Bromham Park Visit

I had not visited this park for some time, and took different paths than walked hitherto. Soon after entering, I took one that followed the lake’s righthand side fairly closely, but there was surprising little avian activity on its lake; the only waterborne birds I encountered were four Mallard Ducks; one female, and three males! Even the chatter of birdsong in the woods was somewhat subdued, all of which hardly bode well for subject matter for the camera.

During my walk with the Sigma 60-600mm on the monopod, I spotted a rabbit at a branch in the path, who obviously had seen me before I saw him, as he moved slightly beyond the cover of the vegetation at the edge of the grassy path, momentarily it was joined by another, before both bounded out of sight.

In the slight breeze small seeds floated in the air along the paths together with midges and other flying insects, and some of these had been snagged by fine threads woven between the heads of two teasel heads, presumably as later food for the spiders who wove them.

This visit was a disappointment in terms of images captured, but beneficial in terms of exercise, and I was able to engage in conversation with fellow humans out exercising themselves and some with canine accompaniment.

Visit Two Lakes With my Niece

         We agree a meeting, but since neither of us have any prior knowledge of the chosen lake destination, I purposely set off early enough to arrive first so I could check out exactly where the Car Park and entrance were located. The location I set on the SatNav was close, but a couple of hundred yards short of the parking area or entrance, which I found by walking further along the road, so I suggested the same setting to Virginia, and told her to set the same details, but then drive a bit longer along the lane, where I would be waiting.

        There was no long wait, as I only had time to take a sort walk along the path to check it out. We walked around and I took a few shots, and suddenly Virginia recognised that we were back where we had started! That realisation was a surprise to me, but we were not that far from a destination for which I was very familiar, so we headed for Tring Reservoirs, in particular Marsworth Lake.

On our arrival there, the lake was far more alive with both visitors and birds on the water, so subjects for capturing was way more prolific, hence filling many more slots on the subsequent gallery. It proved to be a good move, as there was far more interesting and abundant life here out on the water. In the margins were numerous leaves from lush green to rich red, and on to golden brown, often further enhanced by the low sunlight giving a warm glow, and detailed, backlit veins. These images and the fortunate lighting made for attractive images, since they effectively covered both late Summer and early Autumn.

It was good to spot a young Heron by the reeds, with its languorous stroll by the Reed margins, and a pair of cygnets occasionally with their parents. I also had the good fortune to have the Grebe to be reasonably close to shore. I found the Mallards to be difficult to capture their  intense green colouring, more so on this camera’s sensor than my Canon lenses, not simply by the lighting direction.

