In the Bleak Mid Bedfordshire…

Sunday evening was spent clearing the boot to locate the spare tyre as I had definitely acquired a puncture. To my dismay, since this was the first puncture since new more than three years ago, I found that I had a ‘skinny’ tyre designed for travel at no more than 50mph. Looking at it, I felt it should be truthfully described as a fifty yard tyre, for with roads in the morning more akin to skating rinks, the car was going to be decidedly unstable with three chunky tyres and one more suited to a moped!

The morning exercise was to check that my local tyre-fitting company were open, then get the frost-laden car cleared and ready to drive through narrow lanes and a very steep hill to reach them. For anyone in this neck of the woods needing a tyre service, I can highly recommend Supertyres by Easter Avenue, Dunstable, they are friendly, honest and inexpensive, and I have been going to them for more than a decade. Whilst there I learned that the ‘skinny’ tyre should be at 60PSI, which I had not noticed, and when I had earlier checked its pressure and found it at 34 felt that was adequate, well, it wasn’t, and I was grateful to be informed, so when it was returned to the boot, it had been reflated to the correct pressure.

After lunch and some time checking emails, I gathered my new gimbal head and levelling plate and the 150-600mm Tamron lens and set off for Tea Green to see whether the red kite were aloft, but after a fruitless stay there, I just took quick shots more for amusement than anything more serious of a smart little silver Audi TT and a scarecrow atop the hill opposite to my layby. I then set off along Lilley Bottom Lane till I arrived at a spot where I had seen kites in the past, but before reaching that place I grabbed a few shots of the sheep which were spread over the hill, part in shade, part in sunlight. Then I moved to a spot where there was more room to park, only to find an SUV had already got the best position.

I then made my way a little up the hill, so that if the other vehicle needed me to move I did not have far to return, I actually met the the family coming down the hill and they said they could simply drive forward to get out, so I need not have worried. I waited a long time before the kites came, but they were way off in the distance, and by then the sun had all but set beyond the hill behind me, and being exposed to the biting wind, I soon just took some shots of the now returning sheep, and the half-moon, before packing everything back in the car. The sunset beyond the hills was far more attractive, and in Grove Road after Slip End, I took some shots of the trees in silhouette and the the Plough Pub across the field.

Sunny Interlude – Flight Theme

 

It is extremely frustrating that when a free moment occurs the weather turns foul, so when the sun appeared to be coming out between showers for a change I decided I just had to go out for a drive and see whether any red kites were aloft. Normally this would mean I end up photographing friendly robins or hot rod cars, but not on this occasion – I did actually catch sight of a few elusive kites, but the first few times, by the time I was out of the car having found somewhere to park, they had soared high or simply flown to another, more distant hilltop, so since low-flying aircraft are once again newsworthy hereabouts, I grabbed a few of them in passing.

 Parking was not as easy a prospect as in the past since many of the likely spots were quagmires or were alongside deep, full road width puddles that passing cars would use to cover my car with muddy and grit-laden water. This meant often lengthy walks to a suitable vantage point. Once again I became aware that wildlife is fully cognisant of the limitations humans, in particular photographers, have when trying to get close to them! I started from Tea Green, via Lilley Bottom and Whitwell,  returning by Peters Green.

One advantage of windy and showery weather is the different light that plays upon the landscape and the differing cloud shapes that occur. A horse-riding mother was being accompanied by her cycle-riding son as they took advantage of the break in the afternoon weather, and they were silhouetted against the bright road surface as they climbed the hill beyond me, making a striking shot.

On my journey back via Peters Green, I again spotted a lone kite flying low, but only managed a couple of shots before it disappeared beyond the tree line, but a young lad bid me “Hi” as he came from his cottage to walk his dog, I returned the compliment, but after several minutes I turned around and he had gone no further than a puddle a few gates down, and was squatting down with what at a distance, looked like a paper boat that he seemed to be photographing, so as the kite had decided not to return, I strolled closer and we chatted. It turned out he was studying A-level photography at St Georges’ School, and he had a project that seemed to involve fire and water, so he was taking closeups of burning newspaper floating on the puddle’s surface. I gathered from this conversation he was actually more interested in film, but this course seemed close. He was familiar with Photoshop, but I felt that he might consider Lightroom as this was likely to benefit his still camera work and provide him with a different way of handling the post processing, so I suggested he look at the 30-day free trial for his Mac. I wished him all the best and returned to the car and home.

When I was doing my post processing I spotted a very distinctive end of wing feather on one kite over Whitwell, and realised I had photographed this same bird around a year ago over Tea Green!

Bright Winter Saturday Sun

Late morning, and I gather my camera gear and head off into bright sunshine blue sky and wispy high clouds. I am going beyond the Lower Luton road heading towards Tea Green and I spot a kite soaring high, but I soon lost sight of it, and have to content myself with landscapes with trimmed bald hedges. In the narrow lanes it is not possible to avoid the flooding from the recent heavy rain, but I drive calmly to ensure I am not forced to drive through them by oncoming cars.

Am I alone in observing that four-by-four vehicles force me into taking to the mud, potholes and soft verges as they leave a full two feet clear of any such hazard? It would seem that unless they are farm Landrovers, the ‘almost saloon’ four-by-fours seem to consider that it is infra dig to get their wheels dirty, and that I must be a ‘Towny’ driving a saloon car, and should therefore expect to dirty my wheels and be scuffed by hawthorn branches! I was driving with consideration, yet these same drivers rarely held up a hand in thanks, yet every saloon car that I either slowed or stopped for, waved in grateful acknowledgement.

I was never to see a kite or buzzard for the rest of the day. I captured landscapes in the main, before passing the River Lea at East Hyde where I decided to stop as the bridge was thronged by stopped vehicles and people gazing across the fields. I spotted the heron in the far distance, and later a Little Egret, and I took a chance to change from my 70-200mm to the 100-400mm and was lucky enough to catch sight of him beyond a pair of swans, and on the second occasion of it flying, managed to get two shots before bad light stopped play.

As I climbed the hill beyond, the sun was setting behind a large tree, and a father and son pair of cyclists stopped alongside for a refreshing drink after the climb, which meant a nice silhouette or two to round off the afternoon.

Snow out at Tea Green and Lilley

On the Friday, I had planned some Photoshop training for someone in Windsor, and was nervous over getting there on time so stayed in Burnham the night before, and was fortunate that the trip over was uneventful. However, overnight in Luton there had been a heavy snowfall yet again, so on my return, I realised how fortunate I had been. On the Saturday, out came the sun, so I invited my next door neighbour, Brenda to join me for a trip to Tea Green and Lilley.

The low sun cast long shadows which brought out the texture in the snow and accentuated the skipping steps of birds across the surface. So I now have a number of background textures to add to my collection. I also liked the effect of snow on some white palisades, some frozen splashes near an island in a small frozen pond, and lastly the sweeping ribbon of tarmac in a wintry landscape.