January 2011
Photography is my passion! Whenever I get the opportunity I will get out and take photos of the natural world. However, I have to balance this hobby with a busy job and family life, taking opportunities when I can. This often means that I have to "negotiate" some time in advance, mostly at weekends, and hope the light is good enough and my subject matter is still around (at least when I photograph landscapes the latter is not a problem).
9 January 2011 - a bright start to the year!
2011 started well enough. I have several sites that I visit regularly and a few more that I either plan to return to soon or to visit for the first time. One site I have visited a few times is Watermead Country Park, in Leicester. Early reports were that two or three Bittern had been seen right in front of one of the hides.
I arrived just after 8am - just in time to use the last available seat in the hide. I settled down for a long wait - some days they didn't show - would I get my first shots of this elusive bird? Fortunately I didn't have to wait long!
Within half an hour there was a Bittern - right in front of the hide! It skulked amongst the reeds before briefly coming out in the open, seemingly to pose for a photo before flying off into the reeds. The light was poor (high ISO numbers meant noisy images) and my angle was limited by my position in the hide and the sheer numbers who people who had come to see this bird. I stayed in the hide for the rest of the morning - a lovely sunny day - but it didn't reappear. But I was happy - I had got my first Bittern photos. What a start to the year!
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30 January 2011- first trip of the year to Rutland Water
After a great start to the year my hopes were high! However for the remainder of the month the weather conspired against me. Whenever I was free, the light seemed to be poor!
Considering it is less than half an hour's drive away from where I live, I really ought to visit Rutland Water nature reserve more often. As one of Britain's largest reservoirs it should have a lot of potential, but until last year I very rarely went. On those occasions I had been I remembered it as being very good for birdwatching, but not so good for photography - everything seemed so far away!
A visit last year revealed a completely "new look" reserve with new lagoons and hides, and importantly, more photographic potential! One hide in particular, the Crake Hide, provided images of Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Goldeneye and Grey Heron all really close to the hide! So I went along at the end of January to see what I could get.
Unfortunately, at the time of my visit, the water in front of the Crake Hide had been completely drained. I am not sure if this is a permananent thing or whether it was just the time of year. I will have to go back later in the year to find out. In the meantime, the light was poor and I had to settle for a few garden bird shots from near the feeders in front of the main birdwatching centre!
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Robin
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