Bedford River Great Ouse Visit

After a spell without wind, the Lake at Brogborough was not enticing excitement on water, so the need to be out prompted me to visit the banks of the River Great Ouse in Bedford, and see what activity was to be found there, for me to capture.
Fortunately finding a place to park was not difficult, and from there I was able to walk by the river in less than a minute. I noted two small jetties that I presumed were for Anglers, but this seemed to be a small lake detached from the river as there was a vast amount of green algae covering a fair part of this pool, so I made my way to the far more busy river bank and was soon fully absorbed in recording the nature of life on and by the river. It was very apparent that far more people were desperately trying to return to normality and break free from the restrictions imposed by Covid.
It was pleasantly warm, but the sun which graced the earlier part of my day, soon retreated to spend more time behind the cover of clouds, but fortunately it did not prevent me from capturing the spirit of the day as life began to show signs of returning to the earlier norm, and the season showed evidence of the journey towards Autumn.
The images from my venture, capture the atmosphere I encountered whilst I was out with my camera. The camera to which I refer is the small LUMIX FZ10002; it is small, and has a zoom lens, which covers a surprising range, which I sometimes augment further by screwing on some small dioptre close-up lenses to allow me to move even closer on small insects, or flower heads.
It did not take long for me to find subjects for my camera, the first being Swans, with their new families of Cygnets, and it was interesting that one small area, close to the water had become a bird toilet — I have no idea whether this spot has always drawn the swans to this area, or that the restrictions imposed by Covid have simply kept the area free of human interference and allowed the swans to takeover this particular spot.
I spent some time at this area as the various birds felt safe; I found one spot where some four pigeons just stayed unmoving among a patch of weeds and daisies, quite unperturbed by my closeness, as if observing a Siesta! The cygnets and a lone swan close by the riverbank either were preening if awake, or dozing eyes-closed; the scene was somewhat surreal, but  I took advantage of the unmoving pigeons and captured images of both groups.
Whilst I was by the river many of the Sculls came only so far then turned around and afforded me some subjects, and I learned later this was as far as they were able to go, so this was the area that those craft tended to turn around. This I learned from a charming young lady whom I had recorded using this spot for just this purpose and later met up with her on the towpath.
Obviously this section of the river was the place to be, for I heard violent flapping of wings resounding from the water coming from the area by the nearby bridge. As the Swan came into view, I was able to capture several shots of its takeoff, and these feature in the associated gallery of images from that afternoon, and I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
There is something majestic about Swans; if you had never seen a Swan, and were asked: could a bird as large as this fly with elegance, a bird on water that seemed the epitome of grace and serenity, your answer might well be: "No!" — However, although takeoff required brute force and was noisy, the sheer power and will, allows this bird to prove you wrong. I hope that the few images I managed to capture are testimony to the power and beauty of this bird that has Royal protection and patronage. This does not excuse their abysmal toilet etiquette!
My walk along the river was not confined to just one side, I also crossed to the other bank which allowed me to witness the protective behaviour of a rook who had found some pieces of bread, and encountered a Mallard who made a failed attempt to steal them, but despite the size disparity, the rook prevailed!
This day's gallery ended with my salute to the architectural elegance of the white bridge with its avian group taking their advantage of the commanding views from its height above the river.

Harrold-Odell Avian Observations

In the lull between the wind and rain of recent days, I headed for the lakes at Harold-Odell; at first there was some sunshine, but that became milkier, as the afternoon wore on.

        At this time of year, the capturing of images is determined by the nuances of weather; dull days with wind can often be the source of dramatic monochrome shots that give drama, wind and sun can provide the drama on the nearby lake for its windsurfing community, sun with less wind can attract powerboats on a different equally close lake. The lakes at this location feature a variety of birds, and on this visit, the two species in greatest numbers were Swans and gulls.

One species I had not encountered before was the Goosander, and there was a pair, sadly at too great a distance for really good shots on this occasion as I had made the decision to use the LUMIX 10002 on this visit; it was the male I had spotted as being of interest as  a bird I had not encountered before. It was only in a conversation later in the afternoon that a local Warden to whom I was showing some of the shots informed me that I had in fact got some shots of the female! There is a lot to be learned from conversation with others.

The gallery started by my hoping to capture a sighting of a grey Squirrel in the trees on the left as one enters, but actually what caught my eye were clumps of flowers, the first tentative signs of Spring, no Squirrel on this occasion. I made my way to the fenced off bank by the break in the shoreline trees, where the more fearless of birds come, knowing that parents of young children are to be found offering seeds and bread to bring them close.

Mallard ducks and drakes were the most numerous, followed by swooping gulls squawking loudly in the hope of diving in earlier than other species on the water. A behaviour that surprised and baffled me somewhat was how presumably the parent swans would aggressively drag Cygnets away by the neck, or with heads low on the water, chase their young away.

The light was fading, and by the back of the Restaurant were some raised flower boxes with an array of coloured Spring flowers that caught my eye, so colour topped and tailed the gallery of birds.

My phone alerted me that the time had arrived for me to take my next antibiotic to calm my raging toothache, so I sought out a glass of water with which to take it, which was how I had come into contact with the warden who had told me of the Goosanders.

A Brighter Day — a Photo Opportunity?

I had an opportunity to be out for the first chance in a while, so gathered my camera gear and headed for the closest lake. Upon arrival at the gate, I entered the numbers to allow me access, and when it did not open I assumed that the number had been  changed, so phoned the Water Bailliff, but he was unsure, but he would contact one of the other. I therefore decided to try again, and this time it opened! I suspected therefore my earlier attempt had been thwarted, by the rain of the last several days. I immediately phoned the Bailliff back to say all was OK, and apologised for bothering him.

