A few hours in Weymouth

Arrived at Radipole about 10.00am, North hide very very quiet, with little to see. Gave it an hour, then popped over to Lodmoor. Better luck there, with a few photo opportunities. Nothing more than the usual suspects tho'.

Garden hide turns up trumps, and Twenty Buzzards in one Field

If you've got the room, I really think a garden hide pays divs. A female Great-spotted Woody has been coming in for about a week now, so forecast as the best day of the week, today I decided to give it an hour. (Pics on Flickr, link on right)
After an hour of getting some of the best Woody shots i've got, I popped off up the Old Roman Road to take advantage of the sunshine. Pretty quiet on the high downs this morning, loads of Buzzards worming with Lapwings, but alas the Golden Plovers have moved on. Couldn't find them anywhere.

Looking for a Bank Shot

Yet another couple of hours pacing the banks of the Stour at Blandford looking for that elusive 'bank shot' of an Otter. There was just one individual playing ball today, and it had us toggers marching,,,, first upstream, then downstream. Sick to death of all those 'just a head' shots. This was the best I could do on the day.

The ever present Kingfishers looked great in the sun. I have never had a proper Kingfisher hide set-up, but this stretch of river at Stour Meadows, Blandford is the nearest i've been to them without cover.

The High Farmland and those Frustrating Golden Plovers

Took the 'Four Wheeled Hide' up the hill again today. These flippin' Golden Plovers are leading me a merry dance. I just can't get within a hundred yards from them. I had to move the car about five times, because they all take off together periodically, for no apparent reason, and land in another area. Passing traffic didn't help. These are the distant shots I managed today, big crops both.

Some you win, some you lose.

Beautiful sunny day yesterday (Tues). Decided to have yet another full day chasing the Blandford otters. Took just my 300mm f4 with a 1.4 TC, and hand held it,,,, I thought that'll be good enough for otters on a bright, but chilly day. On reflection I wish i'd taken my bird gear, because I saw not one flippin' otter. Danny took his long combo and got some fair shots of the local birds, I chose wrong again. Aah well! A pleasant day in the sun, with some friends, and a bit of banter is not to be sneezed at. My best shot out of around twenty is below, just a record of a fruitless day in November. The otters were sighted and captured by a few lucky toggers briefly.

Another go at the Blandford otters

Had just a couple of hours at Blandford today. I arrived late at 11.15am. We (Chris and me) worked the 200yd stretch between the weir and the black bridge together, but mostly apart. No sightings for at least an hour, and a half. Then he spotted them by the black bridge, and phoned me. A result,,, sightings of cubs and adult good, but togging difficult due to very low light.

All in all, quite a satisfactory morning at Blandford.

Great Day in Blandford

Met up with Chris at around 9.00am yesterday. We concentrated on the river between the weir and the black bridge, with occasional scans downstream from there. We had decided to give it a whole day and this strategy paid off. We had three or four good opportunities for shots. Patience, and vigilance is everything while waiting for otters to show. I was gutted that I completely b*****d up the sequence when the mother and two cubs were showing, and the light fell dramatically. Can't win them all, but great day all the same.

More pics on my Flickr stream.. Click on link on the right.

Today at Loddy

Had quite a good day with Danny and some new friends in the gazebo at Lodmoor. Click the Flickr link on the right to get my best shots. One 'new to me' shot was a Common Sandpiper. Which was very far away, and had its whole head in the water, having a drink.

Lodmoor

Had a couple of hours in the gazebo at Lodmoor with Danny, and briefly Dennis. Most of my contacts know these two blighters. Two 'White-fronted Geese' in attendance, but

too far out to be togged. Kestrel in flight came close, but angle of light not favourable. For me, the star was a male Stonechat that was posing well behind us.

Blandford Otters

Quite a good day today. Went to Blandford with Chris, hoping to see otters. Having been four or five times previously, and not having had a glimpse of one, I was not expecting much. Chris spotted one after about an hour, and that one disappeared within a minute. Another hour went by, and i'd almost given up hope. The light levels fell really low, and I was forced into higher ISOs than I usually shoot at. Suddenly there was another one by the weir, and we went into machine gun mode. Only record shots really, but I was really chuffed to get any shots of these fascinating beasts. At last I've broken my duck.

European Otter (Lutra lutra)

Not a Good Day

The weather brightened at around 10.00am, but with the strong winds the potential for quickly changing weather conditions was apparent. It looked brighter towards the coast, so I ventured over the hill. Spent about ten minutes at Radipole Lake, standing on the RSPBs patio. My face soon set in the biting wind, and blinking back the tears I left without taking a shot. Trickled across town to Ferrybridge, where it was so windy I decided it might be best to shoot from the car, because there were a couple of Brents quite close to the car-park. Then the light levels dropped so low, I thought it was 6.30pm. I removed the camera and lens from the polystyrene bean bag that was hung over the car window,,, whereupon the howling gale caught the bean bag, whipped it 20ft in the air, and in a split second it had crossed the whole car park,, managing to hit every puddle on the way. Retrieved it,,, packed up, and got the hell out of there. I might take up stamp collecting.

Even the Kestrels had to cling on for dear life, to avoid ending up in Holland.

Should i,,,, or shouldn't i?

OK, the weather is squally, and all over the place, and hating wind I haven't been out. So decided to delve in the fungus archive. Both are quite frequent,,, one is poisonous, and one is edible.