Bedford–River Walk in Sunshine

On this particular day, I took a trip to Bedford and a Car Park that would give me a good spot to take a walk along the River Great Ouse. It was fairly late in the day, but there was still some warmth, but knowing the chances of rain were high, I was prepared for that eventuality, and it proved to be a well-founded perception.
 I had chosen a start I had taken before, but my intention was to follow a different route though still keep close to the river. Soon after crossing the bridge and entering the wide expanse of grass alongside one tributary of the river I spotted a lone angler, so I decided to walk along metal walkway to have a word with the man and enquire whether he knew of any nearby locations I might spot kingfishers.
He told me that he had seen some further along the stretch I was about to continue heading — I thanked him and had barely reached the spot from where I had decided to walk over to him, when I was amazed by the very species of bird I sought head from the woods towards me in a blur of blue and orange, then take a sharp left turn and fly away alongside the stretch of river I had been coming from!
Although there was naturally disappointment in not having the opportunity to get a shot of the kingfisher, I still found enormous pleasure from the sight of my favourite bird, as it had reinforced the knowledge of a potential location for the future — for that I was sufficiently pleased that I returned to the angler to recount what I had just witnessed and told him I just had to thank him for bringing me good luck!
Sad to report I was not treated to any further sighting of a kingfisher, but I did get some shots of a heron, another avian favourite of mine, and that situation came about from my talking to a canoeist who a short while later pointed out the heron to me, so on this occasion I did manage to get shots of this one!
These were the photographic highlights for me, even though I spent much longer before ending this particular sortie. Later, after deciding to consider starting my return journey to the car, I took a shot of what I first thought was a bird in the undergrowth I was embarrassed to find it was a log! It was at this point of acute embarrassment I came across a lady ahead of me, and felt I simply had to own up to this abysmal failure! We ended up walking along the same route chatting away, and it was during this walk I began noting raindrops whilst we talked. As I neared the end of my journey, the lady stopped at a point where our journeys separated, and we took our individual ways home as the rain increased.

Marsworth Visit with Andy Fox

Andy and I decided to meet up and visit Marsworth together, and despite mornings being more favourable, since he was tied up in the morning, we settled on meeting at Clophill around one o’clock to head on down.

Arriving at Tringford I parked up and we both set off towards Marsworth lake. There were numerous anglers out on both Startops End and Marsworth, and on the Grand Union Canal there were a few narrowboats going through the locks, one that was moored was unlike any other, so much so that Andy remarked that it was upside down as the superstructure seemed to be very smooth and resembled an upturned hull, made presumably in glass fibre.

We reached our destination and began setting up, and almost immediately Andy spotted a visiting kingfisher behind me, which we probably surprised and headed away from us. It was the last sighting we made for more than an hour, though we were visited by many other birds both on the water, and above us in the trees. The most frequent being blue tits, mallards, and wood pigeons. At one stage we heard a loud call, that sounded as if the caller was shouting “Nits!” which gave us a wry smile on several occasions, it turned out to be coming from what I took to be a lone mallard female, but Andy reckoned it was possibly a mallard/wigeon cross as it was speckled and differently billed.

We were also visited by the resident and beautifully groomed robin, whom I see fairly regularly, once again, in the lulls I attempted to entice to fly to my open hand for seeds, but today he made no effort. A while later we caught sight of a kingfisher doing a flyby who ducked beyond a fallen bush on the far bank. Then later still one landed in the bushes, but he was hidden from me by sunlit leaves, but in perfectly clear view to Andy as was confirmed by some three sequences of shutter firings. After that I saw another on a post beyond him, managing just two quick shots, one static and one as he flew off. Although we stayed on for some time we saw no more kingfishers, and since Andy was due for an evening out, we packed up and returned to the car, but not before I introduced Andy to some of the Tringford Anglers, and its Water Bailliff, Bob Menzies.

My visit was therefore less fruitful than my guest Andy, though enjoyable nonetheless.

Sigma 150-600mm Sports Lens Testing II

Two disparate areas of interest photographically for me are the capture of some of the skills of Windsurfing Sailors at Brogborough Lake, and the Hopeful capture of the successful dives of a Kingfisher at Marsworth Lake, one the Tring Reservoirs, so on the weekend opportunity, courtesy of Sigma Imaging UK, I borrowed the 150-600mm Sports-designated lens to check out on my Canon EOS7D MkII.

In the previous paragraph I highlighted the word ‘hopefully’ in connection with actually managing to even see a kingfisher, let alone capture one in a photo. I might equally have qualified the windsurfing activities at Brogborough, but at least I did have an idea there might be enough wind to entice some to the lake, the fact there was not enough for some serious jumping did not preclude my checking whether this heavier version of this lens range could give me the quality I seek. On both occasions the locations blessed me with very reasonable lighting levels, which meant successful shots would give me a good airing in galleries on my blog.

