Marsworth – Low Water

I had not paid a visit to Marsworth in some time, and not visited or chatted to Tringford Lake’s Bailiff, so despite not knowing the likely weather conditions decided to put together a few provisions to eat and drink, making myself a flask of hot coffee, a Scotch Egg and some packets of crisps; the latter such that I had something to share with others should the need arise.

On arrival, I assembled the tripod, camera and lens, choosing the lightest combination for the tripod and head, in case the weather forced me to beat a hasty retreat, and the leaden skies certainly made that a very possible chance, but having left with only a minimal drizzle, I was still optimistic of a dull, but dry morning. Although there were signs of vehicles, after a brief visit to the landing stage, there was no anglers to be seen.

What was apparent was that the water levels of the lakes was very low; less than I had seen for sometime; the stream and pond at the entry to Marsworth Lake had obviously been dry for many days. At the far end of that lake the wind had caused considerable damage to trees and the scene that greeted me at my destination was almost unrecognisable due to  numerous large fallen branches; what had once been an expanse water, was now reduced to a barren riverbed, exposing lots of discarded plastic bottles and empty cans, evidence of careless humans amidst the natural weather damage, the habitat I had expected for wildlife was gone. I hope that the opportunity to clear the area of human detritus and much of the clutter of branches is taken soon, before the rains come making it much harder.

I felt that my chances of finding much to photograph were slim, and so it turned out – I only got a single, much obscured shot of a lone kingfisher, a foraging grey wagtail, and a fleeting grey squirrel, all in very low light levels. I came away with a really strong desire to somehow gather a group of us to spend a day having a massive clearout and hacking session to improve this particular stretch of bankside for the wildlife and our chances of photographing their return to this area with a better environment.

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.

An Early Start for Marsworth Reservoir

Checking the weather forecast suggested a bright day, but either I did not see a mention of heavy mist, or there was not one, for I set off in a very thick mist that in parts was better described as fog, making winding country roads without white edge lines particularly hazardous in the early hours, and having had to scrape my windscreen of frost, my dashboard reminded me unnecessarily the potential for ice!

My route had many junctions and I almost missed one as its landmark pub was obscured in the mist. I arrived at Tringford with darkness still prevailing, I parked up and put together my Giottos tripod and  Lensmaster gimbal head, and had already put the Canon 100-400mm lens with 1.4 converter, and slung my 5D MkIII with 35mm f/1.4 around my neck and set off along the path that lay between Startops End lake and Marsworth lake. The Canada Geese or Graylags were hooting and Gulls swooped in and out of the mist over the waters of Marsworth, as I headed along the Grand Union Canal towards the reed beds.

 I made my way carefully and quietly down the bank to avoid creating a disturbance and began setting up the tripod, I had nearly completed when a quiet voice behind me said he had waited for me to finish before alerting me to his presence in case in fright I was pitched into the water! I don't think he realised how true was his statement, for had he spoken at normal volume, I would have jumped clean out of my skin! He introduced himself as Andy, and much later as Andy Brown, and I learned we shared a mutual friend in Mervyn.

My eyes have started to degrade more rapidly of late and this has resulted in my having two very different prescriptions for distance and close work, and today for the first time since my latest glasses, I found that the pair I had chosen which allowed me to view the review screen well were very far from being useful in spotting kingfishers on the far bank, and on this occasion I was indebted to Andy who was clearly able to spot them. I think I am going to have to bring both pairs with me in future, which was not the case before.

As the light slowly improved we both began shooting at high ISO and fairly wide apertures, and it soon became apparent that my decision to check out using a converter on the 100-400mm lens was far less effective than using my 150-600mm lens on its own, so that experiment was a failure! The main reason being that in this low light auto focus was both very slow, and sometimes simply not happening. The advancing light certainly improved the quality of images I was able to get – I was bitterly disappointed with the vast majority of the early shots, and only rising to barely acceptable towards late morning. Another experiment was using the onboard flash of the 7D MkII, again way under-powered to work efficiently, but it did seem to have a beneficial side effect, in that it seemed to make the kingfisher show interest in us!

After Andy had headed off to work for a Conference call, a pair of wood pigeons began courting, and since I had built up an interesting sequence, I have put these in a separate gallery. (click the underlined text above to link to the gallery).

I stayed for an hour or so longer, because it became apparent that the kingfishers had had their fill for our neck of the woods, so I set off back to the car, but along the way I did stop occasionally to record a few landscape shots and also got involved in a few conversations with others walking the footpath.

Marsworth Reservoir – A Quiet Early Spring Day

Arriving at Marsworth Reservoir, I was somewhat surprised by the lack of birdlife activity, and the half-hearted pair of Grebe by the reeds, who eventually went their separate ways the one heading towards the centre of the lake, the other into the strips of water cut from the reed beds apparently to encourage the bitterns. The largest group of ducks were the Tufted Ducks after the ever-present Coots. A few gulls were skimming low across water occasionally dipping for small fish, and on occasion successfully. I stayed awhile at the pathside keeping watch on the Grebe in case its mate changed its mind and returned to the reeds.

