Reyjkavic Birds

 Final post from the trip to Iceland. It was a bird watching as well as northern Lights trip but the former had been a bit thin on the ground until the last day in Reyjkavic. The Marine Lake there produced Red Breasted Merganser, Whooper Swans, Pink-footed goose, Greylag Geese and Comoon gull. Elsewhere Redpoll, Snow bunting and Redwing

Reyjkavic Opera Building (Harpa)

I am just about through documenting our iceland trip a month ago. Mostly I have slotted these into the correct position on the Blog as it makes the production of my yearly diary more straightforward but I thought I would share the last two before redating them. Harpa is an asymmetrical glass building on Reykjavík’s harbor, resembling a shimmering iceberg. It was opened in 2010. At the time of the financial crash in 2008, the private unfinished project appeared to be a symbol of all that was wrong in the country - greed, opulence etc. But the government took over the project and completed it  and it is now the pride of the city.We had only a brief time there in very dull light but I still was in awe of the shapes and colours.

Spring is Here in Cambridge

The willow trees are in full leaf in Cambridge along with all the flowers giving the Backs a real Spring feel. Of course winter could return as on March 23rd 2008 when we had heavy snow on Easter Sunday.

Great Witchingham Horse Trials

Great light most of the day at the International Horse Trials at Great Witchingham. I alternated between slow shutterspeed (30th second generally) and fast speeds (800th/1000th)  though the second image was taken at 400th which was sufficient to freeze the motion and give good spray. The panning in the open fields was at 80th second. The toning to the first two is not intended and not sure why as they are monochrome in Lightroom and the whole batch exported together. Any suggestions welcome!!

                               

Geese at Fowlmere

 Almost the only birds seen at Fowlmere on Friday were Greylag and Canada Geese. However, the light was perfect for capturing flight so here a few action shots.

Markers of Spring

 Last year the garden was covered in snow on March 21st and, 6 days later, none of these flowers except the plum blossom were in bloom (see previous year. What a difference this year

Fairburn Ings RSPB Reserve

Visited RSPB reserve at Fairburn Ings on way to lecture at Normanton on Tuesday. Extended views of 2 Kingfishers although distant. Great to see large numbers of Tree Sparrows - an increasingly rare species.

Nidderdale Yorkshire

 I spent a few hours in Nidderdale - parked the car by the first bridge and walked along the river towards Bolton Abbey to the second bridge. Landscapes taken with the 24mm TS lens - hence the large depth of field.  I saw all the characteristic species of the area Curlew, lots of confiding Robins, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Red Breasted Merganser and Dipper. Lens (200 plus 1.4 ext) not long enough to do justice to the birds but a record of the trip. The Dipper was constantly dipping in and out of the water and showed the white eyelid in many images. Also saw Oystercatcher, Buzzards, Wren and, surprisingly to me, a very close Red Kite while driving.