Forest Centre Walk from Top End

 

Another Walk; Another Day. However, the destination is simply to visit the top end of the woods that bound the Millennium Park, and to do that I drive further north along the A421, and at the turning towards the station and College, I take the first turning on the right, and park up just before the turnstile to the north end of the park. Since the weather is settled, I remove the camera cover, and simply pocket the two closeup lenses, lock the car and head for the entrance.

Decisions, decisions: which way to go? — Left, or Right? The latter. Sadly, I walked a fair distance, looking right and left, up the bank, and down towards the brook that babbles gently from the recent rains an finally I find reason to switch the camera on, and remove the tethered lens cap, and take my opening shots of the vibrant green coat the tree is sporting, attracted by the curved e-shaped tree trunk that sports an interesting fungus, with a horizontal, similarly coated horizontal bough that forms the Euro symbol. Having never spotted this rich dark maroon and black fungus before, I move closer for a more detailed image before continuing to find similarly moss-clad branches.

One of the most attractive features of Autumn in the woods is that despite the general perception that this season is dominated by browns, albeit with numerous shades, the reality is that the palette is far more diverse, and never more so than when the sun is out. The next leaves I spotted and captured, makes this vividly apparent — in one image, the hero leaves are rich in both green and red, yet beyond are golden yellows, and intensely blue-biased greens. The Autumn spectrum of colours is far from monochromatic shades of brown, and as if to add further emphasis to the colour palette of Autumn, I find a lone, young white flower alongside deep maroon and thorn clad branches and dead and dying fruits.

After passing steep, muddy banks with obvious slithery attempts to climb for better views or to reach good areas from which to fish, I finally find some wooden steps that are safe for me to consider safely to reach the shoreline and get glimpses of the lake beyond. I find a lone gull perched on a small buoy, and beyond, three chimneys of this area’s past history in the Brick industry. This lake and numerous others in Bedfordshire are the reminders of the era when clay was dug to support the brick industry around this area. The county’s lakes now support wildlife, and the leisure activities from boating, sailing, water-skiing and angling to water sports like windsurfing.

Swirling, bubbling water always is attractive in photographs, and the little weir with its trapped bottle, held by the current definitely appealed, as well as affirm the quality of the lens on this camera, my handy LUMIX fz10002.

Naturally I am attracted to the colour I capture, but on walks like this it is the variety of subject matter, and often some of the details, and textures attract my attention, as do patterns that can have been formed by recognised actions, and others that surprise by the sheer oddity or happenstance — for instance the calm water at the boundary to the rippled surface which held the reflection of the chimneys on the water’s surface, and then the lack of fear exhibited by the gull when passed closely by the Grebe. Also, the textures when one part of a branch is covered in its death by new life in the form of coloured fungal growth, or the vibrant reds of berries that appear when the leaves have had their time.

The sunset that closed the day I spent out with the camera was definitely a fitting end to my walk, and to end the day, when I captured the final curtain from outside my house with the silhouette of leafless, tall willows, against the rich colours of the fading sunset.

Priory Park Walk

  Priory Park in Bedford is quite varied in content, and ideal in which to walk, yet feel quite alone in the open space I find. On this visit, I was unsure whether I would find subjects for my camera, after parking my car at my destination, so initially made the decision to walk the route sans camera. that was less than ideal as it turned out as the point at which I entered the park was one long and less than exciting straight path. having walked its length, I decided I should reconsider that decision, so turned around and headed back. On a day with such oppressive heat, this was definitely a poor start, and wasted a considerable amount of energy and time!

I returned to the car and made a new decision, I would take my light rucksack and add food and flask, as well as my camera; in this instance the Lumix FZ10002 once again. Then I headed back along the recently walked path with its proven lack of interest to go deeper to see what I might find. The first item of interest I feel sure was a jackdaw feather – Its condition was pristine, which I found to be surprising for such a well-developed feather.

Early in my walk, I came across a lone Coot, that’s feeding from a part of a currently dry weir, and it seemed totally oblivious of my presence, so rather than take up a large part of the gallery of general images, I have created a standalone gallery that covers the bird’s activity as a separate entity.

The direction I later took was beneath one of the bridges along the river, which displayed considerable colourful graffiti and across the water from me, a group of youngsters set fire to something then stood around watching it envelope in flames. On my side, I spotted a partially full bottle I supposed was a lager, on a ledge, little realising that one amongst that number of kids a moment later was to appear on the same side as myself and pick it up, and wantonly throw it to the ground, smashing it. Sadly as a lone witness to his vandalism, there was little point in remonstrating since in total, the group possibly numbered around ten youths, so I just recorded more graffiti and took a shot of more civilised and relaxed behaviour beyond.

The road above my chosen path was carried in a curve around these various waters with some very interesting architecture of a far more recent bridge, which had far greater appeal, since much of my career had been spent photographing varied aspects of architecture in and around London and further afield.