The lens alone is heavier than my current combined weight of camera and equivalent focal range lens, so this was a slightly negative element in my decision for considering the Sigma, but weather-proofing, quality of resolution and added features available, were higher in my considerations, because I do want the best quality I can afford within my limited budget. Both the chosen activities for the period during which I had use of the lens were absolutely the Litmus Test to gather the details that were important for my decision-making.

If only there were a scientist who could come up with an industrial process whereby molecules of Helium could be embedded within high grade aluminium without reducing the material strength so make it considerably lighter, this might enable lenses of this quality to be no heavier than those of lower build quality! 

The additional weight of this lens when carrying the camera on a tripod, with levelling head and gimbal meant that my Arca Swiss plate worked loose on my journey back to the car from the Kingfisher location, fortunately I had been checking, so no disaster befell the kit, but I voiced my concern and found Sigma do have an answer to this in the form of an Arca Swiss plate secured to the foot firmly that is way better than my own plate that is effectively adding extra leverage which was what caused the loosening. So, I feel this is an essential item to complete the kit.

Although the sequence of images was not one long burst, but a series of meaningful single and burst shots that recorded the unfolding event, I have taken them out of the overall day’s shots to stand alone, because they gave me so much pleasure, and although some are almost duplicates, it meant I could fill a natural grid without any blanks.

Early Start at Marsworth – Brrrr!

The forecast tempted me by suggesting there was a good chance of sunshine, so I togged up with layers of clothing to ensure that I could withstand an early start and be down long enough to get a chance of getting a shot of a kingfisher at Marsworth, despite the lack of leaf cover. Not only did I take the long lens (150-600mm), but I also took along the recent acquisition the 24-70mm with macro feature, and since the first two and a half hours a kingfisher only gave me high speed flypasts, some of which he ended by diving behind the few bushes that have leaf cover, then often as long as ten minutes would pass before he emerged and continued in the direction he was initially headed!

As forecast the sun arose and for a period it kept the light levels reasonable, then clouds would intermittently pass in front so I was kept busy pushing up the ISO speed, then trying to remember to bring it back down as they cleared. When the kingfisher arrived he stationed himself on a branch that was just out of sight from the camera on the tripod, so I had to hastily up the shutter speed and release the camera, and shoot handheld, and my hands are never steady in that situation, with the added problem I was shooting almost directly into the sun, so he was largely in silhouette, but he stuck around and was successful, and dived a further two times after devouring the somewhat slimy fish – I am not sure whether it was its innards or something from the water, but the bird was still trying to clear the slime after down the fish itself!

I kept myself energised as best as possible by photographing some of the other birds that came into view, (Mallard Duck and Drake, Robin, Wren, Moorhen and Coot, either with the long lens or the short, on the 5D MkIII. When I finally set off I met up with another photographer clad in all the proper camouflage gear and we had a short chat before I headed back to the car. I took the opportunity to drop by the Stockwood Discovery Centre Gardens on the return trip, calling in at Caddington to see progress on my old home, buy a roll for my lunch and some veg for a casserole later in the week.

Brief Visit to Tring Reservoirs

I had not travelled to Tring Reservoirs for some time, so on a whim I phoned the Water Bailliff to find out if I was able to get my car parked nearby, but he was in a meeting and could not speak, so would speak to me in the afternoon; the answer suggested I might still be lucky, so I travelled down later on the offchance and was lucky, and since I found the gate unlocked, I phoned him, and learned he was down at the lake himself, so asked was it OK;  he told me fine, and I went along to meet him. We chatted about his wife who has been unlucky with her health. He broke off suddenly when he spotted a cormorant.

They are having a lot of trouble with cormorants that are very damaging to the lake’s fish, and Bob is constantly using a cap gun to scare them off, but it seems it is a battle that the cormorants are winning as they are increasingly taking no notice of his efforts to drive them away. Unlike herons that eat smaller fish, the cormorants go for the trout and often just wound them, resulting in many of them dying from their wounds, which leaves the anglers very angry, especially since restocking is so expensive. I left him to his task and set off with my camera and monopod, to Marsworth.

The water level was very low and the few birds that were there were gathered en masse on the shore close by the stream that fills Startops lake, there were several cygnet families, Canada geese, black-headed gulls, greylags and coots all together in the shallow water or the exposed foreshore. I spotted a Mallard drake making a beeline for two others, and it seemed he was exhorting them to join him and bring the duck along too, which I found intriguing as at first I had thought he was being aggressive. Awhile later I spotted first a small dusty-shaded butterfly I took to be a Speckled Wood, and also a Red Admiral, which surprised me so late in the season. In my walk along the canal towpath I met several couples out with their dogs and in the course of conversation learned of a pair of herons between the locks, but at this time I did not see them.

