I'm getting pretty frustrated with not being able to get outdoors, and when I do, all the hard work undertaken by the practice nurse gets undone.
Groan over, for the day delivered all I expected, and a plus.
Charlecote Park is good for the Jacob Sheep and fallow deer all year through, and up to mid-September, house martins as well, before they fly south for the winter. The plus, well you'll just have to stick with me, I'll reveal as I go along.
The forecast was mixed, depending who you believe, so I took the chance that it was going to be generally dry with the risk of a brief shower or two around midday. That was my own forecast based on studying the Eumetsat sequenced animation following the cloud flows, and my guess was pretty close.
It was a second outing for the new R5, and though I did take with me the 2x extender, it didn't get used.
So, to start, the (I think anyway) photogenic long drive from car park to gatehouse
The first sighting, a white wagtail, of which there were quite a few.
A random weather vane photo, that was totally unintentional, I just pressed the shutter and missed the high flying house martin!
But it was a nice clear photo....
Back to the intended photos, the house martins with their nests on the south facing wall of the house, departing the nests after feeding the brood...
The Jacob sheep sheltering from the sun
Likewise so were the fallow doe's
A parliament of crows having a fly past....
More Jacob sheep, this looks like one of this years lambs
Poser or what!
A fallow doe running from something
and finally coming to rest, but still a little uneasy....
While watching the Jacob sheep and fallow doe's, I was getting buzzed by what I initially thought were house martins, but to my surprise and the person I was chatting to at the time, they were actually swallows!
Back to the house martins.
Peek-a-boo
I'm coming in with dinner....
The flying frenzy.
more food coming in...
Feeding time...
off to get some more....
A fly past of some mallard ducks...
Back to the feeding frenzy....
and under the archway of the gatehouse, which is on the east side as you approach the house.....
Pee-a-boo
Peek-a-boo times two....
About bloomin' time, I'm starving....
That's the end of the house martins photos, now the fallow bucks.
Chewing the cud....
Yes, just like cattle, deer also chew the cud.
Most of the fallow bucks have their antlers, some still have the velvet, which provides the blood supply to the growing antlers, and must be annoying when it dangles over their heads.
This is a cropped closeup of two bucks trying to remove each others velvet, unsuccessfully. The antlers kept getting in the way, but full marks for teamwork.
Just as I was about to pack the camera and lenses away, something caught my eye as it flew in to the trees sheltering the fallow bucks.
Uncropped at 400mm zoom,
Did you see it?
A greater spotted woodpecker, possibly female, I couldn't see any signs of red on the head in the next cropped photo
The end of a very pleasant but short, wander around Charlecote Park, and as always, no matter what, a pleasant one.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Michael B said:In other good news, the practice nurse was a little anxious when I told her what I'd done over the weekend and the leakage that followed. However, what she saw yesterday she was very pleased with the continued progress. Depending on the next few days, a new weekend regime of missing a days dressing change is being seriously considered.
After all the trauma of the accident and subsequent ongoing treatment I really hope you can get a few more free days off from the regular dressing changes and can continue to enjoy those rare days out and bring us back more super photos. Really feel for you Mike as health issues like this long term challenge you have can affect your whole being; getting out into the great outdoors and enjoying the wildlife around us can make such a huge difference so keep up your positive attitude and hope the good progress continues. Keep that lovely new camera on standby. !!
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Regards, Hazel
Thank you Hazel.
There is only one way for me, that's forward, and not forgetting, there are a lot of people far worse off than me. Plus I'm itching to use the new camera and put it through all its paces.
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
Linda257 said:Looked like a lovely wander Mike to gently ease you back into the great outdoors...camera doing a grand job...thanks for sharing ;-)
Thank you Linda, it was good to get out, though sadly, I wasn't able to get closer to the river, where I understand there were kingfishers.
Michael B said:
Thank you Zo, and no worries about not seeing the post sooner, we all have that problem from time to time.
I'm guilty as charged, a very bad patient, or lack of patience, and I'm sure you realise, I would never give any grief to those who care for me, paid or otherwise. I was just having a bit of a moan, letting off a little steam.
