Very Brief Visit to Weston Turville Lake

I was due to have lunch with my younger daughter at Quainton, but not too early, as she was in need of some quality time with her two youngsters who were hopefully coming to the end of their coughs and sore throats. Since I had woken early and was ready to go out, this suited me, since the sun was shining, and the time spent at a lake with a camera was equally good for my soul.

Having not visited the lake at Weston Turville for some time, and it being in the same general direction as Quainton, this was very welcome; also, an added benefit was Lizzy knew how long the journey to her would take, so when she felt that her roast, potatoes and vegetables would be my time distance away, she could simply ring me, and I would pack up and be on my final leg of the journey.

Despite there being almost no wind, there was a gathering of dinghies on the farther shore, with just a couple beyond the confines of the harbour, there were a fair number of swans, a few, scattered Coot, and a young Grebe, also there were several small groups of gulls, mainly on the water, occasionally taking short spells in the air. I had assemble the camera and lens on the Benbo tripod by the car, just beyond the entrance; a thoughtful soul had kindly vacated his or her slot very close to that entrance, which meant I was spared a long walk from the farther end of those parked cars. A few dog owners were heading in and a lesser number coming out with their charges as I set up my EOS R, the 2x Converter and the Sigma Sport 60-600mm onto the tripod, then headed for the entrance myself.

I had assumed from the number of parked cars to find the bank and paths crowded, but obviously the lake and woods are large enough to absorb that number without more than three or four groups being visible. It took very little time before I began shooting, and rather than the native wildlife, it was the somewhat pedestrian sailing dinghies that were my subjects as they very slowly made their way out from their moorings, I felt their sadness that with this sunshine there was barely a whisper of wind — a mere zephyr!

Meanwhile the Grebe was inching slightly closer, but still little more than a speck at the full extent of the lens’ range, meaning it would be well-cropped within the frame, even with my 2x Converter! It is here that the EOS R shines, in that with the sunshine on this occasion, even with such a crop, the quality of the image is still good. Even though now the Sigma is invariably linked to my 2x Converter, I find I can still focus close enough at the 60mm end of the lens with the Converter on when as happened a Coot swam into the ban below me, and gave himself a good shake, without being chopped in any way.

One fascinating group of shots occurred when a small dinghy with an outboard came towards me then returned to the boatyard making some wonderful interference patterns on the surface, and behind me a Dad and son were cycling when the chain came off and Dad stopped to pop it back on whilst the lad ran up and down the bank, as Dad settled down to pop it back. Not long after I got my Dinner gong from my daughter, and headed back to the car, and an excellent roast ham and all the trimmings, rounding off a great day.

Another Lake Visit — Weston Turville

The lake is a reasonable distance away, but I took a chance on driving over since it is fairly wide, meaning some birds tend to be a distance from the shore. I therefore immediately put on the 1.4 Converter to give me a better chance. It never came off because, as anticipated the subjects of my greater interest all kept their distance! This was a day for the EOS R, and the 60-600mm Sigma Sports. One immediate proof of this came when I moved location, and from the raised walkway I spotted a young Coot alone, out of the water, wandering close to one of the small fishing piers. Here, despite the 1.4 Converter I was able to use the close focussing distance offered by this superb Sigma optic — The earlier 150-600mm version I once owned, had it had on, the Converter I simply would not have been able to capture the shot! So, Sigma, thank you, thank you.

The long lay-by where I was parked had scarce few cars, so the visitors were limited, and many were young mothers and their children, and a couple of healthy joggers, but on two separate occasions I met up with fellow photographers, two Nikon devotees who I had spotted across the water, who had equally clocked me, and with whom we shared ‘chimped’ images (I did not ascertain that snippet from afar, but later when they arrived at the same jetty!) l later met a husband and wife photo team and chatted about our shared interest in image-taking. So it was both a productive shooting experience as well as being social.

Although I was using the Sirui gimbal head, I think on this occasion I should have used the lighter Acrotech Long Lens head. I tried some short bursts late in the day of some peculiarly aggressive behaviour between two Grebe.

Two Swans had a family of seven Cygnets, and they literally came towards me with total equanimity, however their behaviour towards a larger group of Coots was far more threatening; making deliberately aggressive lunges towards them to keep them away, which I found unusual since the gap in the reeds by the small jetty had been occupied by the Coots!

The gulls spent much of their time swooping in and skimming the surface for fish, but not once did I see a successful outcome. A Heron which had been stationed for some time on a distant buoy, took off and lazily flew low along the distant reeds, before diving left into an inlet and disappearing from view. Later, the lone Grebe came up at the end of a series of dives with a substantial fish for its efforts, making short shrift of downing it within mere seconds. After a chat with the married couple, I was about to pack everything away when I spotted an oddly aggressive chase between the Grebe and a second one but cannot be sure which one had been the successful one  I had just been shooting.

I closed the tripod legs and followed my companions out to the car; packed everything away, grabbed a welcome cold drought from my flask, and headed homeward.