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Friday, 15 January 2016

A Walk on the Cold Side

This was a cold and windy walk interspersed by showers of rain and frequent changes of sky. 
About every ten minutes the sky would change from dark cloudy conditions to a sunny day which was caused by the strong North Westerly winds.




Dramatic scenes such as that below provided plenty of photo opportunities.


Sony A7. FE24/240 lens - 61mm. 1/125 at f8. ISO100



As a result of a considerable amount of rainfall over recent days the rivers are in full flood. 


In more quiet areas of the waterways the very murky conditions must play havoc with the Kingfisher's search for food.











Four Magpie that were making a lot of noise in a nearby tree then decided to congregate on the ground making even more noise, eventually separating into pairs.



The meadows along the edge of the parkland are currently waterlogged.



A pair of Mallard observed taking off from one of the Reserve scrapes.



The waterlogged meadows are frequented by the the resident flocks of Canada and Greylag geese.





Sony A7. FE-24/240 lens - 24mm. 1/100 at f22. ISO100




Below is another example of the mindless activity conducted under the banner of parkland management. 
This area of bush provided to my certain knowledge nesting sites for Blackbird and Long-tailed Tit. 



I think this Mute Swan below was just doing a test run for take off, as it did not appear to be in pursuit of an unwanted interloper.


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28 comments:

  1. Tricia Ryder15 January 2016 at 08:13

    Some dramatic skies there, Roy leading to dramatic pics - in some ways, more like April than January..

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  2. Margaret Birding For Pleasure15 January 2016 at 09:10

    what a wonderfull variety of photographs in this post. Yes we are havng it cold adnwet here. Love all the critter shots and beautiful reflectionsin the water.

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  3. John "By Stargoose And Hanglands"15 January 2016 at 09:32

    Some grand scenes there. Scrubland seems to be the poor relation of all habitats, even bird reserves seem too keen on tidying up to me.

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  4. Midmarsh John15 January 2016 at 13:47

    The Coal Tit seems to have built up a good stash of food for the bad weather.

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    Replies
    1. Roy Norris16 January 2016 at 00:52

      Helped by several Birders wishing to take photos of them John.{:))

      Delete
  5. Simon Douglas Thompson15 January 2016 at 16:08

    Low sunlight under a roof of thick cloud provides the most magical light of all

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  6. Nathailes SANTA MARIA15 January 2016 at 16:32

    Hello Roy,
    nice landscape. The magpie are beautifull in "family". And you have the chance to photograph Coal tit !
    nice day Roy

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  7. Amanda Peters15 January 2016 at 18:16

    Lovely set of photos Roy, the changing weather has caused no end of problems this year.
    Amanda xx

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  8. The Furry Gnome16 January 2016 at 01:18

    Great group of pictures, with some nice lighting!

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  9. Grosmontine16 January 2016 at 09:23

    Very nice pics indeed Mr Norris, very atmospheric. I really like the ones with the dark skies and the sunlit trees.

    I too have often wondered how kingfishers manage to 'fish' when the water gets really muddy, though all the abundance of water at your park is obviously good for the local geese and wildfowl.

    The over management of much of the countryside, including at many nature reserves as well, is a concern I share, scrubby areas in my experience often hosting an abundance of wildlife!

    Kindest regards :-)

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  10. Millymollymandy17 January 2016 at 17:19

    So if you are only using 240mm lens which isn't much of a zoom you must have had the birds practically right next to you! I cant get that good or close up with a zoom lens a lot longer than that! Lovely images.

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    Replies
    1. Roy Norris18 January 2016 at 13:37

      Thanks Mandy.
      I was using more than one camera/lens. I used a 70/400mm lens for some of these shots.

      Delete
    2. Millymollymandy21 January 2016 at 10:50

      Aha thanks for this info. I will have to see what I can manage with my new(ish) Lumix with a built in optical zoom up to 400mm. Not really used it much out in the field. :-)

      Delete
    3. Tricia Ryder22 January 2016 at 05:44

      Which lumix are you using.. is it the FZ1000 ?..

      Delete
  11. Guy18 January 2016 at 16:58

    Hi Roy

    Your green landscape is very tempting looking at this time of year, we are trending to white.

    Regards
    Guy

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    Replies
    1. Roy Norris18 January 2016 at 20:06

      Not had of that stuff in this area this Winter yet Guy.

      Delete
  12. Helma18 January 2016 at 19:59

    A really nice blog with a vara of birds and skies.
    Beautiful arrangements and colors.

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  13. Kathie Brown22 January 2016 at 21:13

    Roy, I just love this series! I always try to imagine what it would be like to walk into these pictures. I wonder how it would feel and how it would smell, and I wonder how it would make me feel! I love the English robin pictures of course. They just steal my heart!

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    Replies
    1. Roy Norris23 January 2016 at 21:34

      Thanks Kathie, it would be quite cold at the time these images were shot, so you would need plenty of warm clothes.{:))

      Delete
  14. Ana Freire12 February 2016 at 20:45

    Wow!!!! I got no words...
    Beauty in every each image!... Amazing!

    ReplyDelete

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