Short-Eared Owls Hertfordshire

We decided to try a different location for Short-Eared Owls and drove over to Heartwood Forest near Welwyn, where we joined lots of other owl watchers including Ray. My favourites were the first two images, which are the last I took yesterday when the sun finally came through just before we headed home. The light at 3pm when we spied the first owls was not good and I really missed my 300mm 2.8 lens as working on the 7D and 100-400 mm resulted in very noisy images. However, I enjoyed the visit very much with lighter equipment and the photos are certainly good enough to remind me of the experience. Will take tripod next time!! Last image is of Rudolph the Red-nosed Owl!!

Windy Skies and Early Snowdrops

Yesterday was very windy all over the country due to Gertrude - in Cambridgeshire the rain cleared in the afternoon so went out with big stopper filter to take some long exposures - one and three are 30 second exposure while two is one second.

Last week, we visited Anglesey Abbey where the snowdrops were in full bloom.

Cambridge Sunrise

 I had a couple of hours between an early drop at the station and the shops opening so took the opportunity of some early morning photography in Cambridge. It was a beautiful clear sunrise with some frost on the grass (and a very cold wind!!)

The Biodiversity of Pasture Field, Toft , Cambridgeshire

These images of a pair of Buzzards and Redwing and Fieldfare (part of a flock of more than 100 birds) were taken from our bungalow window in Toft this week,  It is a wonderful habitat for wildlife. For several years now, it has been horse grazing land but these have been removed and it seems there is the possibility that planning may be put in for house building. This was tried some years ago but failed because it is outside the building line of the village, because of the lack of amenities in the village and because of its value to the ecosystem of the area. None of these objections have changed but Government has! As well as supporting a large population of birds, including Barn Owl, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Buzzards, Pheasants and many species of small birds, we have found both crested newts and the rare Cave spider on our property. I have also recorded 2 species of Bats and 7 species of dragon/damselfly along with Hare, Muntjac and Fox.

Seaford Head Sussex

It was still frosty when I arrived on Seaford Head on Tuesday morning with a clear sky and lovely light conditions. I have done some quick conversions to b/w as I think it suits the subject but will need a bit more care to avoid halos etc. As well as taking the classical views, I enjoyed time on the beach with the groynes and pebbles.

Saltdean, Sussex. Lido and Seafront

On Tuesday, I continued my exploration of places in Sussex that I remember from my childhood and teenage years when, living in south east London, it was an area that we visited for holidays and later, when we had a car, day trips. My very first holiday was in the late 1940s to Saltdean. I remember parts of the holiday well as it was the first time I had been in a car and, although probably only three and a half at the time, I was allowed to go with my brother, 4 years older, to play in the quarry near our holiday bungalow. When I asked at the library the location Quarry Road, the lady said that there was no such road. However, she looked it up in a history of Saltdean and found it had been renamed Greenbank Avenue. I made her day she said!!
My memory is obviously not as accurate for the Saltdean Lido as I thought I remembered visiting it on that holiday. However, it was only open for 3 summers from 1938 when building finished and I certainly wasn't around then.

The lido was built to designs by the architect Richard Jones, and was hailed as the most innovative design of its type in Britain with its tea terrace, sun deck, café, perched on the flat roof and distinctive curved wings at either end,  In the war it was a Fire Service training station.  The fire service left in 1945, but the lido remained closed for another 19 years. In 1962 Brighton Council bought it and drew up extensive refurbishment plans including a library and community centre. In 1995 the lido closed after falling attendances and the need for more repairs. It opened in 1998 after a £2 million restoration. It is now being restored once more and hopes to reopen this summer 

http://www.saltdeanlidocampaign.org/

The 1938 image shows it at its zenith; the image from the 1990s is By Simon Carey

Below, other images from Saltdean and downs behind the town, trying out my Fuji system for various types of photography.