Tring Reservoirs – Canalside Images

               In that iterregnum between Christmas Day and New Years Day, I decided to pay the Tring Reservoirs and Grand Union Canal a visit. It was surprisingly warm and the sky was clear; the birds on the water stayed clear of the banks, and those I sought were absent – the Kingfishers, Grebe and Herons. Numerous groups of friends, families and dog-walkers were making the most of the mild weather to enjoy the opportunity, and the hopeful anglers were few.
               I had my EOS R with the Sigma Sports lens and 2x Converter and a lightish tripod, but on this occasion, I was mainly using the wideangle end of the range, due to my hopeful subjects not making an appearance. I had come for relaxation, and so I was not overly disappointed, and had numerous brief conversations with other photographers, and simply imbibed the tranquility that pervaded.
               So, as a result the gallery of images is but a single page of pictures of personal observations of a quiet afternoon, in an unseasonably warm and windless December approaching the end of this decade. However, the end of the afternoon found several of those visitors stop along the path to witness a truly fabulous murmuration of Starlings perform, as the sun was setting – all that was missing was Music, as a growing gathering of people stopped to watch this almost silent display of massed birds, swooping and circling above the margins of the Lake.
               All of us watched in wonder and quiet conversation as the flying group was gaining ever more small groups of birds to swell their numbers as the light dwindled. Whilst we watched, after the overall size grew ever larger, it would separate for a while, then coalesce once more as the mass semed to be weaving like fine lace in a breeze.  This body of birds circled ever closer to a stand of trees beyond the far shore of the lake, and teased us by then climbing higher. As the light further faded, the straggling smaller groups still came; until the right hand edge of this body of birds, suddenly dived for the trees. But this was barely one third of their total number.
               The remaining group returned to their swirling display, and tantalised all the gathered assembly of people for a while longer before diving down again, but slightly to the left of where the earlier group were settling. This still left a sizeable number of birds in the air, as more stragglers had been absorbed into the mass. Then, the next group flew down to the trees. The remainder still circled for a couple of circuits before they dived for their place in the trees. But, even as they headed for their night's rest a smaller group circled and finally the display ended. All the assembled group of watchers   stood awhile to comment on what they had just witnessed in wonder, before breaking up and heading away. It had been a wonderful way to end the day.

Windless Brogborough Sunny Afternoon

Sunny afternoons with little wind gives Brogborough Lake a different feel, for some it offers relaxation on a paddle board for their dogs, for others to watch their partners on the water trying to make the most from what little wind was on offer, but for a few to try their hand with foiling boards — two such were experienced windsurfers new to this extension to their kit who were joining Sam Barnes to explore this latest addition to their windsurfing boards.

It was this group that held my interest on this occasion, Richard and Geoff were taking the opportunity to explore this new addition to their sport, and I wanted to capture their exploration of this kit as they learned the nuances of this feature. It was not without its mishaps, but that was not my motivation, I wanted to capture their early successes as they added to their experience. The nature of the surrounding hills and trees meant that the best wind tended to be quite far from the main shoreline and jetty were, and this was handy for me to get the best out of my EOS R camera body with its Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens and its 1.4 x Converter.

In addition, I was also using a different head on my Benbo tripod; the Acratech Long Lens Head and Leveller, in place of my gimbal head, I have been assessing different options of kit, for when I need to keep weight down, and this was the second time I had checked this option out, but since I have no distance to travel the weight saving is insignificant and the gimbal head is probably better.

The combination of the Sigma Sports lens and 1.4x Converter with the EOS R is a really good mix for this type of work, because the camera body allows for excellent quality at high ISO speeds often necessary due to the light levels encountered, and the quality and range of this lens and body is superb.

I hope these results please the subjects of this day’s galleries, as I feel some have captured the essence of what they were experiencing.

Marston Lake Visit — Fleeting Sunshine — Using a Different Head

Having given the car a long drive to ensure the new battery was fully charged, and with the first rays of sunshine for several days, I gathered a slightly different set items to use on this visit to the nearby lake. I had bought a long lens Acratech head and levelling plate in place of the gimbal to see how it would perform. I knew that I would have to be careful to always lock its movement, when letting go of my hold, but I am trying to keep the weight of my kit down, and this was the latest trial I was making.