Once I was parked by the lake, I got out of the car and took a look across the water, at first only seeing gulls and some coot, all congregated in the middle, away from any shore, which was a disappointment. I stayed awhile trying to spot any more interesting subjects, and a couple of swans came into view, and a small group of gulls took to the air, and that gave me a chance to catch sight of a Grebe.

That was incentive enough for me to erect the tripod and mount the camera and lens. On this occasion I had remembered to ensure I had the 2x Converter, so that I had the full throw of my Sigma Sports 60-600mm lens on the EOS R body, which with every bird equidistant from any shore was going to be essential! Whilst I mounted the camera and lens on the tripod, I kept my ears attuned to all the sounds in case I heard the distinctive tapping of the woodpecker, but the only untoward sound was the stuttering exhaust note from a powerful car engine at the nearby Millbrook Test Circuit; the banking of which the circular track is visible from the lakeside.

Initially, I set up immediately by my car, just closer to the water’s edge, and as I did so, a Mallard noisily left the reeds and headed towards the middle, so much for me trying to keep a low profile! Luckily the duck did not spook the rest, but it did cause a few more of the gulls to gulls to take to the air, which allowed me to see the birds I was hoping to encounter; another young Grebe. I stayed in this spot till I found the Grebe pair heading further away, which prompted me to pick up the camera and tripod, and try to get closer to where the birds were heading, I found two other spots from which to shoot, before the light faded too much and darker clouds approached menacingly.

I was not too disappointed with what I managed to capture especially as one of the Grebe was successful twice catching one toddler and another slightly larger fish, I was too far away to ascertain whether it was successful or whether he swallowed it without me capturing the event. It was a satisfying afternoon from my perspective.

Harrold-Odell Lake– Alive with Swans

Although it was a dull day, I decided to visit the park at Harold-Odell, to see what birds were on the lakes. It was certainly a good choice of venue, as there was a plethora of birds; the largest number of swans on a lake I had seen in a while, a Cygnet and numerous gulls. I spotted a Shoveller, some Pochard, male and female, Mallard ducks in a couple of family groups. I had my sturdy Benbo tripod, and had put the 2x Converter on the 60-600mm Sigma Sports on the EOS  R body. All the birds were congregated at this near end of the right hand lake, but if they were close to the shore, it was by the far bank. As I approached the near bank there was a noisy exodus of half a dozen gulls that spooked several of the ducks, which was a shame, but a man dressed in black and moving a large tripod with a long lens might just be considered a threat, I suppose.

It was definitely a good move to have the Converter in place because the only large birds were the swans, and even when at a distance they were never an issue, and they are definitely very capable of taking care of a feeble human! Obviously, it would have been very nice to have had some sunshine, and even better had my subjects come much closer, but it was good to come away from a computer screen and be outside taking pictures again, and the swans gave me some nice shots, and it was good to see the Shoveller and Pochard.

I feel revitalised once more, since I had not had a chance to get any shots of fireworks this time around, though there is a weekend coming along, so there is a possible chance still. I also wonder when there might be some wind and sun that beckons the windsurfers; I should not be greedy, but I was greeted by an early call from an erstwhile one-off client who is wanting some building progress shots, which came as a very welcome surprise, so we are meeting next week, so as the man who as he jumped from the Empire State Building was heard to say as he was passing the twelfth floor: “I’m not dead yet!”

Cold Marsworth Wind – deters not the Birdlife

Despite getting up early, the drive to Tring Reservoirs was delayed from the start – I managed to mislay a vital piece of camera gear, once found, I then faced more traffic than I had anticipated on the journey down the M1, I then took the wrong route off the motorway and when I arrived at Tringford, I felt I needed to catch up with the Water Bailiff  and one of the anglers before setting off for the far end of Marsworth Reservoir. My arrival time was an hour or more later than my initial intention.