Later still whilst I was down at the water’s edge looking ahead expectantly waiting for sight of a kingfisher, I glanced to my right and there was a silhouette that looked very like a kingfisher in the dark dead branches completely still – putting the camera to my eye I realised my good fortune and slowly I focussed on him, and opened up two stops and increased the ISO and just hoped as I watched that it might be enough to allow me to brighten it later in Lightroom. I took several shots as he swung his head around every so often sometimes with his eye showing, and when I ‘chimped’ I thought they were going to severely lack colour as he was in such deep shade. Much later on the computer in Lightroom I was really amazed at how much detail I had succeeded in getting from the gloom in which they were shot.

Having been rewarded by the kingfisher shots I walked further along the canal, but on the outward journey failed to spot the youngster on the far side, however on my return, there it was perched on one leg absolutely motionless. I got some shots in profile by waiting for him to be distracted by some of the strollers, I thanked them and we chatted as I headed back to the car. We parted company at the junction of the towpath and the two lakes, and I met up once again with Bob and another angler and was treated to a snack of pork pie and a cup of tea, before heading back to Marston Moretaine.

Birds in Two ‘Mars’ Names – Marston Moretaine and Marsworth

The Starlings are an abundant species around Marston Moretaine; at a distance they seem a boring black, but close to, and especially in sunlight they are a magical mixture of iridescent blues and greens and they are often to be heard whistling amongst a gathering on a nearby telegraph pole; their call a Tseeuw, that I have been mimicking in the hope I can attract them closer in order to capture their true colours, and on this Sunday morning in bright sunshine I lured them in with a mixture of toast crumbs from the toaster, seeds and bread I have to cut off in order for my Bloomer bread slices to fit the new toaster (why did I buy a toaster that did not accept my favourite bread loaves? Answer – because an even browning was more important, and cutting a sliver from each frozen slice meant I had a fresh source of feed for the birds – QED!)

Reckoning that English Weather Forecasts are notorious for unpredictability, I thought I’d take a chance and head for Tring Reservoirs to see how the birdlife there was faring since it was bright from the start and the scheduled later rain might not materialise. Unfortunately I somehow managed to dislodge something in my back and was in considerable pain, but reckoned that no gain without pain, so persevered and headed south cross-country avoiding the M1. I am fortunate in being allowed to park my car with the local anglers and met the Water Bailiff and some of them briefly before heading away from Tringford to Marsworth Lake. It was tough on my back, but the weather was still so good it would have been a shame not to make the attempt and suffer in silence.

I probably spent at least four hours, and all of it standing as I decided on a different spot for a change and sitting was not an option; the pain did not let up and I did have to keep transferring my weight around, but it was manageable and I found that air was alive with all manner of birdcalls, most of which I was unable to place, and certainly most of those calling were never seen. I reckon overall I was lucky in what I managed to capture, even though some birds never succumbed to my trigger finger, even though I had tracked assiduously through the undergrowth – in that category were a Dunnock and Wren, and there were overflying herons and Greylag geese.

However even the pigeon gave me couple of interesting shots as did a robin gathering what I took to be food for its young and he or she was brave because it was straying into the territory of the resident Robin that I regularly spot and sometimes feed (and on a disappointing day, talk to and implore he ask a Kingfisher or Woodpecker to call by!)

To capture a flirting Bluetit pair cavorting, a Long-tailed Tit a Grebe or two and a Kingfisher, I felt was well worth the visit, and I was warm!

Marsworth Reservoir – its Abundant Birdlife

It is a complete fallacy that Britain does not have exciting wildlife of its own, and the Tring reservoirs are abundant evidence of this, as I witnessed for myself this afternoon, in glorious crisp sunshine and for the most part edge to edge blue sky. So much so that for most of the time even though I was comparatively motionless, I was very warm! It was only as clouds came across the sun, that the temperature dropped dramatically and made me realise that I had not worn adequate clothing and needed to consider bringing my photography to a close.

I was not able to capture evidence of every different bird species I came across, but to have got shots of a heron, a kingfisher, a Pied wagtail, a Little Grebe, a Crested Grebe pair, and a Robin is a fair testament to the variety found in this neck of the woods. In walking along the path between two of the lakes and the lakes and the Grand Union Canal, I fell into conversation with several people who had seen Bittern, Egret, Water Rail, Pochard and Snipe, but sadly none of those came my way!