I certainly found that it was smooth in operation, and it was easy enough to lock it before removing my grip on the camera and lens, and loosen it when back to using it again, but clouds rolling in to cover the sun would immediately ground all my flying subjects, so I did spend quite a lot of time locking and unlocking! My subjects needed the sun for energy so this was inevitable, but it did mean I was gaining the experience of locking and unlocking!

Because I was once again using the Sigma 60-600mm with the 1.4 Converter, I was also stopping down further to keep a good depth of field, which did mean that I, like my subjects needed the sunshine. On this occasion, I also got some shots of a few Water Boatmen as they nipped around on the surface. Altogether, it was a useful exercise for me, with a few shots of interest, and useful experience.

Marston Lake Visit — Lily Pad Insect Life

Flying insects such as Damselflies and Dragonflies have the power to intrigue, when you stop to watch their behaviour, the warmth of the sun gives them the power to stay on the wing for some time, and when that empowering sun is removed by the coverage of clouds, it is a signal for Flight Control to say: “Land as soon as possible, and head for cover!” For those insects still flying or landing the sad thing is that even though they might be interesting or rare, that sunlight they shun makes it harder to capture them photographically, and yesterday intermittent cloud cover was abundant, as were the denizens of the lily pads that were the backdrop when the light was good, but invariably the floating pads lost their attraction both to the flying insects and myself!

I persevered, hoping that I might capture either species in flight, and whereas the the damselflies would hover long enough for me to obtain focus, not so the dragonflies! They had far more energy, and were able to sap mine attempting to keep them in frame, or frame them in the first instance. I was hoping there might be some degree of repetitive behaviour, but their only repetitive behaviour was to fly erratically, and at high speed!

It did not stop me from trying, and ‘trying’ was definitely a good description of how I described the frustration! I spotted a behaviour that I found slightly disturbing; one pair of coupled damselflies either accidentally or deliberately seemed to drown his female partner whilst they were on a closed lily bud — their combined weight slowly pushed her beneath the surface, but he made no attempt to select a new spot above the water. I did not see the end result, but he seemed to make no attempt to rise higher for at least three minutes that I observed.

I have no doubt that as more buds open, I will pay another visit to this spot, and hope that I might capture shots of dragonflies on the wing. Ironically, the very first outing with my 300mm prime lens, I was close by an island of reeds, and could wait, as it flew circuits around it, for it to come back into view, and click. But here, there was no such opportunity, so all my dragonfly images are static (within reason — as there was quite a breeze, meaning the reeds were often swaying — the one they were on, or others where the reeds between them and myself would obscure them).

Canal and Reservoir, by Tring – All Life Abounds

      I have visited these lakes over several years, and in all weathers, and they never disappoint — the most recent is no different, though the start point and the route were different. The start was at the Wendover Arm, which beyond its present end, is being restored, and the reason, I investigated this short stretch was on the off chance I might encounter kingfishers, but I was destined to be disappointed, none of those I encountered and questioned had seen any along this short stretch. 

I returned to my startpoint, and took the opposing direction, which I knew would bring me to where the canal would link with the familiar stretch that skirted the narrow neck of Marsworth Reservoir. Before that point however, I paused a while to watch a young bird head across the canal to forage food along a narrow ridge on the Heygates Mill side, and whilst that crossing was made I spotted a Grey Wagtail flit from the cover of the trees onto the towpath, and eventually I was rewarded by a few shots, before it decided I had reached the extent of my quota, but at least I was just quick enough to capture it in flight!

Along this stretch of the canal, I was again lucky enough to get a few shots of the rather fine Banded Demoiselle damselfly; I had found a spot where the patches of floating weeds, close by the Bank seemed to hold their interest, but only so far, I only spotted one occasion when one actually landed on these islands, they seemed to prefer the reeds, which made my ability to get clear shots almost impossible! Their iridescent colour is captivating.

The. Swans and Canada Geese had young families to protect, and one Swan became determined to make one Canada Goose realise, that it was not welcomed so close to its own youngster! The highlight of my day was when I was watching one of my personal favourite aquatic birds the Great Crested Grebe, this one proved to be a highly efficient angler of the underwater denizens of the lake, freshwater crawfish and smaller fishes — he made three successful dives during the time I was watching, and he obliged to coming reasonably close once he had had his fill, and began his grooming; by that time, the surface of the water was remarkably still, making the shot number 102 in the final gallery totally serene, and no doubt one day will become a greetings card image for a family member or  friend, as it is so surreal and serene.

