It was a clear night last night, and I just had to try out a star-trail shot, even though my wide-angle lens is away for repair. This was taken with my next-widest lens: a 50mm f/1.8. It's a three-hour exposure in total, consisting of 36 five-minute exposures taken automatically by the intervalometer attached to the camera. I was indoors in the warmth while it was all going on:
It would've looked better with a wider angle lens, but my wide-angle should be back soon, so look out!
Whilst photographing the Song Thrushes in my recent post, I spotted a Blackbird with an abnormal amount of white in its plumage. I went back to the same spot last Saturday to see if it was still around, and it was. It seemed a little more elusive than the 'normal' Blackbirds, but eventually I was able to obtain a few reasonable shots of it:
This was in the same area as a Blackbird I photographed here two years ago. Not sure whether it is the same bird, or whether it is a descendant sharing some of the same leucistic genes.
Last Saturday, H.R.H. The Queen was due to come to this city, Swansea; and, as a loyal subject(!), I was dutifully up early, preparing to head over to the Brangwyn Hall with my 'big gun' (that's a lens; I was not attempting an assassination!) to do my paparazzo impression. Double-checking on-line before leaving on the exact time of her visit, and the route she would take, I noted to my horror that the old moo (that's my knighthood up the spout!) had come down with a (probably fake!) case of gastroenteritis, and would not be coming after all. Very inconsiderate of her, I thought, after I had dragged myself from my bed at an ungodly hour, and a morning person I am not. I was particularly gutted as the only previous time I had seen her (that I can remember) was when I was a teenager living in Canada, and she was on a state visit to Ottawa. My dad, who was at work, had given me his camera (which I think was a rangefinder type, with manual-everything controls), and the Queen came over to speak to us after my mum held up a rather-embarrassing banner: "Greetings from Romsey". I knew nothing about photography then (many would say I still don't!), and I managed to 'balls-up' all the pictures - they were all so out-of-focus that the Queen was nothing more than a shapeless blob (rather like my own physique at the moment)!
What has this self-indulgent waffle got to do with nature photography, you might ask? Well, nothing, really, except that I was so deflated after this let-down that I put away my big lens, and, devoid of energy, I only had the drive for a gentle stroll around Brynmill and Singleton Parks with my 70-200mm lens.
Other than seeing a female Goosander on Brynmill Park lake (first I've seen there), and a leucistic Blackbird and the resident Ring-necked Parakeet in Singleton Park, there wasn't much wildlife of note to be seen. I was, however, pleased to see a healthy population of Song Thrushes in Singleton Park, which were so tame that I was able to photograph them with the aforementioned smallish lens, sometimes with coupled with a 1.7x converter. A few pics.:
These pictures were all taken with me lying on the ground and resting the camera on a sturdy beanbag. At one point, I heard a young girl's voice behind me say, "Come and look at this". Interested to see what the fuss was about, I turned around, only to see a whole family of goons gawking at me. I was the 'this' they were looking at. I was tempted to give them a rude gesture, but nobly resisted!
It's been colder than normal for a while here, but that hasn't stopped flowers springing up in abundance. I haven't done much nature photography lately, but here are a few snaps I took the other day:-
Whilst out in the woods on Friday evening looking for Tawny Owls, I stumbled upon (nearly stumbled in, actually, as the holes were so big) a large Badger sett. This is only the third sett I've found, and all within the last few months, so I must be getting my eye in. Anyway, I went back on Saturday evening about 6.30 and put my trail camera in place nearby, sprinkling a few peanuts down to tempt any passing wildlife. Here's a compilation of one night's footage, taken on the 23rd/24th:
The first Badger appeared about 7.30 p.m., only about an hour after I'd left the area, and the last one retired for the day at 6.30 a.m., so they are pretty nocturnal at the moment. The Foxes (which may be sharing the same sett), however, were active before dusk and still active at 10 a.m.
Not sure if this is one Badger, or several different ones passing through; but, judging by the size of the sett and the number of holes, I'd say the latter. I can't wait for the warmer evenings to come, when I'll hopefully be able to spend some time watching them in person!
