A Vast Nearby Lake

This area of Bedfordshire could well vie with the North of England for being a District of Lakes, due to the number of worked out Claypits, and I have made several trips to reconnoitred many to find ones that support varied wildlife habitats. On the Wednesday, I tried to trace one lake close by Stewartby, and found it appears to be totally enclosed and has become the site of an Incinerator very much against local opinion.

However, by the outskirts of the village is another lake, known as Quest Lake, and there do appear to be points of entry, with no signs displaying a lack of access, and so I decided to ascertain whether it might be a sanctuary for wildlife, or that it might be yet another potential characterless housing estate. I sincerely hope that it might be the former, and so entered and as I left the bordering woodland, my spirits rose as this was a place of natural beauty, although there were signs of the less thoughtful human activity of dumped bedding and discarded cans and beer bottles along a wide track encircling a beautifully undulating, steep-sloping bank to a blue expanse of lake. It certainly looked promising as the start point of a future gem. But I just hope that the abundance of hawthorn bushes is curtailed and a better choice of trees and bushes add to some of the ground cover.

One really pleasing observation I made was a scattering of Buddleia bushes. Whether this was by design or happenstance I have no way of discerning, but it was a welcome sight. Some of this expanse does need protection from the ravages of wind and sunshine and soon, before any dormant seeds are simply blown away.

Also, what was sad to see was that the earlier incumbents had strewn much of the landscape with failed brick residue, making it hard for it to support much in the way of plant life. It is certainly my opinion that Hanson should have been forced to replace this with better quality soil, so that the scars from their labours could heal, and live again. Some trees and bushes chosen carefully in relation to the nature of the soil, and the attraction of animals, birds and insects to repopulate this landscape.

The current canvas is a wonderful starting point, and the worst aspects of human behaviour of treating open spaces as litter dumps should be actively proscribed, by heavy fines and spells of litter removal at uncomfortably early hours to ensure that when responsible visitors arrive each day the area is once again pristine. All fines should be invested in providing sustenance for volunteers for any improvement initiatives undertaken.

I met a young lady undertaking an inventory of some of the current species that call this place home, apparently on behalf of Bedfordshire County Council, which was welcome news, as this area should be cherished, enjoyed, and above all preserved and protected. So I hope the Quest name defines a promising future for this jewel of a place to shine.

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.

Fairford Leys Summer Concert

   

The Aylesbury Concert Band were once again invited to play in the Bandstand in the centre of Fairford Leys with the sun burning down from a clear blue sky. I came along once again with my younger daughter who plays Baritone Sax with the band, and we arrived early which meant we did not rush around and get overheated before the event even started. We even had time for me to turn the car around so we were facing the right direction for leaving as well as being close enough to transport the baritone sax case with ease.

It was also a day when England had a match against Sweden and after the concert I, with Lizzy joined Tim and the football enthusiasts who were watching the match on a large screen inside the hall.

The tunes the band had played included pieces that had a bearing upon nationalism and by association, with the match being played; England won which meant the beer was flowing, and even offered at a reduced price to entice.

Due to the bandstand being open-sided there is always some breeze present which means that one very obvious addition to every music stand is a plethora of clothes pegs, which does make for distractions to any photographs I take and the tight space means it is very difficult to avoid their presence in almost every shot, which can be a challenge. I try to capture the build-up as well as the playing, and was pleased to be early enough to capture scenes of discussion between the Conductor and Percussionist, and other interactions between the players, which capture some of the atmosphere of the group.

As there was also the attractions of a fair, I still have more images to process for the family.