Hello goose, where are the herons?

Early Saturday morning in the park, but it was a cloudy start. I tried a new angle on the Greylag Geese, this time from above rather than ground level. One heron was nicely lit in a Weeping Willow.

Dark side of the heron

Trying some more silhouette and backlit work on the herons yesterday morning before work, I used an aperture value of 40 at 400m to produce the star-like halos often seen in night and landscape photography. These actually result from the eight blades of the aperture diaphragm in the lens. Positioning myself to make the most of the dawn light I managed to get several of the reflections to bend around the bird's head creating the glitzy portrait below.

Autumn excursions II

After a bit more foraging, I made (some - others in the field) these images in a lightbox with a macro lens.










www.fssbirding.org.uk/photos.htm

Richmond Rut

I wonder now why I've never been to Richmond Park before. So it is a bit of a trek - over two hours by bus and foot but arriving at dawn yesterday I realised its a beautiful place... until the masses arrive. The morning broke grey without any atmospheric fog (it'll take a few visits in the next couple of months) and it was a while before the sun broke through. Although its nearly mid-October, yesterday could have been the best day of the summer. Still a lot of dragonflies and butterflies around while Redwings, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks streamed overhead. Leaving the park after sunset I saw a Little Owl on a low branch of a huge oak silhouetted against a fine sunset and the new crescent moon rising. And of course, the reason for visiting....Red Deer.

A day in Bath...

White-winged Black Tern in Hyde Park

A few images of the White-winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) in Hyde Park in London. I managed a couple of hours before work on a dreach morning (29th).