I got myself settled to wait to see which birds might visit me, the main vista was populated by noisy and irritable Coots and numerous Mallard drakes, and for a change the single most quiet of wood pigeons, though many of its relatives gave out their normal chant: “My Toe Hurts, Betty” over and over…

I spotted a juvenile male kingfisher off to my right, for which I had to remove the camera from the tripod and which necessitated my trying to find a viewpoint devoid of intervening twigs and branches. Which reminds me one particular kingfisher annoyingly hid behind a myriad twigs in plain sight for at least twenty minutes, and he returned there later to rub salt in the wound! Or give us photographers – the bird!

A Heron headed towards where I sat, saw me and negotiated the swiftest of flying turns and headed from whence it came, which made me chuckle. I thought that the abundance of ducks might mean that kingfishers might avoid my chosen spot, but for a change, though a pair of males made at least a couple of fly-bys without pausing, individually   eventually my patience was rewarded, and not long after I was joined by a Nikon-toting photographer, who was to make me smile when he informed me he had a screw loose (fortunately, it was one on his tripod!) Well, not totally ‘fortunate’ as it did mean his tripod was less stable.

A while later and a further three other photographers arrived, one of whom it turned out, was a Brogborough windsurfer – what a small world I inhabit! By this time, my neck was stiffening, and the cold wind was taking its toll and I vacated my prime position and headed back up the bank and back to my car, but before finally leaving I took a last few shots of common Terns diving and swooping, but certainly could not match the shots I had been shown by Philip Luckhurst earlier. I did however take a shot of a humming bird, on the arm of a Scottish lass!

It was a surprisingly rewarding morning after all, but I got no shots of fish being harvested by the kingfishers. Another time maybe.

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.

Another Muggy Day

This time I am in the Walled Garden at Luton Hoo. After a brief chat with Charlotte Phillips who is the leader of the project to restore the Gardens to their former Glory, I take a look at display of flowers within the garden that forms one half of the octagonal enclosing walls.

I have two cameras with me; the EOS 7D has the 100mm macro, and the 5D MkII has the 24-105mm, and both come into use depending on the distance from my subject and the angle of view, though ironically using the 7D which has the smaller chip, I sometimes swap to the zoom because the distance does not seem quite right compared to using it on the 5D MkII, but when I use the earlier 5D, the issue is the review screen is too small. I am just too fussy!

Walking around and often kneeling down means it is easy to work up a sweat, yet compared to the volunteers all around me, I must simply be unfit, as they are really toiling, pulling out weeds wheeling barrows and raking.

There are now three Mallard ducks that have taken residence; two males and one female, and I learned that apparently there were some eggs, that they had been incubating, but last week they were found to be cracked and the presumption is a fox possibly feasted on them. That is sad. Certainly they do not seem fazed by all the people around them, whereas the ducks I see on the reservoir are far more wary of human proximity.

Today was definitely not a day for a visit to the cactus greenhouse, so when I felt I had a good collection of images, I left and returned to my car which I had carefully parked in the shade, but before sitting inside I grabbed a rug from the boot to keep my cloth driving seat dry and fresh.

Walled Garden, Luton Hoo – Early Summer

Well, there looks to be a chance of some settled and more Summer-like weather this week, with even the potential of lasting into the weekend. I have not had much of a chance to visit the Walled Garden of late as I have had to contend with preparing my own garden and surroundings to improve my chances of selling the house. But having made some corrections to the new Estate Agents’ work on the brochure, and my desk being clear I dashed out for an hour to see what was on show.

I never tire of seeing the leaves on the erstwhile Garden Manager’s Office, as they start green and then change to red and white, so after some shots of that I made my way into the garden itself and whilst close to the wall and capturing a close-up, I heard the somewhat unusual twittering of some young Mallard ducks, and they then tentatively emerged from the back of the garden beds onto the path towards the grass beneath the fruit trees. A short time later a male pheasant also skittered away from near me, and not long after took to the air and departed.

The layout of the gardens has changed from earlier years, with much more fencing appearing, and unless I am mistaken a different range of plants. I spent just on an hour wandering around occasionally patiently watching bees doing their job of pollinating, and just before leaving taking a shot of the beekeepers working around the hives behind the potting sheds. Overall there were a lot of volunteers this Wednesday almost certainly due to the improved spell of weather.

