Wilstone – The View from the Hide

Despite the recent wet weather I had decided that I would visit Wilstone Reservoir to see what bird life I could capture. and to that end, I parked in the Car Park, not as in the past at the small layby near the Cemetery, so that I could reduce the distant travelled carrying the fairly heavy tripod. To further avoid the worst of the mud, when I reached the bridge, instead of taking the route through the woods I skirted the edge of the field instead which was far less muddy and lessened the risk of my falling.

On my arrival at the Hide it already had three occupants two of which were photographers, the third a birder equipped with binoculars. I set up the tripod with as little noise as possible to avoid disturbing the others, but this made the task somewhat lengthier as I was very conscious of the noise I was making, but finally I was happy with the height and worked for a while until I realised that I was restricting my angle of view to my right which was the best direction for lighting, so I made some readjustments with as little noise as possible, and settled to take shots of what I found, two of the others then spoke saying they had spotted a grey wagtail, but it took me quite a while to find it, as it was a good distance away and dwarfed by the geese it was near.

The wigeon was one of the first birds I spotted for myself, then there was a White Wagtail, and Teal and then several Lapwing, the latter being the bird of which I took most shots.

It was darkening and the temperature was dropping and I realised I had the trek back to the car to negotiate and so gathered up my kit and left the hide and headed homewards.

Wilstone’s Winter Birds

I decided on an afternoon visit to Wilstone, despite the lateness, because the sky was so bright and Blue, I did not expect wildly exciting shots, but I met some very interesting people, and several others were out with their cameras.  As it was afternoon with a low sun, the light was good, but none of us expected really interesting subjects, so the exercise of walking and carrying a heavy tripod and two cameras was the greatest benefit.

The water level was very low, so a lot of the shallower parts of the lake were exposed which did mean the Grey Wagtail was busy at the margin, and I ventured down into the mud which at first was dry and reasonably solid, but as I neared the water’s edge it was decidedly boggy and I had to move back unless I fancied getting embedded, and with so few people around, that was foolhardy. I did find some rocks that gave my tripod some support, so at least I managed some shots of the Wagtail, later back on the bank I also was able to follow a Pied Wagtail in its foraging.

I spotted that one particular Gull spent its time on the water with occasional two-second flights to fish for tiddlers, unlike the majority who would fly and swoop to do their fishing, only landing after long spells in the air.

Later another photographer and myself found ourselves watching the successful landing of a Pike, and the angler certainly worked hard, and considering as he informed us he had both hips replaced, it was interesting to watch,. He had been dragging his catch a considerable distance from where started, so had to walk back to get his landing net before completing the operation, thus not all the afternoon’s images were of birds, as I took the opportunity of recording his labours. Later, though I walked past the corner leading eventually to the woods and the path to the Hide, I turned back without any more pictures till I returned to the promontory with its bench and later watched the evening feeding by numerous Fieldfare darting between two favoured trees laden with berries.

Twice I watched a hovering Kestrel, but I was bitterly disappointed by the poor quality of those particular shots, but overall it was an interesting afternoon’s exercise.

Crisp, Cold Wilstone – Not Too Many Birds

It was a cold misty start to the day, but the mist was due to burn off, and I had decided it might be worth my visiting Wilstone Reservoir as it was less muddy underfoot for a change. 

I cleared the build-up of emails and took a leisurely breakfast after gathering the camera and lenses I needed, choosing the 24-105mm on the 5D MkII and the 150-600mm on the 7D MkII and the lightest (Carbon Fibre) tripod with a Manfrotto levelling head beneath the Lensmaster Gimbal Head (minus the spring washer on the side adjustment, as I had found that this did not add to general operational smoothness).

Going to Tring Reservoirs from Marston Moretaine did however require me to use the iPhone SatNav to give me the directions cross country as I did actually wish to get there as soon as possible, and I have yet to work out the best route for myself. Fortunately there also proved to be little traffic.

To get to the Hide from where I park gives me a long trek, and seeing little activity on the water meant that I did not even remove the lenshood until the last straight before the bridge and wood; this is one way I get plenty of exercise, and this is one walk I definitely do not make with my heavy Gitzo tripod!

