Marston Lake Walk, and 'Swims'

 

 

Rather late in the day, I will decided I would see whether the wind I had in Marston Moretaine was also blowing at Brogborough, but even before reaching the turn-off, I could see by the stillness of the trees I was passing there was not even a breath stirring the leaves on trees! As I came upon the gate to the Windsurfers’ parking area, it was firmly locked. I pulled into the small lay-by opposite the entry to the Anglers area, locked the car and wandered to the water’s edge to see whether there was any activity on the lake, and confirming there was not a soul or even a ripple on the surface, and strolled further along the shore to see if there were any walkers or birdlife, and having rounded the bend to see the full stretch, turned around and headed for Marston Lake.

Approaching the lay-by close to that lake, I crossed the road and parked so that when leaving I would be facing in the direction of Marston Moretaine. I had brought some crisps and a biscuit, so before grabbing my kit, I had a bite to eat. Just in case there was some birdlife around, I decided to take my long lens in its bag over my shoulder and belted to my waist. With the benefit of twenty-twenty foresight, I should have made the decision to forego that choice and relied entirely upon the EOS 5D and it’s 24-70mm lens that I had taken along, just-in-case! I did however take along my monopod having extended it to use as a walking stick, because my back was still weak from my last trip with the heavy Benbo tripod and the Sigma Sports 150-600mm!

I had decided that since the low light from a clear blue sky really enhanced the colours of the lake and the threadbare trees along its margins, I would be able to gather views of each ‘swim’ as I understand this to be the correct term for where anglers cast from. It struck me that putting together images of each and every spot around the lake might well be of interest for the club to promote itself either in print or on the Web. And purely from my angle it meant that the images would hang together as an entity when the gallery was visited.

I managed to cover just short of half the perimeter path around the lake before I realised that my back would probably give out if. I went too far, so I cut short my trip as the added (superfluous!) weight of the heavy camera and lens in the bag, meant I had a very good chance of doing myself further harm! The sun seemed to confirm my decision as being correct, as when I turned to retrace my steps the sun dimmed as the clouds began to slowly cover it and it began to head ever closer to the distant trees.

I also noted that there might well be a shortcut to my car, but it might prove to be tricky, especially as there was not only mature brambles, but a mound of mud and rubble to negotiate; having my monopod, came in very handy in checking the terrain, and also providing extra and very welcome support as I navigated a way through — successfully! This saved my back considerably as it meant at least four hundred less yards to cover with my unused burden of the heavy camera bag and totally redundant contents!

I felt that despite the additional burden, the images captured were worth the effort, and the exercise did me no harm, and it had been pleasantly warm throughout. I also met and chatted to three anglers along the way.

Marsworth Pastel Reed beds

The Sunday afternoon was surprisingly warm for the end of March, but the sky was overcast with an occasional milky sun seen through the cloud cover.

Having arrived at Marsworth reservoir it was obvious many people had also decided to venture out as witnessed by the numbers of cars parked nearby, and I had my camera with me despite not expecting to capture much of interest. I was not destined to be surprised!

There was certainly much to be heard, as birdsong filled the air, but only rarely did I catch sight of the singers, and when I did the branches made capturing an image of them impossible, especially since the light was poor. I took a walk towards Bulbourne alongside the canal. Finding nothing of significance I retraced my steps and on my return the light grew less but with subtle shades of pink, orange and blue, so I took a few landscape shots of the reed beds, and later listened to a pair of raucous Greylag Geese and watched, as I believe the male, remained ashore for longer before deciding it would finally join its partner on the water.

This was a far cry from the abundance of birds I had experienced while in India, especially in the grounds of the Deo Bagh Hotel in Gwalior!

Another Visit to the Reservoirs

I managed to get up earlier than the last time I visited Tring Reservoirs, and I found some small ivy covered branch cuttings to allow me to sit down on the bank by the reed beds. I wanted to have a low viewpoint so the birds would not feel too intimidated.

This time I brought some bread to entice my models! There were still areas of ice slush, and this certainly hindered some of the birds' travel around the channels in the reed beds. The bitingly cold wind was in my face, and because I chose my position from a lighting direction, this meant whenever I threw bread, it did not travel far! The current flow took the bread even nearer to me, and this meant the ducks and moorhens were very wary of approaching the food!

I had learned that I could satisfactorily operate at ISO 1000 and thereby keep my shutterspeed to 1/800th and upwards, from a careful look at the last series of shots in relation to noise.

The wind soon got up, and I had to take a break back at the car to warm my hands. After that I then moved to another reservoir and paid a visit to Bill the Baker, who was very welcoming, even to the extent of giving me some coffee and biscuits, which were extremely welcome. His place was out of the wind, and after our chat I went back to the first reservoir and met up with my son-in-law, Tim at one of the hides, from where we both managed to get some shots of a grebe and a very chirpy robin just above us. Unlike my last visit there was an abundance of birds into late morning and early afternoon.