I thoroughly enjoyed my few hours spent at the water’s edge, and my only regret was that a pair of Crested Grebe seemed to break off their courtship without completing their routine, and were also too far from the shore. My shots of the heron through a veil of intervening branches more than made up for that, and I count myself lucky I managed to save myself from falling in the water whilst trying to get the shots.

November on Tring Reservoirs

I felt I needed to chance taking the opportunity to Visit the Reservoirs at Tring for possibly the last time this year., despite there being light rain forecast. When I first arrived it had not yet started, but as I took the first few photographs the first few drops arrived, but I was well wrapped up in case it got worse, but surprisingly for mid-November, it was not too cold – at least before I had been stationary for long.

The first bird of interest was a heron standing in just a few inches of water, but it barely moved during the time it took me to set up the tripod, and actually losing my footing on the steep bank of Startops End lake. I was surprised at just how many birds were on the water considering how much noise was being made by the workers presumably doing repair work to the far bank.

I headed beyond the end of the path between the two reservoirs of Marsworth and Startops End and waled along the Grand Union Canal, meeting the occasional dog walker, but as yet no anglers. I settled to wait by the reed beds in the hope of possibly catch sight of kingfishers, but for the first hour and a half, only a dabchick appeared, though I failed to capture the squirrel on two of its charges across the fallen branches and into its favourite lair within a large bush on the far side.

Also, the mink never ventured out of its hollowed tree trunk, but my firm favourite, the well-groomed Robin did join me and partook of my seed offerings, and gently chirped as it flew around its territory either side, behind me and by my feet. I did catch a fleeting glimpse of a heron overhead, but as there was so little leaf coverage, it almost certainly decided against landing on any of the high branches due to my presence.

Although I never felt like giving up and returning to base, it was a very long wait before the arrival of a kingfisher, and as luck would have it, he had succeeded in in catching a fish and was landing on a distant branch to swallow it. It took him quite a time to swallow as it was fairly energetically twisting in the vain hope of escaping, but a final deft flick, possibly also bashing it on the nearby trunk and the kingfisher began to turn it so it was headfirst and in one large gulp, and a straightening of its throat, it was down.

I stayed for another hour, but was visited no more, and by now was cold frosting still for so long.

I climbed back up the steep, muddy bank and made my return journey to the car. I did stop in the hide and chatted to an ex-Postie, newly retired and another birder, Michael eponymously named for his career and we all three chatted as I still took the opportunity to grab shots of a gull and some Crested Pochard, whom I managed to capture in flight as they left the lake and we also had a visit from another Robin and a Dunnock.

As Michael and I walked back to our cars, who should be coming in the opposite direction but Bob Menzies the Bailiff for Tringford!

A Marsworth Kingfisher and Other Birds

I have not visited the Tring Reservoirs for quite a while as I am that much further from them, and settling into my new home and pressure to find paying work has taken priority, but circumstances prevented me from working today, so I went to bed somewhat earlier than usual so that I meet leave in plenty of time to arrive at Marsworth’s lake with some chance of settling to wait upon the vagaries of kingfishers perhaps calling by after two hours and still being before nine and the most prolific birds were Wood Pigeons and Mallard  ducks followed by the occasional moorhen. A Heron did take a look, but despite my being in the shade of hawthorn bushes I guess he must have seen me as he turned in flight and disappeared in the direction from which he had arrived. I was visited by the local Robin, but far less frequently than I had been accustomed, but nary even a flyby by a kingfisher till about ten to nine.

He came to a branch much nearer than I might have expected which made a change. Soon after a pigeon took the same spot after the kingfisher had flown elsewhere. I was lucky then to see him or at least another male of the same species twice more, but he never did any fishing, so there were no shots of any catches, but at least some nice portraits. A family of female Mallards did come for a preening session close by, and I was surprised by three explosive leaps of what I can only presume were catfish, but never in the same spot and my lens was never trained in the same direction, I have to say that my Robin looked very dishevelled which was a disappointment as he was normally impeccably groomed.

After a further hour and a half I called it a day and returned, but not too disappointed.

Marsworth Misty Morning – Wildlife

I felt the urge to visit the Tring Reservoirs and with the mornings getting lighter, decided that it would have to be an early start despite the forecast of mist.

As I arrived in my favourite spot, I had to tread carefully as another photographer was already there and the last thing I wanted was to destroy his concentration or disturb the subjects he was photographing, and the bank is steep at that point with little support to be found at the steepest point. I had already extended one leg of the tripod to help me fortunately and I set down by his side with the minimum of fuss as I asked had he had much luck; he replied reluctantly, not a lot.