Late Spring in Herts and Beds

Home Counties fieldscapes are a testament to how the weather has adversely affected our crops, and a reminder if ever we need one that food prices later this year will be higher than before. The rape fields in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire show large barren areas and overall patchy coverage quite clearly, and the long cold spell has left the bees keeping to their hives. I have tried to do my bit, by picking up weary bees that have been near no vegetation outside, and carefully placed them near wild flowers, and inside in just the last couple of days helped trapped ones indoors to reach the outside. One way I have learned that can help is to place a small saucer or somesuch with a few pebbles and water near to where they frequent – they need water, and the pebbles will ensure they do not drown.

Whilst photographing in country lanes and woods, I am really saddened by the numbers of plastic drinks containers, crushed cans that abound maybe we should have days when we hold littergather days and give out prizes for the amount collected within designated areas, and also have a star grading for areas of natural beauty that remain clear of our detritus.

Sunday was cool but bright and the kerbside near Studham caught my eye with its clusters of opening fern fronds, gorse bushes with Cow Parsley entangled, bluebells and really surprisingly: white bluebells. It would seem from information I have gleaned these are native, as their pollen appears to be creamy white.

I only stopped awhile as I was heading for Hudnall and Nettleden, I wandered for a short while in the woods where there were surprisingly few bluebells, and at one stage spotted the towers of Ashridge College, but the most stunning wildflower that I do not remember seeing before, was in abundance here, and I spotted it in three different stages – I now know them to be ramsons; it has broad floppy leaves, and what look like seed pods, but these sheaths protect the flowers till they are ready to emerge and then burst open to display a cluster of white six-petalled flowers, and I saw bumble bees hanging precariously from these fragile flowers, obviously enjoying the nectar they provided. One area was simply a green and white carpet surrounding a tree trunk. Above in a canopy of green, backlit from the sun, a chaffinch sang its melodious heart out out.

By my feet I spotted a tiny butterfly, which I took to be a grizzled skipper, but this one had unusual ‘roundels’ dotting its wings, and when I first spotted it, it was amazingly well-camouflaged, as only the flick of its wing gave it away, and if I glanced away, it took a while to relocate it. These woods had numerous stone-built walkways and bridges, and there was new brickwork and fencing going in in places, I came out of the woods and returned to my car by road, spotting tiny blue creeper flowers clinging to the ancient walls of the building opposite to where I came out. When I arrived at Nettleden, Yew Tree Cottage sported a new flowering of Wisteria lending a chocolate box air to this delightful 16th Century building, and the road that led from its side uphill sported some more colourful gardens. I then drove towards Tringford, so that I could visit the Grand Union Canal and the Tring reservoirs.

I parked up and walked almost the entire distance to Bulbourne Lock taking in what I could of the wildlife and occasionally chatting to members of the public along the way. It became obvious that this was the time for chaffinches to be singing their hearts out for a mate. I also spotted a young Mallard family out for the afternoon away from the reeds, and some slightly older ones in a mad dash for some food offered by some of the public along the bank. The anglers were also out in force, but the conversations I overheard did not suggest they were having much success. The locks on the other hand were working overtime and considerable energy was being exerted by young and old alike to keep the boats flowing in both directions.

I found one spot near Lock 40 to sit and watch what was happening on Marsworth reservoir, and was greeted again by a chaffinch, and then a young robin approached, and a kingfisher flew by at high speed three times, and coots, mallard and grebes came close and after watching one heron land amid the reeds, another pair appeared and flew by, and the few common terns that I saw seemed successful to a degree in their swoops for food, as did the swallows, the flies were out in profusion which seemed to be handy snacks for the chaffinches.

Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire fieldscapes, chaffinches bluebells, white bluebells, woods, common tern, grebes, coots, Marsworth reservoir, Grand Union Canal, herons, Canada geese, mallard ducks, Hudnall, Ashridge, Oilseed rape, Nettleden

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.