Bedford Park - Warm Afternoon

            Warm sunshine in early October is certainly an invitation to be outside, and is an invitation I find irresistible — so I head for a park I have not visited recently, and the beauty of sunshine lies as opposed to light from an overcast sky, is this casts shadows, and enhances texture and detail. A single teazel separated from its blurred background is therefore an ideal start point. Intricately patterned leaves either obliquely lit from above or through from behind are too good to miss! The leaves and sharp thorns of brambles, or the breeze lifting their leaves to display the rubbing beneath are always aspects of nature that will catch my eye, and entice me to record them. For the next several minutes, I found myself fully absorbed by the textures and colours I found all around; some so abstract they might well have been shot from above by satellite! And, as if to emphasise the beholder, as I panned towards what lay immediately beneath me, I grabbed a shot of my own silhouette, before taking a couple of rippling reflections that were accentuated by the original uniformity of the protecting rail, by the Canoe Slalom Course.
            A nearby bush was alive with bees and butterflies eagerly feasting. Rushing water within the pool by the lock gates, and the contre-jour but now somewhat forlorn remains of the spiders’ labours also caught my eye, as did the Mallard ducks being tossed by the turbulence of the water, then the frantic aggression from one male towards another (possible suitor?!) After this, the chasing male spread its wings to dry them, for the next encounter, perhaps?!
           A pair of swans found there was far more interest below the surface than above — but no! One at least had found a tasty morsel of reed upon which to feast. The predator Mallard ignored the passing feather from the previous fracas as it drifted past and the duck continued to paddle against the current. On the shores other Mallards relaxed in the warmth and swans dried their wings, or simply displayed their plumage as a mark of power. Overhead, gulls were gathering, and occasionally swooping to gather morsels of bread being thrown by children onto the water by the shore. This provides me with the chances to capture the gulls as they hover. In sunshine, it also gives me a better chance of capturing detailed images of the birds in flight; that is until some careless dog owners do not control their charges, and two dogs frighten the assembled birds! That irresponsible behaviour is a disgrace, and shows a callous disregard of the owners’ responsibilities!
            There were several Cormorants in the lake on this occasion, and I was intrigued by one which had something in its beak, but it was too distant for me to see exactly what it had in its beak, but after it had played with it awhile, I was unsure whether it had eaten it, or dropped it back in the water. The Grebes sadly kept their distance from the shore on this occasion, because it is a species I enjoy watching. The ravens I encountered on this afternoon seemed to accept my presence as unthreatening, and came reasonably close, and it was interesting that one pair was so different in their personal grooming - one was immaculate without a feather out of place, the partner: the complete antithesis! Unlike the male Mallard which was washing itself all over! While it’s partner watched calmly from the shore. The subsequent display seemed to justify the male’s behaviour, as they both snuggled up to each other — a display I have never ever witnessed before! I suppose you must admit, that definitely should be a feather in its cap!

           One of the Finger Lakes must be especially shaded from the wind as its surface is almost entirely covered by a layer of green algae, but the birds on it seem undeterred by its coverage, and their passage through closes behind them, as they paddle further. As I head back to my car, I stop to take shots of a Magpie that heads in my direction, entirely unfazed by my presence, but eventually, far less so with a couple of men heading towards me from behind the bird, as they licked their way through ice cream cornets. I resumed my pursuit of leaf textures, dying leaf structure, and berries — the Magpie flew off, and I captured a few more varied leaves and berries on the last stretch before returning to my car, and home, ending a satisfying and enjoyable afternoon’s exercise of limbs and brain. Enjoy!

Woburn Park Photo Visit

 

 

I have not visited Woburn Park for some time, and thought that despite it being a weekday, I would likely find it well attended, but I was wrong; the Car Park itself was probably a fifth full, so I was pleased with the prospect, and I encountered very few people during the time I spent there.

I had attached the Sigma 60-600mm to the EOS R6 and mounted the lens to the ball head on my monopod, and only once within woods did I extend the leg. Increasingly I have found this a very handy way to travel comparatively light, yet give myself a stable support whether using this lens at either end of its range. The reason for this confidence stems from this mirrorless body and the avoidance of shutter bounce due to the lack of a mirror being activated. I do not have the steadiest of hands, but the monopod is support enough to give the necessary stability; and I can carry and shoot all day without fatigue.

I took a chance in deciding not to bring another lens along; had it proved a necessity it was in the boot, and I could have walked back for it, but I reckoned, it was unnecessary extra weight to carry, and I never missed it — a testament to how good this Sigma lens is. It is far and way my most frequently used lens, the new Canon camera body, the EOS R3; which I bought a short while ago has made a considerable leap in the quality I am able to achieve from all my existing lenses, yet I am still on a steep learning curve to fully understand how best to use its full capabilities. The difficulty is in finding someone who can help me get the full potential from this new camera’s facilities. I am not helped in my task by suffering considerably from a major deterioration in getting the most from my brain, especially short term memory, and being isolated from my family and friends adds to my levels of stress.

Although my ability to retain new knowledge is severely impaired due to the forced isolation and the stress this has caused, taking pictures, and subsequently working with them is cathartic and calming, for without this my ability to cope would would be further eroded.

