Welcome to Ted the New Member of the Household

Ted, the Golden Retriever pup,  has been with us for a week now and has settled in well. From his large paws, he is going to be a large dog but, so far, has a pretty placid nature even when played with by two small girls and hissed at by the large fluffy grey cat.  He is also happy to have his photo taken! 

Foxton Art Show This Weekend

As usual I am putting pictures into the Foxton Art Exhibition, which raises funds for Foxton Primary School. It is open to the public on  Saturday 18th November, 11 am-4 pm and Sunday 19th November 11 am-4 pm. Entrance £2, children free.  Refreshments available. It is at the Village Hall/School, Hardman Road, Foxton CB22 6RN. Website is http://www.foxtonart.org

Wicken Fen - Birds in Autumn Settings

We very much enjoyed our 5 mile walk round Wicken Fen yesterday and saw a good selection of birds - some are shown here. They have cleared the front of the hides so good views of Redshank, Pied Wagtails, Teal, Gadwall and Pintail (bit distant). Favourite image probably the Female Read Bunting (on a reed!) but also pleased with Kestrel taking off. Following a very informative talk by Danny Green illustrated by excellent images which all showed a great sense of pictorialism, I have been a bit more adventurous with my cropping - refreshing after all the years of talks to have a presentation that made me want to revisit my approach to nature photography.

Fen Drayton Rainbow and Shy birds

While skipping the heavy showers (accompanied by brilliant rainbows), we attempted to photograph the large flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings but only grabbed one Redwing image before it flew off. Equally elusive, a Mistle Thrush and Green Woodpecker. Only the young Pied Wagtails were confiding

Cambridge 15, Birmingham Moseley 22

It was one of those matches where neither the weather nor the ruby action produced many images with thick cloud in the first half and the play very much on the ground. I was at the limit of my Fuji equipment using ISO up to 3200 and shutterspeed not above 1/500th but I did enjoy the autumn colours and the afternoon sunshine when it put in a brief appearance!

Buzzard versus Rooks, Fieldfare and Redwings

The highlights of an autumnal circular walk Toft to Kingston were a buzzard being mobbed by Rooks and large flocks of Fieldfare and Redwings feeding on the berries. Still a couple of Hoverfly species feeding.