As I put down the legs and levelled the camera, I introduced myself and learned he was Mike Casey and though the name was new to me, it became clear he was obviously knowledgable and way more experienced than me and we had a mutual friend in Merv, whom I had met in this spot on several occasions over the last two years. We spoke in hushed tones and he spotted kingfishers long before I caught sight of them, and I learned his aim on this occasion was to catch shots of the mink, but though the previous morning he had been lucky, today it was not to be.

We were constantly visited by blue tits, but they invariably were screened by numerous branches and they were far to flitty, but I spotted a single woodpecker and Mike pointed out the Wren feeding in front of use, whilst on the far bank I caught sight of a muntjac briefly, we had several kingfisher flybys and Mike was lucky enough to catch a male with a fish, but I was unlucky on that score, and did manage a couple of shots of the squirrel.

We both stayed till the cold took its toll and departed together, chatting as we walked along the canalside and Mike pointed out where he had taken shots of the mink complete with fish as he came straight towards him along the grass bank then went across the path and back into the reservoir. He also showed me other spots he had seen kingfishers perching and fishing in the past. We parted by our cars after a quick walk along the far side of Tringford lake, and I set off to my daughter’s home.

A Good Day – Despite a Dental Visit

What defines a Good Day? Sunshine helps. And after several typically grey English days, a bright and crisply nippy day is a good start. Starting with a Dental appointment is not really the precursor one might expect for a good omen, but hey, this is the real world!

I had not noted down the precise time for said appointment so was early by a wide margin and right outside the Dentists was a bus stop, so I stood by the entrance, but close to the shelter to lessen the wind, but in the sunlight and several girls turned up who obviously knew each other, but three coaches pulled up and left without any of their number boarding, then the answer came as one girl arrived obviously well-known to the others, but after greeting them turned to open the locked gate! They all moved towards the newly open entrance then stopped, said “Good Morning” to me and waved me ahead. I smiled and let the Key Lady pass and thanked them upon entry and sat down to wait.

I did not have to wait too long before my specific dentist arrived and greeted me with a handshake, but it was a while before he actually called me in for the examination. He was happy with my self diagnosis, and informed me that one tooth was going to be ‘tricky’ – a euphemism I recognise as ‘painful’ and ‘expensive’, but that would be at a later date…

I then returned to base, read the morning’s emails, sent a few off, flicked through my website regulars then assembled my rucksack with camera gear and a chocolate bar so that I could leave promptly and not squander this gift of bright sunlight. In my haste, I failed to consider that half-term meant the road to Whipsnade would be brimming with parents taking their children to the Zoo! Coming to the tailback I spotted a chance to use a driveway in which to swing round and take a circuitous route to reach my destination and a planned meeting with the Tringford Trout Fisheries Water Bailiff. I did make good time however and actually passed him walking along the road, but had not been certain it was him till he hailed me as I was getting the kit from the boot.

We chatted as we let ourselves into the anglers’ area and walked to the jetty; his task was to fire off a few blanks to scare the cormorants from the lake, then we both walked back across the road to take the path between Startops End and Marsworth reservoirs, where we parted company as I headed towards Bulbourne. Before we had met up a father and boy had been leaving a parked car just before my arrival and we exchanged pleasantries, well soon after I had left Bob the Bailiff, we met again and immediately he said he had seen two kingfishers in the direction I was heading and another by the weir near the entrance, I was delighted at this unprompted news and thanked him warmly with much more of a spring in my step – my first good omen! I made my way to my familiar spot and had barely strapped the monopod to the tree stump when squinting against the sun I spotted a kingfisher had landed on a far branch complete with fish!

 I was obviously over-excited as the first few frames were not sharp, but this beauty obviously felt for me because he hung around for the longest time I have ever experienced when they were within sight, so much so that I made several inadvertent burst through tension and as I waited patiently for signs of his departure, I was so stiff I was unable to move fast enough to capture his takeoff. I was to see him fly by several more times in the next few hours, but he never again settled. Not long after I heard rustling behind me and another intrepid photographer arrived, I said hello and commented that I took it he was here for the same reason as myself – to get shots of the Golden Eagle – he nodded sagely! Later we introduced ourselves and I learned he was Terry. We had seen the mink dive into the water after what we assumed were some of the Mallard ducks, but he came out with a fair-sized fish! When I was leaving later we spotted the mink again, and he did manage to get a few shots, but my camera was back in my rucksack! I left wishing him the best of luck.

Arriving home I found I had a message from a client agreeing to meet me on the following Monday, and as I was responding another message came through from him, asking me to quote on some retouching. I was definitely having a Good Day!