As my walk continued I found myself recording bees, butterflies and cygnets and then I left the river to return to my car, and spotted an overflow of luxurious grapes hanging beyond the bounds of the house offering a bounty for passing walkers when they are ripe! Alongside also some very young acorns caught my eye, as did the skies that greeted me on my return home.  I should add also, that the route I took to leave the park was foolishly chosen beyond the bounds of the park and made the journey back to the car even longer than the walk within!

In terms of satisfaction, the shots beneath the road bridge gave me the most pleasure on this jaunt as I appreciated its curves and structure.

Brogborough Lake PhotoTherapy

After a trip to two separate supermarkets for food supplies, with moderate success in these straitened times, I returned to do a small amount of housekeeping, then made up my mind to see whether in the short space of time before a link up with the Adobe US Prerelease Team’s fortnightly Internet Meeting, I could capture some of the late afternoon sunshine at Brogborough Lake. Although the Windsurfers’ area is closed, there is a path which follows the shore, that is mainly a spot favoured by dog walkers. I took a stroll from the entrance to the left of the Windsurfers’ area, and finding the surface of the lake still in the absence of even the slightest zephyr stirring the water, took a few shots that told the story of the lake’s origins — having exhausted the supply of good brick-making clay, faulty brick detritus, littered the lake bottom in abundance, clearly visible in the shots that open the gallery of images.

I was out of luck if I had entertained any idea of finding Dragonflies, as although not cold, there had not been enough warmth to tempt them out in the late afternoon, but I stayed by the reeds for a short while in case I might catch sight of any such activity, but in vain!

I walked further along the bank looking carefully in the vegetation, before finding a tree that stood clear in the afternoon sunlight, and other lakeside scenes that caught my eye, as in the past when taking this walk, the pylons have always seemed like walking giants that have been frozen in time during a march across the landscape, and against a clear blue sky, this is not the first time I have taken photos of their strides. I also spied a lone poppy, and a conspiracy of ravens, that makes me wonder what the collective name for pylons should be? — a March of pylons?

Sadly, though I did spy a lone Grebe, and Swan, both were at a distance, so on this LockDown Walk, landscapes,and lake views predominate, but they lifted my spirits, and at the end of the day (to coin a phrase!) that was was the purpose of my trip. I hope they can provide viewers of this blog a similar lift in spirits. I took a long walk in the woods capturing shots of the overgrown paths, and some of the plants, leaves and blossom that caught my eye on the journey. I hope it will not be too long before I can meet up with family again, because my own company is less than adequate.

River Gt. Ouse Behind Riverpark Drive

I had a two-fold reason for my trip to Bedford; foodstuffs the Co-op did not stock and to investigate the sightings of kingfishers on the river from an angler I met on the last trip out, whilst he was walking with his wife.

Some items of food shopping are not found at my two local Co-op stores, and it was the Tesco and B&M Stores that stock specific items such as Fray Bentos ‘Landmines’ (so called due to an unfortunate accident that Michael Cane might have been moved to comment upon, had he seen me put one in the oven without removing the lid!) When I saw just how long the queue stretched, I decided to return to the car and dig out my camera; this sunshine was too tempting to waste standing in a queue, I can live for a while longer with the food stocks I hold! 

As I entered the waterside grassy walk I wandered by one of the park benches and noted a couple were relaxing in the shade, occasionally sharing some of their bread with the ducks. Much later having walked some distance on this side of the river taking photos, and crossed over to the far bank and eventually returning and going beyond my start point in the other direction, the couple were still there and we began to chat. During our conversation the man mentioned he had actually seen a kingfisher fly by here, which confirmed my angler’s assertion that this stretch of river was where I might be rewarded with opportunities to photograph one of my favourite birds.

On this trip the highlight was catching sight of a Mallard pair with its young chicks at the water’s edge, so I can definitely see myself journeying here much earlier in the day sometime in the not too distant future, as I also caught a fleeting sight of a squirrel in the branches, and a Holly Blue butterfly, so though brief I now had found a spot worth a second visit. I did not bother with any Supermarket visit, but returned to sort out the shots I had managed to capture, knowing that coming to this spot on the river at a later date, and much earlier in the day was likely to prove fruitful.

