Warm May Afternoon, at Tringford

The afternoon was warm, and the reservoirs seemed an inviting thought, as I had not been down there for a while. When I arrived it was surprisingly quiet with little bird activity on Tringford, so I took to Marsworth and Startops along the path between the pair. I found myself chatting to a trio of walkers who wondered whether I knew of a pathway behind the reeds – the only route I could surmise was beyond the stream, and highly unsuitable for a group clad in sandals and bare feet! We walked along further and I heard fish splashing vigourously at Startop's edge, and they informed me it was the fish spawning.

Although I had no polariser for the lenses I had with me I did try to capture some of the activity, but the water was so churned that it was extremely difficult to do the scene justice, but Nothing ventured nothing gained.

There was a single heron that was in the distance that would occasionally reposition itself on some of the  stands in the middle of Marsworth, and it could be seen to duck when the terns or gulls swooped nearby. There is something rather charming about a heron's graceless launch into the air and its landing, whereas in flight it is exquisite. I took a shot of greylag goose in flight over Tringford, and only realised when processing the shot that circling above was a red kite!

I returned to Tringford where I met the bailiff and an angler who was using a catapult to send food pellets out to attract the fish to unbaited food; hoping to benefit later from their acceptance of the same food when baited.

Windy and Cold Marsworth

There was a constant chorus of birdsong in the wooded entrance path to Marsworth reservoir, but all the birds were hidden amongst the bare branches, so to tempt them out into the dappled sunshine I spread liberal amounts of birdseed on the tops of the fence posts that lined the path, but only on those in sunlight.  I then put a small groundsheet on the damp earth and sat and waited.

They were in no hurry to oblige, but I was sure they would come to accept my presence if I kept still and when I moved, did so slowly. I had surmised correctly, and soon I had shots of  robins, blue tits, great tits and chaffinches. Fishermen and dog walkers began to arrive and they were disturbed too often, so I got up and walked along further till I spotted a dry path that led to the water’s edge of Startops End reservoir, so I strolled along the stream that came between them, and all I found were a pair of grebe just visible between the branches at the foreshore, so I came back and found another spot by the hide to see a pied wagtail and more robins.

I continued from there along the Grand Union Canal, and watched a narrowboat through Lock 42, then back for a spell at Marsworth. The sun had by now disappeared and the wind had got up, but I did get some shots of the reeds before the sun went. There seemed to be only one pair of pochards left, but numerous black headed gulls and mallard pairs.