It didn’t happened so I moved along past the hide and turned right alongside the Grand Union Canal; where only a single narrowboat was moored with its engine gently chugging, perhaps to keep its electricity running. Upon my arrival there were no anglers encamped at the lakeside, so I presume the calm waters were considered to favour the fish rather than the anglers. Although buds were beginning to show, the frequent chilly nights of late kept them firmly closed for the present so there was little leafy cover at the water’s edge which meant I was almost certainly going to be avoided by kingfishers on this morning, and that proved to be the case.

There was a very busy little wren gathering leaves for a nest which it was cunningly building beneath a broken and split branch overhanging the water in the middle of the narrowing neck at the far end of Marsworth’s lake, and it managed to defeat my attempts at capturing it either entering or leaving its concealed nest. In this same area, a Grebe visited me several times spending its entire time diving for lengthy periods and returning to the surface only to catch its breath before dipping once more beneath the surface. A Grey Wagtail spent a short time close by and every so often a pair of Bluetits darted from bank to bank in the characteristic swooping flight, but rarely did they stay long in one spot or close enough together for me to capture both in the same frame as no sooner had I got both in the same shot, one or both would be on the move again! Over some three hours I never spotted a kingfisher, yet as I left and had walked no more than fifty feet along the path back along the path I spotted one heading to the spot I had just vacated – I cursed the cheeky so-and-s0 for outwitting and teasing me once again.

I met up with Tringford’s Water Bailliff as I headed back to my car and we chatted awhile as I went to see whether there was any more activity on the Tringford Lake, but it was even barer than the one I had just left. Instead of going back to Marston Moretaine I headed for Westcott to meet up with my daughter and her children to spend a short time with them.

Marsworth – Last Day of Summer 2014

With the clocks going back an hour at two o’clock Sunday morning, and the weather apparently set fine for the Saturday, I set my alarm for an early start, but still managed to leave very little time for sleep! I think I will try to make a special effort to catch up on Sunday, when we have a family gathering in Cambridge that starts in the afternoon.

I headed for Marsworth with a very light rucksack with a cushion inside as I really needed a more comfortable seat, and so it proved. I also travelled light; with just the single lens, the 150-600mm Tamron on the 5D MkIII. It was not as clear as had been forecast, but as the sun rose in the sky, it did mean that what light there was not too harsh. When I arrived at my chosen location, another photographer had been there for a couple of hours already, but though he had seen some Water Rails, and glimpsed a fly through by a female kingfisher, none had settled.

As I had managed to capture a swan in flight at take-off from Marsworth, I had hoped our luck might change, but it was wishful thinking and although we were visited, the female stayed shyly in the trees which hardly made for an attractive and meaningful setting for a kingfisher, though there was one instance when I did spot her fishing way in the distance, but way too far even for 600mm!

I did spot the grey wagtail again and the squirrel, and we were in our friendly robin’s territory, but it remained too close to get a shot, but he did benefit from a few crumbs of my toasted sandwich. Merv left before me, but after a further hour, I too departed and managed to get a few more shots of departing swans and rounded off with a silhouette of trees in the field by the Trout Stream.

Another Visit to Marsworth's Wildlife

Rather than stay glued to a monitor for the meagre need to do so, and with the autumnal weather due to end imminently, I headed once again for Marsworth, one of the Tring reservoirs. Not unnaturally the area was quiet, with only a few anglers, dog, buggy and children walkers to be seen. Hearing frantic wing flapping behind me I turned just in time to catch a pair of Mallards just as they landed.

When I had settled and set up my camera on a well-strapped and supported monopod, the first observation I made was that dragonflies were still in abundance, and one coupled pair came my way frequently, but on one visit I noticed that the pair were constantly jigging up and down and eventually I twigged what was happening, it would appear that the male (for that was my impression the forward partner to be) was trying to shake the female free, but it was more than that; as far as I could tell as he was diving down he was dashing the female against a small rock jutting from the water, and although difficult to see, this is what I have tried to show in the shots in the gallery.

Later I spotted what I think was a great spotted woodpecker which landed on a high dead branch, and I just barely had the time to open up three full stops as it was against bright white clouds, before it departed as swiftly as it had arrived; it did not return. A Blue tit arrived slightly lower shortly after, seemingly mimicking the woodpecker’s stance! There followed a series of dragonflies which I was unable to capture in flight, but occasionally they landed just within later-cropping distance.

The Robin from the far shore looked less dishevelled than had been the case in my earlier encounters, and the Grey Wagtail made a brief  visit, my patience however was not rewarded by any visiting Kingfishers, but I did manage a couple of shots when I was paid a fleeting visit by a Heron atop the far trees.

