France - Wild birds and guns

As well as the animals at the house itself, the area was full of bird life - it was great.

One of the main features of the area is the Etang de Saint-Estephe, a man-made reservoir just outside the village. The day we walked around, it was slightly overcast and there wasn't that much about. However, walking past a pine tree, I noticed is was absolutely alive with House Martins, busy feeding on the seeds within the pine cones.




As we continued our walk, I spotted a Pied Flycatcher sitting on a branch. This was rather nice, as I'd never seen one before, not that I realised what it was until I got home.



This was obviously a day for firsts as we also spotted a Willow Warbler towards the end of our circuit of the reservoir. Again, another first time spot.



As well as birds, there were lizards. This little guy, a Common or Viviparous Lizard, was spotted warming himself as best he could on a tree stump.



There was also plenty of wildlife to be found back at the house. A number of bird feeders were attracting incredible numbers of Great Tits...



... as well as Blue Tits.

A couple of the bushes next to one of the barns was attracting a large number of House Sparrows.







The bees were attracted to all the flowers in bloom, including this Carpenter Bee.



In the woodland to the rear of the house there are Woodpeckers, Great-spotted, Green and Grey-headed are all to be found, as well as this, which I actually thought was a woodpecker at first, a Nuthatch.



The surrounding area is mainly wood and farmland. This gives the perfect habitat for Buzzards. This one below could be found, a lot of the time, sitting on one of the fence posts of a field we regularly drove past. Unfortunately it was a fence post at the opposite side of the field.





Another experience we had was of "La Chasse à Courre", or hunting with hounds, in this instance for Wild Boar and Deer. This is is perfectly legal when done right but no less scary with gun shots going off in the field next to you and the barking of the pack of hounds echoing around the countryside - especially when there are two domesticated pigs in the garden!

Wetlands Centre - Chasing Hawkers and Moorhens

Last weekend I decided to get out of the house to take some photos and I suddenly realised how lucky I was being in the location I am in terms of nature reserves.  The WWT centre around the corner, and at least two nature reserves, Barnes common and the Leg of Mutton, as well as Richmond Park to name but a few areas. One of the major advantages of starting at the WWT centre, as I did on this occasion, is that you can pretty much guarantee there will be photo opportunities. Also, the ability to see what had been attracted to the site over the past few days, by looking at their wildlife sightings page on their website website and taking a look at their twitter stream, are a great help in planning a visit.

I arrived and managed to tag along with one of the warden walks. This allowed me to see one of the smallest and probably most photographed invertebrates at the centre over the past few weeks; a Wasp Spider. Introduced to this country from the continent, it is usually confined to the south coast but, due in large part to global warming, their range is slowly extending north and they have been spotted as far as Cambridge. Sporting natures warning colours, black and yellow, they are not poisonous, although I've read that they can bite. They are very beautiful to look at though.

From there, I decided to leave the warden and the group to it and head towards the wildside, admittedly my favourite area of the centre. On the way it was lovely to see the many of the wild flowers still in bloom near the RBC rain garden.





On my way towards the wildside, I spotted a Moorhen finishing the lunch it had obviously bought from the cafe. "This cuppa support conservation..." - yes, it certainly looks like it!



After a spot of lunch for me, I finally got to the wildside. I decided to walk around to where I'd seen the Kingfisher a couple of weeks earlier but the island had been given a pretty close hair cut, so there was no where the Kingfisher could perch, even if it did decide to visit. However, I did get a nice shot of a Moorhen, reflected in the water.



I also spotted one (ok, two) of the newest editions to the wetlands centre; newly born Little Grebes. Judging from their size, I would say they were only about a week old and Mum and Dad were, understandibly, very protective of them, hiding them under their wings on their back.



I noted there were a couple of large Migrant Hawkers patrolling the edge of the pond and proceeded to spend the next hour or so attempting to get a photo of one in flight, completely in vain I might add. However, as I continued my walk, I spotted another which seemed all to keen to have it's photo taken, hovering right in front of me, giving me plenty of time to check camera settings, etc, before taking these photos.









This was obviously the spot to find animals who wanted to have their photo taken, as a Moorhen posed gracefully for me as well.



I went into the wildside hide and managed to get a nice photo of some Mallards flying over.



Finally, on my way to the exit, a couple of baby lizards were pointed out to me. Thanks to the guy who drew my attention to them.



From the Wetlands centre, I decided to have a walk to the Leg of Mutton nature reserve on my way home. To be honest, there was not a lot to see, due mainly to the fact I didn't have a lot of time to spend looking. Another Migrant Hawker decided it wanted to have its photo taken, so I gladly obliged.



Also, I think it's safe to say, there are plenty of Cormorants who call the Leg of Mutton home. I spotted eight on this pontoon alone and there were many more to be seen on the others around the reservoir.



It was also nice to see the Swan signets I'd seen earlier in the year all grown up. Six in total, all still in their juvenile plumage but looking to be doing very well.



Finally, I spotted a group of Long-tailed Tits flying from tree to tree just before I left the reserve. A nice day, lots of walking, but well worth the effort.

Introduction to Wildlife Photography, with Iain Green

I decided that, if I actually want to take decent photos, it probably wouldn't do any harm taking a course to get some tips and tricks. My knowledge of the fundamentals of taking a photo are pretty good (i.e. I know how to put the camera on to automatic and which button you press to take a photo! Only joking) but as I am, admittedly, very much an amateur when it comes to nature and animal photography, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some advice from a professional. Fortunately for me, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Barnes was able to help out, offering a days introduction to wildlife photography with photographer, Iain Green.

Iain has been a professional wildlife photographer for the past 14 years, with his subject focus being very much on wild tigers in India.  As there is a distinct lack of tigers in Barnes, fortunately, it was good to know that he was adept at a wide range of subject matter, with his attention turning more recently to the wildlife that is all around us, the wildlife of London, in all its shapes and sizes. Please do have a look at his website. There are some gorgeous photos to see there.



The day started off, at the wetlands centre, with a brief introduction from Iain, covering his experiences and some of the fundamentals of wildlife photography including researching your subjects, composition and, perhaps most importantly, respecting the animals and habitat you're working in.

Then it was out to take some photos. We started over at the Wildside of the wetlands centre, admittedly my favourite part of the site. Iain was able to remind me that I needed to think about shooting from different angles and not to be solely reliant on my zoom lens.

Here, for me, it was all about Tufted duck babies...



And flying bugs. In this case, an Ichneumon Wasp.



After a bite to eat, it was over to the other side of the site, to have a look in the hides and to take a look at the, very much in bloom, RBC rain garden. Iain gave some invaluable tips for the set-up of your camera and here, to put those tips into practice, it was all about the flowers on offer, taking photos from angles different than the usual.



It was a warm day and it looked like this starling had taken full use of the plentiful water to cool down.

I had taken a few photos from below, looking to the sky, in the past and like the results I had achieved. The plane flying through the frame helps to place the photo in a specific location, another of Iain's tips, directly under the Heathrow flight path.

Small skipper butterfly



Iain also offered a first for the wetlands trust, an introduction for me to the resident lizard population, basking on some logs in the sun.



Overall, a fantastic day spent in the sun, taking photos, getting great advice and tips from Iain.  Is Iain in any danger of me stealing his job yet?  Erm, probably not.  Has this made me want to practice and improve?  Absolutely.  Watch out Iain!