Arriving at the hide I hear voices, something I generally do not expect from a hide; but in this instance it was I suspect one of the rangers with an trainee, as he was taking a count of bird species from this quadrant of the lake, and naming some of the birds that he was seeing; this is always handy for me! In this instance he mentioned Widgeon and that was a bird I would not have recognised for myself, so that was handy, as I might have mistaken it for a Teal.

Although I spent some time in the hide, it was not an overwhelmingly productive period, really only capturing shots of the Teal and Widgeon. As I left the hide, I spotted a few smaller birds in the swampy area alongside the path, and set up the tripod there, but that was enough to ensure that I simply wasted the next quarter of an hour hoping they might return. 

On the outward journey I had spotted some nervy wagtails, and on the final stretch of my return I did manage to get a just a couple of shots of a Grey Wagtail, but it was the Greylag Geese that I was hoping to capture in flight, and they at least announce their forthcoming takeoff plans giving me the opportunity of takeoffs from the field and the water to complete my 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.

Wilstone Waders – Blacktailed Godwits and Other Birds

Not being a knowledgable person when it comes to naming wildlife, I simply spotted some interesting long-billed attractive Waders. Fortunately it was not long before a knowledgable birder soon came along equipped with a scope on a tripod, and after chatting briefly, I ventured the question and he supplied me with a name, he had his eyes upon a greenshank and had heard there was a pair of Osprey that had been spotted, and asked had I seen them. I had to reply that I would only have known had someone said: “Oh! Look at those Ospreys.” He did say there were a large number of Lapwings, and I did spot those and fortunately also know what they looked like.

As I arrived I had seen an Egret overfly, but it was before I had set up, I climbed down the bank and sat at the bottom, so that I was less conspicuous than being on top of the bank and silhouetted against the sky, and braced the monopod to the ground so that the camera came neatly to my eye and began taking shots as the godwits came  inexorably closer, dipping their long beaks into the water every couple of seconds; this meant that getting shots of a group with all heads above water and in an attractive grouping was ‘interesting’! There was a young grebe together with its parent, doing short length dives

There were times when I did forego using the tripod and opted for using the camera handheld and using manual focus, this was for the shots of birds, such as the terns in flight, as it was quicker if I focussed rather than let autofocus hunt and miss the shots altogether. Had the sun been out more often and brighter, I could have set the lens at the hyperfocal distance and at less than full aperture; but those conditions did not prevail on this occasion.

It was yet another successful gallery of pictures from this excellent Tamron lens – the 150-600mm

Wilstone Wildlife on a Wintry Wednesday

Wednesday found me down at the Tring reservoirs in milky sunshine and a bitingly cold wind, little was stirring at Marsworth, Startops End or Tringford, so I set off for Wilstone. The water level was very low at Startops, but the others were less badly affected. At Wilstone the reeds were high and dry, but I spotted a wader, a Lapwing, shortly after arriving at the edge of the reeds.

Soon after my arrival I was joined by several flocks of Greylags, and a lesser number of groups of Mallards came flying in. They chose to fly in with the sun behind them which was a shame, but occasionally I was luckier.

I also spotted a Grey Wagtail just at the edge a bit further along, and beyond it were some Mallards that were skittering on the ice which had formed for around three feet close to the water’s edge.

I stayed around for a while, but the biting wind soon got to me and the overall activity dwindled, so I set off to Westcott to help Lizzy get some time to herself as Joshua was not quite his cheerful self, and both had not had the best of nights.

Wilstone Late Afternoon Colour

After a disappointing morning, I felt disinclined to return without trying to capture something more meaningful, so went to Wilstone Reservoir, the largest of the trio of Tring reservoirs, it was as deserted as had been the canal, with just one pike fisherman on the promontory. Since the sun looked as if it would set in a sky bereft of clouds I decided I would stay down here till sunset.

The shots I managed to capture here at least meant my time was not totally wasted. I will now have several images that capture texture, and others that will make ideal cards that espouse peace and serenity. However, I do not find such serenity relaxing, I seek action, I enjoy capturing people at work and play, I enjoy seeing the fruits of people's labour progressing towards completion.