Mallards

I was taking the dogs for a walk along the River, when these Mallards took off and flew around in a circle a couple of times. not really sure why they were doing it as they eventually landed almost where they had taken of from.

Anyway because they flew around twice I managed to grab a few flight shots.

Swan in flight

Had a day of work today, part of the credit crunch as we are all being rostered off two extra days a month, but at least I have still got a job which is more than a lot of people have, according to the news today.
Anyway I decided to try and make the most of it and went out with the camera to see what I could find. first stop was a look around the nature reserve, where I managed to spook a Heron ,but did manage to get a shot of one of the Moorhens.

Not much else happening so I thought I would take a look at the River Arrow on the other side of town towards Oversley Green. The River is wider this side of the town, because the River Alne converges with the River Arrow at Oversley. While walking the river I came across a pair of Swans and managed to capture the pic of one of them flapping its wings. Later on when I was on the way back towards town, I heard the unmistakable sound of a Swan in flight and just managed to get few shots as it went overhead, with the one posted probably the best of the bunch.

Brief encounter

I was obviously a bit premature on my last post, thinking that summer was over, as this last week has been absolutely glorious, with today being no exception, it has a been beautiful day here in Alcester.

I went down to the reserve this afternoon, but it was far to busy with dog walkers & kids to be any good for nature photography. So I decided to walk along the River Arrow in the opposite direction towards Studley. It was much better, with only one other person seen in a couple of miles of walking.

Because of the warm weather there was still the odd butterfly showing, and I managed to get a couple of decent shots of a Green Veined White.

Whilst I was sat near the waters edge enjoying the peace & quiet, I heard a rustling in the Balsam on the opposite bank and thought that a Moorhen would be responsible, but to my surprise an old dog Fox appeared and laid down on the pebbles near the waters edge obviously sunning himself. I managed to get a couple of shots by turning the autofocus off so as not to spook him. But unfortunately he was nearly obscured by vegetation, so I decided to stand up slowly and get a shot, but unfortunately this spooked him and he was off.

It was a shame I did not get a decent pic,but I was extremely chuffed with a brief, but memorable encounter.

Season of mellow fruitfulness

Out and about today and the signs of Autumn are everywhere, all the trees and bushes are overflowing with fruit and berries. Also the leaves are starting to change colour.

To me there is a distinct feeling of summer being over. I found loads of Rosehips, Blackberries & Elderberries etc, also I found an old Apple tree growing amongst all the Brambles & Hawthorn which was overflowing with Apples. I will have to watch some of the old Hugh Fearnley Whassisname programmes and come up with some good recipes to try out.