Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Log blog part deux - white light

1. It was the right kind of snow.  Enough, sticking to surfaces and not too soggy.
2. It reflected the grey light enough to help the pics
3. It brought some new birds.

Some used the log ....



but the others hopped around it ....



or ignored it altogether.









Often negative space helps pictures, but the uniformity of the white left the subject a bit isolated at times so some of the shots are cropped top and bottom. The apples seem to be obligatory in winter snaps of fieldfare!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Garden Project

The truth is that I have largely neglected the garden as a location for photos,  I've taken the odd snaps of visiting sparrowhawks and record (= rubbish) shots of other visitors like brambling or siskin.  Last weekend I snapped another unusual visitor to a neighbour's roof.

Anyway a few weeks ago I found a nice piece of wood.  Big enough and well shaped to use as a backdrop for pictures, small enough, just about, to carry the mile and half I had to.  Not ideal with a dog, so it came home in a couple of stages.  Once in the garden it started to attract some birds - not too hard to guess why?





Yep, a small hole in the top in which to hide peanuts and sunflower hearts. Because it is small I could move the log around.  As Sunday finally lived up to its name, it saw me out there expectantly.  The jays remained wary, probably made worse by my intermittent efforts to tidy up the background a bit - the sun really catches any light coloured foliage. But the tits and chaffinches didn't mind too much when I brought the log nearer my (semi)hiding spot.  As well as the expected blue (we have dozens at present) and great tits






it was good to see coal tits (never noticed that chestnut shoulder patch before).


The jays were wary as I said, but two did visit.  The nuthatch came and looked out of the tree above, but hasn't been down yet, and there was only the most fleeting dash and grab from a jackdaw.


The star of the show for me however was this marsh tit.  I thought I'd spotted one a couple of weeks ago, but to snap it was great.

Now the really hard weather is coming maybe the jays and nuthatch will be down - providing I can cope with the cold too!

Click on the pics for larger views.  These and some more shots in the web albums HERE