Friday, 14 December 2012

Stourhead in Low Light

These images were taken the end of November.  It was early in the day before many people were in the gardens.  Light-levels were a challenge!

First, the Robins:


The table was bare!









This is a different one.



Up where?



One Nuthatch:





Coal Tits:








A Blue Tit:








Finally, the ever-present Marsh Tits:







I've been noticing where they queue to approach this stone.  Next week I should have some images of the various tits as they make their way through the shrubs.  Fingers crossed!  The light-levels will be even lower.

Thursday, 6 December 2012

Mainly Stourhead

Images from Stourhead, my garden and on the Somerset Levels.


The Pantheon



Temple of Flores


Mallard and autumnal reflections


"Never mind the mealworms; let's pose."


Blackbird


... and that's your third and final picture!


Unknown (to me) fungus


Robin ...

... with something to say


Canada Goose


Coot



Mute Swan showing signs of a bite




Trawling for Pike.  I saw them net one c600mm long



'Stumpy' is back in the garden.  This is his third year.  He seems to arrive some time in November each year.  He gets bolder each year and is happy for me to be within 2m of him.  He even 'talks' back at me.








The final set are from Shapwick Heath and from Greylake, Somerset.



Kingfisher ♀


Gadwall


Buzzard
Workers had been putting in new fence posts and sorting out some old hedgerows. The freshly disturbed ground meant that it was easy to dig out earthworms.  That's what this Buzzard had been doing.  It was on the other side of a chain-link fence when I spotted it and I couldn't get a photograph.  We were very near to each other and eventually it flew up onto some freshly sawn posts and eyed me up.  I got my images and it went back down to find more earthworms.  (That's coarse sawdust on the post.)  The original image has been cropped only to straight the bottom edge.



Mute Swan