Late Autumn at Woburn Park

The warm sunshine at this time of year is very tempting, as soon this warm spell will  give way to high winds and rain and we will be seeing the portents of Winter, so it is not a difficult decision to make and grab camera gear and head off out — on this occasion to head over to Woburn and the Deer Park. Since I had the Benbo with the 7D Mk II, I was hoping the Staff might let me have some grace over parking, and I was offered an hour’s grace.
            The only disappointment was the deer had had very different plans and did not oblige with a trip to the pond at the entrance, so when my time was up, I drove back to the Car Park, where I chose to pick up the 150-400mm, which I knew I could use handheld, I also had the 24-70mm with its macro option, and now, whereas the 7D MkII was the body which gave me the 1.4 times advantage on the longer lens, I was now using the 5D Mk III so the throw was far less.

My knees at present are weak, so there was no way I was trudging through the woods with a heavy tripod, and I even forsook the monopod in favour of setting higher ISOs on the full frame body, which did give me the option of having more than the long lens in the camera bag.

On my return to the pond I spotted a black swan on the lake near the entrance gate. I did capture some of one’s display of its very striking white wing feathers. What I found rather surprising was how tolerant were the normal white swans were, even when at close quarters. I have often found swans to be quite aggressive towards other birds on the water.

At the pond by the Entrance kiosks there were a pair of Egyptian Geese. This pair were quietly munching at the grass, the female resting rather more than the male, only following when he had moved several goose-lengths distant — not exactly the most energetic of birds!

Upon my second arrival at the pond by the entrance kiosks, The deer had come closer to the pond and soon came to the edge and stepping tentatively into the shallow water. It was almost as if one deer had to go first before others followed.

            I stayed awhile taking shots before the fairly long walk through the woods where I took a few more pictures of some of the leaves and berries that heralded the beginning of the autumn season, and from the profusion of berries, I did wonder whether this year’s Winter was to be harsher than last’s. This afternoon had been very warm, but with a cloudless sky, the evening cooled swiftly and the night was a lot colder.

Woburn Deer Park

What does a photographer do when his main working computer develops a thin vertical green line from top to bottom of his screen? Although not debilitating in its own right, it could be a precursor to further problems, so it has to be taken to repairers and that means I suffer its loss for several days. It was marginally out of warranty, but Apple agreed to carry out the work under warranty, and it had been arranged that I take it to the Milton Keynes Apple Store.

When I took it in I was advised it could take anywhere between five to seven working days.

Upon this basis, I swapped out the faulty machine with a much older less powerful, though larger screened model, and connected up to those discs whose contents were the most vital for my continued working. I also made a complete clone of the Mac that was going for repair, but unfortunately it was unable to boot this older machine, so I sincerely hoped I would not be delayed too long.

Once I had worked as far as I could go, I chose to take advantage of the sunshine, and do what photographers do, I went to take pictures, and the location I chose was the Deer Park at Woburn. I arrived in the continuing sunshine and blue skies, but ominous black clouds were amassing, and soon the wind rose, and it began to drizzle, but I moved into the lee by some trees and continued shooting, and for a while it stopped raining, but the sun was shy and hid behind clouds, just occasionally casting its light on parts of the landscape, before new dark clouds arrived and the showers started again.

As I walked up the grassy path towards the House, my phone rang. Surprisingly, it was the Apple Store Milton Keynes who had only received the Mac from me the day before, to say it was now ready for collection. I thanked the chap for expediting the repair and asked when they closed, was told six o’clock, which meant I had a chance to get there just before they closed – I turned around and began the long walk back to reach my car and journey onto Milton Keynes. I arrived with half an hour to spare, and bought the Camera Connection kit for the iPad by way of saying thank you, and now have the task of putting all my kit back as it was! I would not be able to post process all the pictures till it was all up and running again, but it gave me an opportunity to tidy all the cabling, vacuum all the accumulated dust and check it all out. That made for a very long evening! I did start on looking at the photos, but after all the exertions, I had to give in and get to bed. This morning I caught up on all the email, and finished culling and the gallery is just going up.

Then I have to get off to London to the AoP Awards where I am collecting one for Martin Evening who is indisposed, where I will also be meeting up with Geoff Dann.

Warm Walk in Woburn Park

Woburn Abbey Grounds is criss-crossed by Public Footpaths, so some of the best things in life are still free. In the case of Woburn, even the car parking is provided free, at the edge of town.

From there it is but a short walk to the Lodge Gate and the Cattle Grid, I mention this as cars passing across this gives a burping sound, which soon becomes a distant memory as you walk deeper into the woods and alongside the lake. It was here that as I walked through the long grass I first spotted a dragonfly flying quite high before alighting on the branches of a pine tree. I now kept my eyes open for more and was soon rewarded.

I spotted a red one on a fence post, and soon realised it was using this as a staging post from which to make sorties for food – it would lift off, cruise around no more than five feet away vertically from the post, catch a fly on the wing and land to swallow it, before flying off yet again for another bite. I therefore hoped to be able to capture it in flight, but it was far too fast for that. A short while later I was able to take a shot of a larger blue one on the reeds.

Amongst the blackberries I spotted a couple of butterflies possibly grizzled skippers, but both were reluctant to open their wings when static. As I stayed close to the water’s edge in a gap between the reeds I was visited by a black swan family. When they realised I had no food they glided away.

I continued walking, past the cattle grid and beyond the farm yards till I came to the entry kiosk, where I checked where I was able to freely walk, here there were a few deer taking a refreshing break by stepping in to the lake from the shade of the trees flanking the bank. I followed the designated public foot path, till I met the path that climbed the hill leading to the House, from here I was able to take a few varied shots of the house and its setting, and just before I took this path I spotted a grey squirrel scampering in the grass. I met and chatted to a few other people, before returning the way I came and encountered the deer again in the water by the entrance.