Owls at Sunset I

Once the wind dropped this afternoon, we went over to see if the Short-eared Owls would be flying and were rewarded with views of maybe up to 10 birds quartering the various parts of the Fen.

Windy Wicken

Very windy at the Fen yesterday - only one owl took to the air but it had such unusual light plumage that I have posted it anyway.

A Town Near You

Typical scenes from any town in England today. The poster in the first image sums it up - 'Will today be Your Lucky Day?' I didn't want to get too close to the guard dog in the last picture.

Brandon Marsh

I took a trip to Brandon Marsh near Coventry today in between lectures in Droitwich and Redditch. It was very dull light but suited the Cormorant and flight of Shovellers. A Kingfisher had been seen fairly regularly at one of the hides so I sat waiting for an hour or so. just as I thought I would give up it arrived and posed for photographs from all sides as well as a yawn or two, I missed the flight towards me however.

Short-eared Owls

Phil and I dusted off our long lenses and took a trip to Burwell Fen to look for the Short-eared Owl invasion that had been well publicised on the Bird internet sites. Sure enough we managed to see at least five different individuals; maybe more. The birds were all very different in coloration; I don't know if this relates to their breeding area as these birds have probably come here from a variety of summer habitats.They each seemed to hold a territory for hunting - two spent a lot of time squabbling or maybe just playing with each other and with some crows. The first shot shows Wicken Fen windpump in the background to give the location.

Santon Downham and Brandon

We visited Santon Downham St Helens area and Brandon Country Park on a beautiful warm Autumn day today. The beech trees still had their leaves and there were lots of spiders' webs strung between the branches. Not sure of about the woolly grey one but the Yellow spikes are the Yellow Stags Horn, the purple one, the Amethyst Deceiver, and the large balls are Earth Balls.

Very small toadstools

As it had rained this week, we went to Gamlingay Wood in search of toadstools. The only ones we found were very small indeed which tested the macro facilities on our Lumix and G12 compact cameras.

Saturday's Wedding

Well it didn't rain on Saturday for the wedding and the dull light was good for photography and showed off the autumn colours. It wasn't as warm as it had been but the ceremony was held outside.

Fingers Crossed Please

It is my daughters' wedding tomorrow at a lovely outdoor venue so fingers crossed that the forecast rain stays away long enough for the ceremony and a few photos (yes - I am doing the photography!).

Senedd building Cardiff Bay

I took the train to Cardiff Bay from Rhiwbina station, which is close to the Travelodge in Whitchurch. It was only £2.05 there and back including a stop off in Cardiff City Centre.

It is two and half years since I visited the Senedd building. The main public building of the National Assembly is an open building into which you can walk, have a cup of coffee in the Oriel on the upper level, and go into the public galleries from the Neuadd on the centre level. It is a sustainable building, built of traditional Welsh materials such as slate and Welsh oak. It is also sustainable in the way it is heated; for example, the earth exchange system uses heat from the bottom of the old dock, on which the Senedd stands, before it became the area which is now Cardiff Bay. The large funnel recirculates the air in the building.

Autumn Colours

Called in at Westonbirt Arboretum on the way to Cardiff to lecture for next two evenings. Proved to be exactly the right time for the maple colours. The light was pretty poor but didn't detract from the wonderful reds and oranges.

CCC Exhibition

Two reasons why no blog posts since Saturday - 1) I have been helping put up and steward Cambridge Camera Club's Annual Exhibition in the Guildhall in Cambridge and 2) Sadie is now very keen to stay on two not four feet and can therefore reach all kinds of new things. She really enjoyed the Exhibition - just needs the prints a bit lower next year.