too disappointed as I really did only have a back view!

Tring Reservoir Trip

After Several Days of Rain, the morning was true to the forecast – frosty and bright, and this corresponded to my waking after four hours of sleep and finding that try as I might I was unable to get back and sleep a further few hours, so I was obviously destined for this trip to the reservoirs.

I did not leave particularly early, but after gathering my gear, I was out, by half past seven, but there was still the frost to clear from the car windows, so it was mint chocolate square before I arrived and parked the car close by Tringford, and took the path between Marsworth and Startops reservoirs. After passing through the gateI spotted a pair of robins flitting from bush to bush and singing brightly, so turned around and gathered a jar of seeds I had in the car, and this time started laying a few on each fence post that was either in the sun, or about to be. This turned out to be fruitless, so I got shots of one of them in the high branches trilling melodiously instead.

I had hoped that the swans might be as restless as on my last visit, but the only pair in flight took off from Startops and flew diagonally beyond the trees, till the corner before landing once more on Marsworth, all too far away even for 400mm! I never saw them in flight again this time.

I chose to walk along the path towards Bulbourne in the vain hope of catching sight of kingfishers, but that was not to be either, despite patiently waiting some two hours. However whilst there I was visited by a very friendly, though somewhat nervous young Robin who did finally take some seeds from my hand, but he was always far too close for me to get any shots, so it was that as I traced my steps, I was greeted by yet another cheerful robin, this time in the branches at an acceptable distance.

I returned to where the car was parked and crossed the main road to walk along the far side of Tringford, but although there was a young family of cygnets with their parents, there was nothing beyond coots and Canada geese. So I returned to the car and journeyed to Wilstone where the only slightly less common Pochard were, and after a couple of dives they paddled away from the shore, beyond my reach and also into the sun!

It was not the most productive of visits, but it had become warmer, so a welcome change from grey skies and near constant rain.

Buckland, Mallard Family; Tringford Pochard Pair

Once again I set off with one subject in mind, only to end up with something different – in a word: Serendipity. I headed for Buckland and a puddle by the banks of the Grand Union Canal, with the idea of seeking out kingfishers. I was very surprised having left the houses of Buckland to see a vast industrial complex where fields had been last time I visited, I learned from an angler on arrival at the canalside, that when completed it would be Britain’s largest Milk Processing Plant!

I met up with a fisherman who had barely seen any bird life, who had caught a small bream before I arrived and a three-inch tiddler whilst I was there, so I decided to move on, returning eventually the way I had come when I spotted a young Mallard family swimming along the far bank close in to the reeds.

Just as I entered Buckland I spotted a duck perched on some gates, so got out of the car to grab a quick shot, and it was the second time recently I had photographed a Muscovy Duck! I made my way back to Tringford Reservoir where a pair of Pochard were swimming very close to the shore, and as I watched, the male would dive for tasty green weeds for his paramour and she would then swim up and take some from him; she never once dived herself, though she would dip her head in the shallower water close to the bank.

I lost count of how many times I failed to capture the male doing his dive, but I did finally get close to getting the shot I wanted of this activity. Bad light and a biting wind finally put an end to my attempts to improve upon my diving captures.

Marsworth and Tringford Grebes

An early start allowed me to get to the Canal end of Marsworth reservoir, just before the lock to see what I could find near the reed beds. I n the first location I chose I was out of luck, but when I moved to where an angler was below me, I was almost in line with a gap in the reeds on the far bank where I spotted a grebe nesting. I gather from another angler this spot is known as the suicide pitch as the slope is so treacherous, more especially when wet, which of course is most of this year! One parent patrolled along the reeds; from my observations seemingly concerned for ducks with evil intent. Certainly as I was packing up the guard grebe made a pretty determined go at one of the ducks, and the duck took off in a hurry!

I then set up on the bank level alongside the path between the two reservoirs, Marsworth and Startops End that led back toward Tringford, where I captured a few common tern patrolling parallel to the bank, before heading to the main road to see if the pochard was around still on the far side of Startops, I only saw a single female. I returned to Tringford on the far side from the Anglers pontoon and was privileged to see a grebe find and swallow no less than two fair-sized freshwater crawfish, and fortunately it was so engrossed in feeding that it stayed close to the shore to my delight.

Windy and Cold Marsworth

There was a constant chorus of birdsong in the wooded entrance path to Marsworth reservoir, but all the birds were hidden amongst the bare branches, so to tempt them out into the dappled sunshine I spread liberal amounts of birdseed on the tops of the fence posts that lined the path, but only on those in sunlight.  I then put a small groundsheet on the damp earth and sat and waited.

They were in no hurry to oblige, but I was sure they would come to accept my presence if I kept still and when I moved, did so slowly. I had surmised correctly, and soon I had shots of  robins, blue tits, great tits and chaffinches. Fishermen and dog walkers began to arrive and they were disturbed too often, so I got up and walked along further till I spotted a dry path that led to the water’s edge of Startops End reservoir, so I strolled along the stream that came between them, and all I found were a pair of grebe just visible between the branches at the foreshore, so I came back and found another spot by the hide to see a pied wagtail and more robins.

I continued from there along the Grand Union Canal, and watched a narrowboat through Lock 42, then back for a spell at Marsworth. The sun had by now disappeared and the wind had got up, but I did get some shots of the reeds before the sun went. There seemed to be only one pair of pochards left, but numerous black headed gulls and mallard pairs.

Marsworth – Teeming with Birdlife

Taking a walk between Marsworth and Startopsend reservoirs on a Sunday morning in February, especially having got up early to have a haircut, is certain to be on the chilly side. Add to that a biting wind, and despite some sunshine, it was good to have fingerless gloves to hold a camera.

I spotted a chaffinch cheerfully chirping early in the walk, but was unable to see it clearly through all the branches, next I spotted  a robin and a pied wagtail, and learnt that the robin was distinctly territorial, so the wagtail was soon displaced from the fence top! The early part of my visit with its sunshine allowed me to take shots of various pochard (Click the blue text here to see some beautiful birds), both ducks and drakes and also the red-crested pochard, but as the sun was overtaken by clouds, and families with children threw bread to the mallard and coots, in swooped the jealous and greedy black-headed gulls, intent on stealing every last scrap by attacking en masse.

What was interesting about that is that invariably most of the gulls would leave the melée early and chase the first successful gulls for the morsel, leaving just a few of their number on the water to pick up the sodden remnants. I managed to capture some of the gulls who had the bread, who on being chased managed to lose a grip on their food; in one case because it decided it wanted to sqwawk!

Although I brought along some seeds for the smaller birds, none flew to my carefully prepared small piles strategically place in attractive settings such as stripped bark, fence-posts, tables and winding gear – at least not whilst I waited at a distance!