Marston Lake Bird Activity

          The sun was out and it was warm for late January, so a short drive to the nearby Marston Lake seemed like a good idea, since with no wind, the other lake at Brogborough would not be likely to be hosting windsurfers (the clue is in the name!) and Stewartby mainly hosts powerboats and sailing dinghies, and those two exponents tend to be weekend activities or require a wind.

          On this visit the Camera was the 7D MkII, the lens was the Sigma Sports 60-600mm augmented with the 1.4x Converter, since the birdlife on this lake tend to keep their distance.

          On my last visit I had spotted a lone young Grebe, but on this afternoon, there did appear to be a pair, and later there was a tentative exploratory dalliance,  but it petered out without the ritual offering of weeds. Unlike previous visits where I only spotted two Cormorants, there were at least half a dozen and some did take to the air to search for their prey, but the seemingly choice spot were two clusters of dead trees that seemed to warrant a territorial dispute, but the occasion I witnessed, the two established birds hung on and the attack failed.

          As ever, every so often the Coots would become bellicose and there would be some noisy flapping as one bird would launch an attack on another. From my observations Coots seem bad-tempered fairly frequently, often continuing for several bouts, but on this occasion, this petered out fairly speedily. A pair of Swans glid serenely across the lake fairly aimlessly, and unlike the last visit here, there were fewer gulls, and one Tufted Duck seemed to consider one gull to be on its patch, and made a menacing torpedo-like dart at one, but the gull simply took to the air before settling back on the water, comparatively unfazed.

          Alongside a pair of Tufties a single bird of a different species of duck had attached itself, and it was not simply a female of the species, I took an enlarged image, that I plan to send to my Birding Guru to learn just what bird it is, but if anyone else knows please let me know below in Comments.

          The visit was a pleasant way to relax, and get the feel of the lake, and already I have noted the signs of Spring appearing, though listening to the forecasts, this may be premature, since there are still warnings of snow.

Despite Lack of Wind - BrogLake Buzzes

Saturday and fine weather, but little wind did not deter numerous visitors to sample the atmosphere and enjoyment to be had at the Lake. There were numerous Paddleboarders and several windsurfers of varying levels of attainment and some training was taking place in the light breeze as it was an ideal opportunity not to be missed, and also there were a greater number of birds than I reckon was normal - affording me an opportunity to capture wagtails who were along the shore. There were some gulls swooping to fish, but were either way too fast when close, or simply too distant.

Richard McKeating one of the experienced sailors was taking the opportunity to check out some new manoeuvres including travelling facing backwards which seemed a somewhat unusual skill to attempt to master, since it would seem risky to be facing the way you have come and not see in the direction you were heading, but perhaps it is a skill for when faced with danger from behind as well as ahead, but he told me others had mastered the skill, so reckoned he should put in some practice – watching the occasions Richard made his early attempts, the results I observed seemed to have a downside!

The lack of wind was a bonus for those attempting to learn and gain experience which a full lake of competent and skilled practitioners travelling hither and thither would have been somewhat more daunting. A lack of wind is definitely a bonus though for paddleboard enthusiasts, and their numbers were greater, and I learned that the paddles themselves are more sophisticated than I had imagined with Emma showing one which was of a very novel shape, exceedingly light and cleverly designed to be adjustable for length and the handle of which could not rotate in the shaft.

Watching Richard I tried to capture sequences, as much for me to learn what he is attempting as be able to provide him and others with the movements and results he was achieving. This afternoon was never going to be one where I witnessed stunning jumps or skilled turns, so there were always going to be numerous exposures that never made it to the gallery, but it keeps my eye and hand in, which is of importance to me.

At one point I heard the fairly recognisable sound of Pratt and Whitney engines overhead and a Dakota DC3 passed overhead from the direction of Old Warden, but this was not the burnished silver of aluminium, but a very dark grey, almost black, painted body, yet with white stripes and RAF roundels, and oddly displaying ‘UK’ on the nose, checking using Google, it would appear to belong to the Battle of Britain Flight, which surprised me because I thought it was a plain unadorned aluminium one, certainly my memory of them were that.

I was twice treated to a visit from a Pied Wagtail whilst I was at the water’s edge.

It was a quiet, but relaxing day, that meant being in front of a computer to get the shots up later, so I left whilst there was still plenty of life at the lake to give myself a headstart.

Brogborough Bank Holiday Sunday

My elder daughter whom I see less often sadly, as she is very busy and whose twin daughters are studying hard at Sixth Form College came over to see me, and I wanted to help her understand a bit more about photography and let her see a local venue at which I spend some of my time. For myriad reasons we were very late in arriving at the Windsurfing Lake, and I set up my earlier Tamron telephoto lens with my 5D MkII, so she could take a few shots herself. I set up my Sigma lens with the 7D MkII on a heavier tripod for myself.

The reasoning behind this was she would be capturing similar shots to me and she might even capture something that I missed! A little later in the year I know she would be happier with subjects such as bugs and flowers, and also this day was not the best of lighting nor conditions for the windsurfing sailors either, but we were both out together and we both had cameras.

At one stage a familiar voice spoke to me from behind and it was a windsurfer who had been instrumental in sorting out my pensions; he was promoting a show in Northampton and had been trying to get his posters in numerous and different locations, and had one affixed to his sail, so he wanted some shots of the poster in situ with a bit of activity, so here was a specific image I was to capture. Even an A3 poster is tiny when on a sail and in the distance, so much so, I thought it was a mere A4! 

Even though we were only there a short while, I still took a fair number of shots as several out there were practicing gybing and keeping control with little or no wind, so I was capturing sequences rather than individual moments, however they will be less exciting for others, but the participants themselves will likely find some value in them. The ultimate irony considering how little wind there was, was that the very first three shots are a jump, and I grabbed them without realising I had the compensation set for a two stop increase in exposure from when I had been taking shots of Starlings against the light! Lightroom came to my rescue! The third one heads this piece under the filename of Brogborough Marty McFly!!