Birdlife Lens Test

I took the opportunity to give my latest acquisition another test; this time down at Marsworth Reservoir. The lens is the new long telephoto from Tamron, with a really useful zoom range of 150mm to 600mm, and it has taken some getting used to – the weak link was myself and my preconceptions – it has always been a belief that I should consider the size of maximum aperture to be useful only for giving me a bright image to focus, and to always stop down to achieve the best from the lens. Well, I was wrong!

I was wrong because I was also limiting myself to trying to use the lowest ISO setting to give me a clean end result. By so doing I was forcing myself to use too slow a shutterspeed, and simply not taking into account that at the far end of the zoom range, both my own movements and those of my subject were meaning that I needed a significantly faster shutterspeed to keep the image sharp. Also, I was ignoring the advances that have been made in the reduction of noise at slightly higher ISOs.

I did however know that travelling to my chosen location was a good distance and carrying a heavy tripod was burdensome, especially once I had the shots and was now cold and stiff, so I tried a different tack – I took my monopod instead, and added the comparatively light extra; a bungee. Once I reached my destination I extended the monopod, braced it against a branch and tied the bungee around both tightly. The end result was more stable than my tripod, with only a few inches from where the bungee was strapped, to the ballhead atop the monopod. If I really wanted to be clever I could likely replace the ballhead with my gimbal head, but that would mean extra weight to carry!

This morning the light was fairly good, so I was able to get a series of shots mostly taken at the full 600mm and wide open at the aperture of f/6.3, which allowed me at one stage to fire shots off at a momentarily hovering dragonfly.

Whilst waiting for a possible static kingfisher, I had no less than three flybys, two of which were of a pair of kingfishers, one of which landed on a branch to my left unfortunately almost completely obscured by intervening leaves. It remained there for the longest time I have ever seen a kingfisher at rest: a full five minutes, before it rejoined its mate when s/he next made a flyby!

It was a really satisfying time spent with the new zoom, and my purchase fully justified my buying decision and lived up to all the reports I had read about the quality of results expected. I am really pleased I travelled to Rutland to Birdwatch 2014 which made it possible to buy the lens at a good price.

Marsworth Wildlife – on Bank Holiday

Human life was in abundance and some children were finding that the ducks were bored of food; they were full, as there was no immediate rush from the mallards when something was thrown. In some spots there was evidence of soggy white bread in abundance! There were few gulls around and the tern were as always far more interested in tasty small fish. Marsworth was up to a good level, but Startops End was still low, whereas Tringford was pleasantly full after having spent several weeks abysmally low and giving cormorants an early Christmas.

I had come to see whether I could capture dragonflies, and preferably in flight, and catch sight of kingfishers, but I came in hope rather than conviction that I would succeed, but I was very pleasantly surprised at least on that front. Also I came light – merely one camera, the 100-400mm lens and monopod. So the long walk was far from wearisome. I did notice that on Startops some anglers had taken advantage of the lower level, to set up at the water’s edge. The sun had burnt off the early mist, and a breeze blew the reeds and on the walk I did spot some dragonflies, but this was fleeting.

I suppose thirty minutes passed before a kingfisher arrived to stay awhile, and the first visit showed me that their food was not exclusively fish; it was hard to tell precisely, but I think it was a dragonfly, certainly after that on another visit the bird spent as much time looking skywards as the insect kingdom’s helicopters buzzed around. Although between visits, I heard the characteristic plops of diving kingfishers, I never saw mine with any fish. During the lulls I did spot what I later gleaned were likely European catfish, at least three had come to the surface with extreme langour, interspersed with some thrashing around, which seemed to break up the surface-floating algae.

I was buzzed fairly constantly by two distinct colours of dragonfly; orange and blue, but they knew I had a long lens as the only hovering was done within a foot of me, and flies and hoverflies even landed on my lenshood. Since the camera was on the monopod, even had I had another shorter lensed camera it would have a palaver to try get shots of these encounters. I stayed several hours in the shade and was also able to see the kingfisher preening as it was so relaxed, it was the closest I had ever managed to get on one occasion, but only marred by the intervening out-of-focus branches causing the contrast to drop.

Altogether a really satisfying afternoon of observation and photography. I met one other photographer who had been watching godwits, but members of the public and their dogs and children kept playing on the foreshore scaring them off just as he was trying to get shots; sadly he did not have a good day!

Misty Morning at Marsworth

I did not set a particularly early alarm call, because there was no real guarantee of a bright start, but as it turned out it was indeed bright and in many a field hung a blanket of mist, just a few feet above ground.

Arriving at the Tring reservoirs the mist still lay lightly across the reed beds between Startops End and Marsworth reservoirs, and the reeds hardly looked their best, but the light allowed me to capture some of the atmosphere nevertheless, and as I walked the path between the two lakes a robin kept flying a few feet ahead of me as I went along.