One ongoing observation is related to Swans; they do take umbrage with other smaller birds, and on this trip, one individual took a distinct dislike to one, and there are shots here that cover the incident as it chased its smaller resident off the water. It does make me feel less warm towards Swans, despite their beautiful grooming!

I have looked at this day’s images, and realise it needs further editing, but please forgive me, I cannot expend that energy to reduce some of the duplication, so please forgive me — time is short, and too precious. Please enjoy the images, and forgive the lack of further editing. I will try to do better in the future.

Marston Lake Afternoon

 

I drove to nearby Marston Lake, having first ascertained that it was open once again. I parked up at the very first swim, where there was already a parked car, that I believe belonged to the local bailiff, but I could see no sign of anyone nearby, so perhaps he was checking out the various anglers on foot. After a while having taken a look across the lake to see just who was around, I returned to the car, to make my way around further swims to gain some idea of what life there was around the lake. It was very quiet on the lake, with a lone swan close to the far shore, and a few black-headed gulls endlessly working their way around the lake generally a short way offshore for most of the time, would drop to the water presumably in search of fish close to the surface.

I stopped at each swim as I made my way round the road to get differing views of what life there was on the lake, and disappointingly, it was the quietest time I had spent there, perhaps possibly due in part to the cloudy and cool weather; there was minimal birdsong, or calling. Along the way as I travelled between the various swims, I would chat to any anglers I met to question whether they had seen or heard the Woodpecker I had come across at one of my earlier trips to this lake, or had sightings of the Grebe I had come across before I learned of the mink, which gave me cause to wonder whether it was this incident that caused the Grebe to disappear.

l parked the car at the last swim accessible to the car, and took a walk to the last few swims, and finding no one, returned and took out my Sigma Sports lens — initially using it with the attached 2x Converter. With the front two Benbo tripod legs placed in the water,  I set up the camera as low as it would go, so that I could sit on the bank and be as close to level with the eyepiece to shoot. At first  I took some shots of the water lilies, and then the mating water boatmen both walking on water and on the flat lily leaves, bobbing in the wind-rippled water. I watched the gulls as they flew just a few yards from the shore, occasionally swooping down to the water presumably to catch some fish.

As I was at the bank with two of the tripod lengths in the water (a feature made possible using the Benbo tripod) so I could shoot from as low a viewpoint as possible, a Swan I recognised, due to its noticeable swelling to its neck came in close — I judged rightly or wrongly, assuming I might offer it food, but I verbalised my apologies in case it might bridge the species divide. Capturing this varied subject matter, especially the panning shots of the gull on the wing, provided me with the opportunity to continue to hone my skills with fast-moving and somewhat unpredictable direction changes, and overall I did manage to retain focus much of the time. The only noticeable failure on my part was moving the focus point around the screen; somehow that feature eluded me absolutely, so I shall have to consult the manual to work out how to unlock this currently stubborn resistance to my moving it from the centre of the screen!

This flaw apart, it was good to be using this camera and lens combo once again, but this hiatus has allowed me to get to grips with the Lumix, so the LockDown period has had some side benefits. I am hoping that in future handling, either will not be too daunting a readjustment between both cameras.

Harold-Odell Country Park

Wednesday dawned bright and crisp, and the car which overnight had been encased in a thick frosty coat, was slowly warming in the bright sunshine above the low lying mist, thawing the windows from the rear of the parked car going forward.

The mist was also burning off though more slowly, and the sky above was a cloudless blue, which enticed me to consider a trip out to record life on the lake to the North of me at Harold-Odell Country Park. I had a leisurely breakfast, by which time the last of the frost had thawed making it a matter of moments to clear the moisture from the front and rear screens, and a swift lowering of the front door windows to clear them, before heading northwards. The only heavy traffic encountered was on the section of the A421 currently narrowed and speed-restricted from the M1 Junction northwards till the dual carriageway.

When I reached my destination there were roadworks just before the turning for the car park, so I parked on the right before the entrance in the small very muddy lay-by. It is was at this point that my day’s luck ran out. Somehow my car key had been damaged earlier in my pocket, and I found that I was unable to use the open switch on it, and using the key manually left me no means by which I could open the boot! Add to my annoyance, my alarm sounded as well due to the delay in discovering that I had to turn that off whilst the key was in the Ignition! It took some while for me to work out a way to get around this Snafu! My woes did not end there, as I had left my monopod in the house, and it had my tripod head on it, so all my shooting was going to be handheld. It was therefore a blessing that at least the exposures were going to be fast enough for my long lens.

Before entering the Park, I wanted to get some shots of the lingering mist and the distant churches before the sun burned this off, and even as I was taking these the mist was lifting, and the distant scene was crispening.

I had hoped I might see Grebe on the water, but they were nowhere to be seen, gulls and Mallards were in the majority, and swan families were reasonably numerous too. Along the margins inshore I kept spotting a Robin, but it was too flighty, rarely still long enough for me to get a focus, before it was off elsewhere.

I only stayed long enough to capture a few representative shots, before it became obvious there were no new views to be had.