Marston Lake Sunny Afternoon

I set off to my nearest Anglers' lake, Marston lake to see what life was on the water in the warmth of the afternoon, and spotted some Tufted Ducks, a juvenile Grebe, and a Gull. All at some distance from the shore.
It was therefore lucky that I had decided to use the 60-600mm Sigma Sports lens with the additional 2x Converter, as on this lake, many of the smaller birds stay a good distance from the shore, unlike the Swans.
When I first arrived I met up with the Angler from whom I had learned about the Willington Lakes, and we chatted before I set up the camera a short distance closer to the entrance to the lake, as with the sun so low, the light was at a better angle. I did fire off a few shots at the more distant birds, but they were of no value so do not appear in this small single-page gallery.
Although it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon in the sunshine, and avoid close contact with others, it was not an exciting group of images, but it was good to see the Grebe stretch its wings, and the swan with its upturned wings as it headed straight for the shore ahead of me, when I realised he seemed likely to be coming ashore, I quickly gathered a handful of Sunflower seeds and threw them for it as a reward, but he seemed disinterested at first though once ashore for a moment did start to pick at the few that I had thrown onto jetty, and later even some of the seeds on the water. I got the impression it was some morsels of bread it would have found more appealing. The last shots I managed before leaving were a couple of Mallard ducks heading for the reeds.

Sunshine! Marston Lake — Alive!

It was great to get another day to check out just what kit works best in a typical situation. I was assessing the use of the gimbal versus the Long Lens Head. Both require a leveller to avoid adjusting individual Benbo tripod legs. It is always better to be taking shots that are meaningful rather than just a theoretical test, hence my delight in good light after a dull week.

I have used a Manfrotto leveller, but it was never really smooth, whereas using the Acrotech version that I have recently purchased from Bob Rigby proves to be both lighter and far better, allowing me to adjust the tension separate from locking it fully, and this becomes obvious instantly by the tensioner being far smaller, so once set it can be ignored.

I drove to the opposite side of the lake to a swim fortunately not occupied by an Angler, to a spot where there are both reeds and two beds of lilies frequented by both damselflies and Dragonflies, with only the damselflies on the lily pads, whereas both landed on reeds. I set two of the tripod legs in the water.

Sunlight not only provides better lighting, but meant there was more birdsong to be heard, and the Swans were on the lake, but still no sign of the Grebe, but the departure of the Cormorants was welcome. There were sounds of cars circling the nearby Millbrook Testing Ground, but this was only sporadic on this afternoon.

I captured some odd behaviour of a male damselfly which was almost like fitting, in that it would arch its body then go rigid and straight, then double up again. There were a few coupled damselflies being mobbed by presumably jealous males, and similar activities amongst dragonflies where females were being chased in flight, mostly, though not exclusively by single males.

The dragonflies also landed in the shoreline bushes and even the ground for their rest, whereas the damselflies were most abundant amongst sunlit rushes. The banks slope steeply from the shore, but at this spot in sunshine the vegetation underwater was clearly visible beneath the surface, which added interest to some of the backgrounds beyond the lilies.

I managed to get a good shot of a dragonfly in flight which is always a challenge, especially when, as it was on this occasion, quite breezy. On several occasions I spotted a dragonfly land on a reed only for it to dip crazily due to its weight, or be suddenly tossed around in a sudden gust.

There were two distinct species of Dragonfly; gold-bodied and dusty blue, and the pair of swans were very independent on this visit to the lake, and one did come over towards my position to check me out.

Although most of my time was spent at two swims either side of the lilies I did go to two further ones beyond where my car was parked when activity slowed by the lilies as the sun cast its shadow over them. altogether a very satisfactory couple of hours spent lakeside, in the brightest day for some days.

Cold Good Friday – Tring Reservoirs

In the hope of the wind dying back and the possibility of fitful sunshine, I headed for Tring Reservoirs. On my arrival it was still dull and as I walked from the Weir along the path between Startops and Marsworth reservoirs, the wind was very obvious, and I had come layered up but without a coat – bad mistake!

At first there seemed little activity beyond numerous Coots and Mallard, but then I spotted the distinctive flight of wagtails as they looped out from the bank and back again, and then foraging in the grass. I did spot a couple of Grebe that were showing signs of interest in each other, but continuing observation did not suggest they might start their dance ritual. I also spotted some swans that became restless and would take off, and move just a few yards before landing again, leaving one of their number behind in the corner between the reservoirs and the canal on the Marsworth side. He became very aggressive towards a single Greylag Goose, but the behaviour was very odd; his head was lowered as he fast-pedalled towards the goose, but it certainly put the wind up his opponent who amidst a flurry of wings took off and landed a few lengths away, but the swan employed the same behaviour a few more times; I could not work out quite why the Goos was so intimidated.

The Canada Geese like the Swans seemed to spend time flying from one spot to another, but their numbers were far smaller than those I had seen at Wilstone a fortnight or so back. On Startops End a lone Grebe seemed happy on its own and was successful on one dive I was able to capture. It seemed a small prize for a bird of its size, since I had once witnessed a Grebe swallowing two freshwater crawfish within a five minute spell.

I twice closed up the tripod to head home, and each time I spotted something else, such as Swans in flight, that caught my eye, so hastily used the tripod as a monopod to grab the shots! The reason for leaving early was to be ready for the off later to see my daughter Lizzy’s 20th Anniversary of Playing with Bedfordshire Music at a church in Bedford.