I never tire of Grebe or Kingfisher images, but there are some others that to me are special, the Teal, and the Mandarin Duck, and now the Sigma Sports 60-600mm, especially with the 1.4x Converter bring these birds so much closer.

Another Marston Lake Visit – Dragonflies

Initially, I set off to consider another lake to find birdlife, but having got it surrounded, It became obvious the one I had been considering was a non-starter, as there was neither a handy car park nearby, nor did it seem to be publicly accessible. So, after twice parking up and taking short investigative walks to try to find ways to reach the lake, I turned back and headed for the nearer lake at Marston. On arrival, l keyed myself in, and sought out the Water Bailliff, so that I could show him the images I had of the Woodpecker that we had heard first from the farther shore of the lake.

I stopped off at the swim where I spotted his car, and hearing him on his phone, took the time to dig out the Woodpecker prints from the previous visit to let him take a look. When the call ended,  I showed him both the Grebe couple on the nest in the reeds and a couple of the Woodpecker, before moving further round the lake to see what I might come upon, though thus far the lake was both calm and with no sign of any aquatic birds, despite an abundance of birdsong from the surrounding trees.

I headed further around the lake, and initially, since the water was bereft of any birds, I simply put my long lens and EOS R on a monopod to take a look at far margins. I did find a lone coot, but almost as I was about to consider packing up and leaving I spotted a Grebe, so decided it might be worth putting up the Benbo tripod and the EOS R with the Sigma Sports 60-600mm and 1.4x Converter.

On my return to the bank, I spotted a lone dragonfly, so despite the challenges of a lone and elusive subject, I did at least have the prospect of capturing some of the life on this small area of water. In my favour also was the light which gave me a better chance of  getting the shot with the extra depth of field and a higher shutter speed. I thought for a moment the dragonfly might be doing a circuit around the reeds, but it only happened the once. Why that was something that I relished was that if that were to happen regularly enough, I might capture an image in flight, because there would be a chance to prefocus at a spot along its path, and pick it up and pan it. That was how I had succeeded much earlier, on the very first day I used my 300mm after its purchase, but the dragonfly did not oblige on this occasion!

I had several long gaps in shooting this day, so also went and got my DSLR and the 85mm f/1.8 lens to capture other shots, such as an unusual red-winged butterfly, or maybe daytime moth, some of the springtime blossom abundance, and also the mirrorless EOS R with the 60-600mm and 1.4x Converter atop the Benbo tripod and Sirui Gimbal head.

This gallery shows the main kit I was using, a daytime moth and a small butterfly that visited me from the tunnel of trees that led down to the Swim I was at.

Tring Spring — Reservoir’s Birds

Armed with the EOS R and Sigma Sports 60-600mm lens I head for Tring Reservoirs in anticipation of reasonable light and a plethora of aquatic birds. One thing I have learned is that I can never guarantee what I might find, and this is no exception. I could never have predicted what turned out to be the classic images of one rare bird I only caught sight of due to another visitor to the lake who mentioned it was out on the lake. I turned around, and there it was; he also mentioned that the day before its partner had been alongside, but he reckoned it was probably back at the nest.

I had chosen the lightest tripod, a carbon fibre one on this occasion so, but with the wrong head, thus on many times during the day, I took to using it as a monopod to give me the freedom of movement. This day was also one of those in which I had turned off the preview of the mirrorless body, to give me an uninterrupted view whilst shooting, as mentioned by Canon's Frankie Jim, and slowly I am gaining in confidence with this body, but there are some aspects I still have to master as I still do not have the fluidity I had with DSLRs. However, I cannot complain about the image quality, it is truly excellent; really helped by many more pixels.

My time spent at the reservoirs on this day just missed some rain at the end, but the angry Coot and the beautiful colours of the Mandarin Duck were the highlights of this trip to the lakes, making it all worthwhile.

The most telling time with this camera body will be when shooting sports such as windsurfers, powerboats and cars at Goodwood, if I am lucky enough to get there this year, and in terms of local opportunities, I need some wind and sun for me to capture those. I am still trying to learn how to get the best out of shooting confidently with the mirrorless body, so the best for that will be some decent winds.

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.