When I reached my goal, the lateness took its toll; I realised this by the muddy sliding marks in the steep bank leading to the water’s edge, and there was already another photographer ensconced with similar intentions. Justifiably he had the prime position, but though he had seen a kingfisher do a flypast it had not settled to fish. I set up my tripod alongside, and it was probably a further twenty minutes before we had a chance to get some photographs, and at that first visit, I did not even see it! To add to my chagrin, I then tried to look around for a better, less obstructed view and the kingfisher paid us another visit, so I missed that opportunity, but not so my colleague as I could hear from the rapid shutter firing! I certainly brought him luck.

I resettled and improved the position of the tripod, and managed to be in better luck a few minutes later, and it was around this time that yet another photographer arrived, and not long after, yet another – the lure of capturing the beauty of the kingfisher is obviously strong! Whilst waiting I took some other shots of the local fungi, a pigeon, and a chaffinch.

I later visited Tringford for a chat with the Water Bailiff and some of the anglers, before returning home for lunch.

Kingfisher Arrives After Patient Wait

I went to bed a full hour earlier with the firm intention of waking before dawn to see whether I could tempt a kingfisher to enter my field of view, but as I feared it was too early and I awoke after a mere three hours and then tried in vain to go back to sleep before the five-fifteen alarm went off, all I could do was doze.

As a safety net I had set my phone to back up the clock and I did not take advantage of the two minute snooze time, but got straight out, abluted and went downstairs to grab some cereal and a bite of toast and Marmite followed by marmalade and a sip from my pint of tea, leaving the majority for my later return.

I found that the cold wind and lack of sleep made carrying the tripod over my shoulder, the camera and lens round my neck together with the camera bag was hard going to walk along the canal to the reed beds and my chosen rendezvous.

It took fully five minutes to get set up, but even though I kept an eye out for my feathered friend, he was not to be seen – in the end not for another hour at least, though to be fair that was till he alighted on a branch; he did make a few fast runs past me training to match the flight of an Exocet missile! But I have never harboured the dream that I would catch a kingfisher in one of those flights – my eyes barely keep track, and to expect my hand and eye co-ordination to match that of a bullet in flight is beyond wishful thinking!

At last he landed on a branch all-puffed up as if he was just as cold as me, and I did react fast enough to just catch his departure, and note where he went. He was out of sight, but hearing a loud plop from the direction he had taken was a welcome sound, and I was rewarded by him alighting on the same branch with his meal and I succeeded in capturing the fish’s last few moments.

It was at least another hour before he returned, and by that time I was extremely stiff and cold, but he stayed around for longer this time, and sadly his successful fishing this time was behind numerous branches, as well as being beyond the traverse of my tripod head, because the only stable location was hard up against other branches.

I stayed for several more hours till my fingers were sore, my legs almost immoveable and the cold had reached my marrow! Whereas with my arrival I made it down in a single trip, I could not trust myself to do the scramble back up in less than three trips, and I felt very stiff as I took the long walk back to my car; The camera with its card of exposures seemed twice the weight! But mentally I was warmed by having got some shots that pleased me.

Tring Reservoirs in February Sunshine

I travelled lighter than many a time to the Tring reservoirs, hoping that I might catch sight of a kingfisher, and I was rewarded by sighting one by the weir where the path leads between Startops and Marsworth reservoirs. On the first few sightings it was far too fast for me, barely settling for half a second anywhere, but he began taking dives into the reeds, and on the second or third time he landed on a reed for long enough for me to capture a couple of shots, before disappearing once again.

I stayed on longer, but though he came by at least twice more, he was once again doing training flights as an Exocet missile, and before I left he took a long flight past the trees beyond the weir across the path around in an arc over the stream and became lost deep in the woods.

The next flying display was by the heron, and allowed me a few in flight shots, and as I walked along the canal towpath a different heron strolled along the far bank before also taking to the air. I then spent more than half an hour of fruitless waiting by fallen logs hoping that I might see another kingfisher, but the only birds I even heard were a couple of mallards, who took off raucously as I arrived.

Having given that up, I found the dunnock and robin by the old lock arm, and whilst there spotted a mix of Canada Geese and Greylags flying off noisily. Later as I passed Startops on my return to the car, I spotted the red-crested pochard preening itself, sadly getting further from the bank and rarely turning towards the sunlight.

Marsworth Kingfisher

Seemingly it is difficult to avoid a very early start if you are to successfully take shots of kingfishers, the weather forecast was for the next day to be clear and dry despite the last several days having been wet and windy. So I made up my mind to prepare my kit for a sortie to Marsworth after little more than four hours, but out of synch with my established body clock, so sleep was more than a tad perfunctory.