On my return walk I got a shot of a Grebe in the late afternoon sun, a Swan heading for shore and an angler who caught three small fish whilst I was watching another Heron that seemed to have his beady eye on a possible catch, but despite waiting in the hope it might be successful, it appeared it was no to be. I walked on returning to the car and home.

Bitterly cold, but Otter at Marsworth

I must make a correction to this article – for those more erudite than me, the picture above is that of a Mink, not an Otter. Please accept my honest apologies, I will leave the headline though.

A young robin must have felt I needed consolation and company as it (for I have no way to define its sex) was either simply curious or liked the idea of company. Although wary he (as I decided I should decided ‘it’ was far too impersonal for such a personable bird) flew around me to take up different positions in the branches, seemingly shivering, but also softly muttering when it alighted. I had arrived with some ends of frozen loaves from home, so I broke a few and threw them around by way of a reward for keeping me company, and rather than risk displaying signs of incipient madness by talking to myself, tried to talk quietly to him to give him reassurance.

He followed me as I changed the spot from which I might hope to get a glimpse of a kingfisher or other bird or animal life at the water’s edge close to the reed beds of Marsworth reservoir. As time wore on he came ever closer, landing on my dangling boot on one occasion, and within arm’s length on the tip of the branch I rode as if on horseback (hence the dangling feet either side) when he came close he stayed for only a few seconds; fifteen or so at the most, but at other times when just beyond arm’s length he might rest for a minute or two, and every so often he would disappear for three to five minutes and return with a worm that he would pick at and shake whilst on the muddy path by which I had entered the bushes.

All the while I would divide my time looking around for signs of elusive kingfishers and other stirrings in the scene before me and what he was up to, talking re-assuringly to him to let him know he was either too close for me to get a shot of him or asking him to persuade his kingfisher friends to visit.

During one of the times when I was concentrating ahead of me, not being distracted by my robin companion, there was a little splashing only a few feet away and an otter came out of the crystal clear water and clambered onto the half-submerged fallen tree trunk I was on and looked me straight in the eye before calmly deciding I might just be a threat and he slid back into the water. I also was visited by a squirrel, three moorhens, an overflying heron that did a prompt U-turn, several pigeons, a lone young grebe, a grey wagtail, a crow, yet few stayed in sight for long.
Seeing the otter so close was the reward for my perseverance, and as I returned to the canal path I became exposed to a bitter and rising wind, with the reservoir water being churned into choppy white horses. When I had arrived earlier I had only seen two people, one an optimistic angler, the other a taciturn pessimist who took a while to respond to my “Morning” with “Not much good about it!” When I was leaving more people were around, many out with dogs or babes in buggies, and a pair of men who engaged me in conversation asking whether I had had any luck. When I mentioned the otter they immediately told me that they had been talking to that same lone angler about otters and their propensity apparently for only eating the gill areas of fishes, yet saying that he knew of none in the vicinity. They told me after they had viewed my shots I should let the angler see them as he would be really interested in the coincidence of their conversation and my sighting. I naturally did just that when caught up with him, before heading back to the car.

Dagnall Pheasant, Startops Wagtails

I spent some time near Dagnall hoping to catch sight of Red Kite, but all I managed was a distant glimpse close to the horizon, and simply got colder and colder; not helped by the fact that despite my many layers I forgot to wear a coat! I did get a shot of a male pheasant that was bright in colour, another that was duller, and some even duller females.

I returned home for lunch before setting off for the Tring reservoirs, where as I parked my car I met up with Tringford Anglers’ Bailliff, Bob, his wife and a friend, we chatted for a while then I set off for Startops via the main road, grabbed a shot of the church in the distance in some sunshine, and then tried to follow a pied wagtail and a grey wagtail – it never ceases to surprise to me how it got its name as the most striking colour is bright yellow! They are the epitome of flighty birds, making short hops out over the water then back to bank just five metres further along, presumably they have decided to become my physiotherapist or trainer by keeping me on the move!

It was soon after that whilst intent on some bird or other that from behind I heard my name called, I turned around as I recognised the voice, and the face of the lady who called was definitely familiar but for the life of me I could not put a name to her face, and embarrassingly had to be helped to be reminded. I owe her such an apology because not only had she recognised me from behind, we have known each other for more than a decade! She has been the receptionist at Kevin Calvert’s studio for as long as I can remember. OK, I can say she was out of context, but it is still no excuse, so, if you are reading this – please forgive me – for a long moment I was completely at a loss. Also, I hope the cut from the dog’s lead which cut into your hand heals rapidly.

The Mallard ducks were in great flying fettle that afternoon, and as I left to return to my car and home I spotted one lonely clump of crocuses and some old man’s beard in the woods by the stream.

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.