I was extremely pleased with the housemartin photos, particularly as I'm not as mobile as I would normally be. I had to sit down to take the photos of them in flight, which did make it more difficult, so to get the two photos against the blue sky, was pure jubilation for me.
Normally I would be standing, which allows a reasonable amount of body twist to follow the flight path, and hence the wind vane photo.
Thats ok. yes I have realised. as a joke it’s a good job you didn’t get charged guilty for lacking patients. I mean patiance. I liked the joke about patiance. the joke about patiance is one of my favourite jokes I make sometimes. I make that joke when I go to see my GP or to have a blood test I have every couple of months with a particular nurse. cause it’s based in a hospital
and you can be waiting for an hour for the appointment before you actually have the appointment even though the appointment itself doesnt take long.
I usually say Im being a patient patient. and if there too long I say I’m being patient like a patient but there still not comeing.
Or I say I’m being patient but now there’s no one here and I’m out of patients or in patient cause there takeing so long.
iv also said even though I’m a patient I’m so in patient it’s rediculous
i said I’m patient as a pun since I’m a patient and when your a patient you have to wait and be patient for them to come and call you. so I can’t resist that joke sometimes. I have used it in other medical situations aside from things like Gps, doctors, hospitals aswell
Cause I have regular appointments every year I have many different forms of that joke
you were lucky to get those photos since it was very difficult in some cases when it comes to photography can help sometimes I and other Wildlife Photographers have to crouch or kneel down to get a good shot but it depends on the situation sometimes it’s best to stand sometimes it isnt. Most of the time standing helps but depending on the angle your in, where your standing, how the bird is flying and what direction the bird is flying in and weather its a agile bird or not. And Exspeacially since you had to sit down to take the photos even though you ended up with the random weather vane you did very well.
You can't help but just love the English language to play around with words.
Kneeling or crouching are no longer an option for me, though once, I did lie on the grass in the back garden to take photos of swifts flying around. The results were good, but the getting up again, was not so good, I had to get my wife to assist my getting up, and that was very ungraceful.
So never again, and definitely not in a public place.
.
My interest and respect for Wildlife has a certain influence on my family sometimes. and they learn a lot about Wildlife from me aswell. Before I went to a bird of prey Centre for the first time My Mum didn’t used to be interested in Birds of prey and said she wasn’t. but when I taught her about them then went to the international bird of prey centre with her for my birthday and asked after the visit if she found it interesting she said yes. in the house I encourage the people I live with not to kill spiders cause there living things. and even though one of the people is so scared they won’t even touch them he surprised people in the house one day and put it out. he was very proud of himself and went round telling everyone. I get Spiders out for them and I tell them they catch flys and I reassure them and sometimes use funny puns about Spiders to make them laugh aswell. Even Wildlife names can be funny.
For example when I was on holiday to Norfolk I pointed Out crickets in the evening and randomly said cricket so often that Mum started saying things like cricket I can’t see any near by. And when I type cricket it tends to come up with a cricket bat which I also find funny.
Yes. exspeacialy if you have a problem with your leg standing up is better. I do kneel down sometimes but that is cause I don’t have anything wrong with my leg. If I ever had the problom you got with my leg I would have to be careful aswell. If I pull or twist a muscle it can be problematic Exspeacially in Photography. when it comes to things like bending, twisting. when it comes to any injury some of the worst places are things you use a lot or that assist in twisting. feet, knee, leg, ribs, waist, chest, arms, back. and if its 2 or more of those it’s even worse. I used to have more acidents than I do now and used to fall over and even twist my muscles very often and my back and ribs, legs and ankles were the most common places and the worst. but iv learned from the acidents so I rarely do fall, pull or twist anything now. it only happens every now and again. .
while you can decrease the frequency of acidents you can’t stop them entirely cause they are part of life. There inivatable. Theres acidents that are preventable but there’s also acidents that just happen cause you were at the wrong place at the wrong time or for what seems like no reason. I too find if iv injured myself its easyer to stand up than bending or knealing when I want to take a photo and less painful aswell so I know what you mean it just takes exstra effort but it’s worth it and your photos yiu take are very good