Having parked the car, I put the lens and camera on the tripod, and took the almost empty camera bag along with the three-legged seat, a groundsheet and spare battery, and set off in the moonlight, but I was soon in the tunnel of trees and little more than the occasional glimpse of the moon filtered through the branches until I emerged by the reeds of Marsworth. A mild glow was appearing on the eastern horizon, as the full moon was setting slowly in the west, the puddles on the gravel path reflect the sky glow weakly, as I trudge towards the lock and the final tricky descent to the waterline.

In the dark and with the tripod, gimbal head and long lens over one shoulder and the camera bag from  my neck on the other side, it was difficult to make my way down the slippery path and by the hawthorn and other bushes, none of which can hold my weight, so balance is important. I made it down with a few pauses to test the ground beneath my feet, and into the brighter gloom at the fallen tree and the water’s edge. I now had to set myself up on the slippery and rotten bark and the most tricky part was finding secure purchases for the tripod legs, but eventually I succeeded, seating myself carefully entwined by the tripod legs on the groundsheet. Despite the cold, my exertions had warmed me considerably!

In totally unavailable light I caught my first glimpse of a kingfisher after an hour’s wait, I could barely see the branch upon which he had alighted, and he flew off only a couple of seconds later, but that at least gave me the hint he might land just there later, and it was closer than I had hoped, so not taking a shot was less of a disappointment. It was to be another forty minutes before he returned, and by that time the sun was up, and lighting the reeds, and the upper branches of the trees on the far bank.

I was to be graced just once more with the presence of a kingfisher, and then a long and fruitless wait as all the previous warmth left me, and my legs and bottom became stiff and seemed to weigh far more. Eventually I succumbed, packed up my gear and left; the small gallery has near duplicates, but gave me a neat grid, I was disappointed by far too many that lacked good focus, which was not good news as I had manually focussed all the time.

I have a long way to go yet.

A Seriously Early Rise

I arrived at the reservoirs before dawn, very much at odds with my biological clock, after a far too brief, and very disjointed sleep. It was mild as I walked eventually along the path between the Marsworth and Startops lakes, and setting the camera to ISO 6400 took s a few shots of the reflections and silhouettes of the far bank against the slow dawning light.

I then walked to my bankside destination where I crawled through the undergrowth to arrive by a fallen tree and set up the camera and my seating, and awaited the rise in the light and hopefully, the arrival of a kingfisher. Ten minutes elapsed whilst still in comparative darkness, and there was a rustling of leaves and cracking of twigs. I greeted the visitor with the guess that he was after the same as myself. It turned out to be Merv, the generous and experienced wildlife photographer who had alerted me to the spot just a week back, I continued to set myself up, and we chatted in whispers. He spotted a kingfisher that I was unable to even see, such was his experience, but even at elevated ISO my chances of getting a shot was zero.

Merv spotted a muntjac in the clearing on the opposing bank, and when it came into my sight I managed to get a few shots of it before it continued its stroll back into the undergrowth.

Later, we both spotted a kingfisher zooming past, but on at least two occasions I simply had to accept that one had passed by, as I failed to register anything. Finally, one alighted on a branch in plain view and I managed to take a shot or two even when it moved to a fresh perch, and as he left I managed to get a blur of wings, that you can just make out is a kingfisher.

Those were the last sighting of any kingfisher perched in our tree studio, though we did see two more fly-bys.

At the end of four and a quarter hours we bid farewell to our viewing platform and walked along the canal till we came to the fork in the path where we went our separate ways saying that we would no doubt meet again as we both frequent these reservoirs. I was no longer a kingfisher virgin! There were too few images to create a gallery, but as a record…

Tringford and Flying Kingfisher

I wanted to check out the Canon 7D after it had been returned from Canon, having suffered communication problems with the battery! So Tringford seemed like a good idea. So it turned out, for I saw and managed to fire off shots of the kingfisher – zooming across the water about one foot off the surface, to all intents like an exocet missile. The first occasion found me shooting at 1/650th, and that was not fast enough. In case I got a second chance I set 1/800th, but even that is not fast enough to do it justice! And in the UK with only my lowly 300mm f/4 this is simply not enough.

But nothing will take away the pleasure of at last sighting a kingfisher through the viewfinder – it feels as an F1 driver must do when getting their first Championship points; now I am waiting for my podium finish either a static shot perched by a stream, or a sharp shot in flight.

It was the birds once again who seemed to be meeting success on the fishing front, rather than the anglers. I set off home just as the rain came, so that I could prepare for the afternoon trip to the Shuttleworth Flying Proms and evening with Catherine. I have to say full of foreboding regarding the weather, but I need not have worried, it turned brilliantly.