Patch Update – June 2013

Whilst I haven’t blogged about it in a while I have been making regular visits to the local nature reserve over the last month.  June seems to mark the start of a quiet period that I noted last year, the last few visits have revealed very little to point a lens at.

Sadly on a recent visit I found a roe buck corpse tangled in the fencing that’s in place to stop the cattle falling in the river.  The body seemed reasonably fresh as there was no sign of any scavenging or decay.  I called the ranger to let them know and he also shared my disappointment at such a find.

On my last visit the grass was really starting to grow, which for me is a problem.  I suffer from hay fever and whilst I take medication to help I still suffer a lot at certain times of year.  Last night resulted in my worst reaction for years, this combined with the slow down in sightings means I will be staying away for a month or so.  Hopefully once the pollen season is over I will be able to head over again.

In the mean time I intend to investigate another local site which is reported to be home to badgers, and possibly Kingfisher.  With any luck I’ll be able to find something there and there won’t large amounts of long grass to cause me problems!

Making the first print

I got my first print in todays post.  It’s been a long time coming and a reasonable amount of work but was worth it.

First Print

First Print

The print is the Silvery Marmosett shot I took at Whipsnade Zoo last year.

The frame came from IKEA and is a RIbba 50x40cm in black and cost £7 which is good value.  The hanging mechanism isn’t ideal however and I’m not sure there’s enough wood to add a proper loop for the wire.  The matt is cut with a 29 x 39 cm hole. Continue reading

A fox and a fire

Well I finally got a new lens.  A 300 2.8 VR ii and a set of teleconvertors. It’s heavy, but it’s a cracking lens.

The first time I took it out about a week ago I went to see the roe deer and took a monopod to help with the mass.  In honesty it seemed to make it worse as the load is so top heavy, meaning I couldn’t keep the lens still enough for even the VR to take up the slack.  The end result was I didn’t really get anything worth sharing.

The positive side of this outing was I met the ranger who was kind enough to point out the site boundary which I have never been sure of and also confirmed my suspicions on the location of the Barn owl nest in previous years.

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Spring has sprung

Well it seems spring genuinely is here and it wasn’t s false alarm.  On Saturday evening I had  couple of hours available in the evening so went to see if I could find the roe deer.

Upon arrival I was quickly deflated as the cows where still in the field the deer frequent meaning I was probably out of luck.  However I have often seen them along the river so decided to try the tow path along the other side to see if that worked.

On the walk round I spotted this Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, a sign that spring really has sprung.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly at the side of a path at SWT Manor Farm.

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A successful stalk?

With the later evenings thanks to the clock change I was able to spend an hour at the local reserve.  Things didn’t begin overly well as the cattle have been moved to the field where I had seen the roe deer previously but I started a lap anyway.

Near the start is a small ring of brambles with a grass opening in the middle.  There are a few clear animal tracks in the grass so I followed one and heard the rustle of an animal moving in haste.  I backed off and decided to try look from the other side.

After a brief walk I heard the noise again and there in the undergrowth a fox looked back at me.

A fox stares from the undergrowth

A fox hides in thick brambles and stares out at me.  This was manually focused as the camera wanted to focus on the brambles.  Easier said than done on my Sigma 70-300.

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Getting back out in the field

After a stressful couple of weeks at work this weekend I took the opportunity to get out and explore my local nature reserve for an explore and to see what I could see. Getting out more here was a goal I set my self at the end of 2012.  The idea was to get a better feel for the land and try spot where the wildlife was gathering and their routes. Continue reading

Lowepro Classified 160 AW Review

I bought this to use in place of a my much larger Vanguard backpack which was far too large and kept getting in the way, there’s only so many people you can knock over before it gets frustrating. The idea being a smaller more manageable bag gets taken with you.

This seemed ideal based on the specs. Room for a pro body, I used a gripped Nikon D7000, with a 70-200 on it (which I don’t have, yet), a spare lens or two and a few pockets for the other required odds and ends you need for a days shooting. Continue reading

2012 in review

The end of a year is a good time to not only reflect on the past 12 months but to also to look forward to the next.

The last year has proved to be somewhat mixed as proven by the fact I’m sat posting this in the famous St George’s hospital waiting to see a neurosurgeon.

'Fudge' the Ferruginous Hawk

‘Fudge’ the Ferruginous Hawk is a captive bird displayed by xtreme falconry. This image was taken prior to a display at RHS Wisley Garden while the birds rested under a canopy.

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