10-17th August, A family week in Norfolk

A summary of a week in Hempstead, near Holt, Norfolk, with our daughter and her partner and our three adorable grand-daughters. We planned with some care, a location with activities to suit us all and a large enough property so that we each had enough room to escape for some peace and quiet when needed, it turned out to be perfect and even the weather was kind!

A tiring drive down on busy roads was dealt with and the holiday began in earnest on Sunday morning, we headed to nearby Cley Next The Sea and a renowned nature reserve. Even at a time of year when sightings can be difficult the day passed quickly and we had plenty to see.

A black tailed godwit...

A beautiful peacock butterfly....

A green sandpiper...

We kept getting glimpses of marsh harriers, unfortunately too far away for photographs most of the time until this one settled in a shrub...

We also had a sighting of a rare red necked phalarope, a gorgeous little wader which stayed well away from the camera.

Lovely warm weather and a couple of showers in the evening did nothing to spoil a great first day.

Monday and Holkham for us, all that is needed for a great day out with beaches, scrubland and woods to walk through. A lovely hall set in splendid grounds also offers lots of other attraction for families of all ages, highly recommended!

We walked along the edge of the woods, plenty of butterflies and other things to entertain us...and to test my sparse knowledge and ID guide later!

A slightly battered gatekeeper...

A speckled wood....

A female ruddy darter...

A comma...

and a painted lady....

Rumours of barn owls near our home for the week meant I had to try at least one early start to see if I could locate them.

Out before 6.00am the next day I maintained a patient vigil from field edges for the next couple of hours, my only reward...a swallow before it began its flights for the day.

Oh and legs that looked as if I had been walking through razor wire, the shorts were not a good choice for bramble lined paths...ouch!

We chose a boat trip to Blakeney Point to see the seals that congregate there.

The longer nosed grey in the water...

And the common seals in moult on the beach...

We were also lucky enough to see sandwich terns hunting and diving like arrows into the tidal waters...

Another short walk at Cley brought us a sighting of a young reed bunting...

With family bbq's and games of cricket on the lawn back at our property the evenings were lively and fun.

On Wednesday we had a family sized boat booked for a few hours of cruising down on the Broads, departing from Wroxham was not too nerve shredding and the sedate pace was soon settled into.

With the girls to entertain and be helped as we all took turns at steering, I didn't get too many opportunities for wildlife photographs. When we moored for lunch however I found a quiet spot and an Egyptian goose near, formerly escapees they are now firmly established in the area..

Great crested grebes are numerous as were my attempts at getting photographs of them, this is one of the few to survive the editing!

A laughing cormorant was on hand to welcome us back from a great day on the waters as we successfully navigated back to Wroxham..

RSPB Titchwell was the chosen destination for Thursday and Friday, noted for water voles which we have never seen.

Prominent early on were black tailed godwits...

Avocets sweeping the shallow water for feed with their upturned bills...

A ruff....

Lapwings had been nearly every day, this was the best photograph I got of one...

Occasionally we saw goldfinch...

Spoonbills were present and seen but only at long distance, little egrets came much nearer though..

Spending time by the pond most noted for water voles we were visited by a splendid southern hawker...

And eventually as a reward for patience and persistence, or maybe just luck, a sweet little water vole appeared...

Apart from the small drama of a power cut back at the house which meant a hasty drive for a takeaway meal, the last day was as good as the others...a superb holiday and a safe drive home for us all. We brought back lots of photographs, these are a small sample and I hope you enjoy them.

Above all we brought back lots of brilliant memories and we will return to Norfolk.

Many thanks to all who read, don't forget if you do feel like adding a comment, they come to me first for approval.

13-18th July 2013, Getting used to something new!

Since I started my quest to improve my wildlife photography, both from a fieldcraft and photographic point of view, the question has lurked in the back of my mind...could I aspire to use some good quality DSLR equipment?

I have worked hard to develop my knowledge and fieldcraft, books and articles have been devoured and digested, and I have worked equally as hard on the technical aspects of photography. Joining a couple of forums where help and advice could be sought, and more importantly found, was really helpful and I have made some good friends. It was to a couple of them, names not necessary, that I turned to for advice when I decided to set a budget and do some internet exploring!

The advice was reassuring and the pointers towards suitable kit was remarkably similar, a short while later a large box was delivered and a new adventure begins!

A Canon 60d and a Canon 100-400mm IS lens are now my main photographic kit, the trusty SX40 will always be there for landscapes and longer zoom shots.

A period of trial and experiment is necessary, a cheap SLR I bought a couple of years ago in anticipation of this hastened things along though!

The journey begins in my Mum's garden and appropriately for me... a white rose :)

I decided to concentrate in areas I know well so that comparisons would be easy...so the canal towpath it was then!

A lovely moorhen...

And my favourite heron..

At this stage the camera and lens were on full auto settings and I was finding some difficulty coping with the near 4lb weight with hand held shots...

Another moorhen..

And heron..

A mallard mid splash!

A lovely swan paddled by giving the chance of a shot..

And a moorhen with chick..

And finally for the day a small tortoiseshell butterfly..

Some post walk reading allowed me the knowledge to manually set a couple of things on the camera (I won't bore you with the details) and how to use the lens to my best advantage.

Wharfedale the following day, the sun is shining and the woods are host to an invisible chorus of birdsong! Nothing will pose for my camera, occasional sightings as birds winged through the foliage only to disappear again...but I found a small copper butterfly..

And some splendid fungi..

Eventually a blackbird appeared...

And a black headed gull perched on a mid stream rock

I was working hard on better ways to hold the camera still...

I think this is a ringlet....

Sand martin chicks were spotted on a telephone wire....

And then a bonus as a lovely young dipper appeared, about 8ft below us down a sheer bank so not an ideal angle nonetheless beautiful :-)

Whenever possible I have been out for more practice....

Another canal walk...and a series of moorhen shots..

A couple of mallard reflections...

A daisy on our lawn...

And a lovely young blackbird with food..

We took a walk in the fields near home...

A dandelion..

A painted lady butterfly, not common evidently...

A wide open aperture gives a very narrow depth of field or focus giving a muted effect on all apart from the mallard in the foreground..

And finally in the last light of evening just the cutest duckling...

Many thanks to all of you who are following me through my photographic journey, I hope you enjoy the photographs even half as much as I enjoy taking them!

Don't forget that if you feel moved to add a comment, they come to me first for approval, can't be doing with all that Spam, Spam , Spam or worse can we!