Long weekend up to lovely Yorkshire. Bright sunny day all the way up and the M1 was kind. Got there in plenty of time for N to potter of to the school play whilst I babysat. An eventful afternoon involving one small child launching herself down the stairs (swiftly distracted courtesy of “Room on the Broom”) and a cat fight in the garden. On Friday we refused to let a very misty morn disuage us and matched off around a local reservoir (not that we could see said reservoir). Home made curry for tea & then on Saturday off for a brighter but muddy walk around another reservoir. Home made pizza and tiramisu for tea (decadence on a stick & no mistake) and a round of the really nasty Golf Game. I have not made that name up. Early start & back home via the delights of Costco. Birds: canada geese, blackbird, pheasant, tits, redwing, kestrel, greylag, woodpigeon, mute swan, magpie, buzzard, robin, starling, missel thush, pied wagtail, gold finch, jay, mallard, chaffinch, coot, little grebe, common gull, black headed gull, red kite (must be back in Bucks!)
|
|
||
|
Walked from the NT car park towards Incombe Hole (where a Ring Ouzel had been reported which we failed to find) , and saw Whitethroat and Willow Warbler, spring is definitely here. Went back to Helen’s folks for coffee and cake, then saw the start of the Grand Prix. After the Grand Prix we headed out on the bikes to a small nature reserve nearby where there are lots of butterflies. Today we have seen Small White, Large White, Green Hairstreak, Peacock, Tortoise Shell, Spotted Wood, Brimstone, Orange Top, and Comma which is a good start to our butterfly list. The Independent is running a promotion where you can get a butterfly chart. Goto http://www.independent.co.uk/promo-offers enter your details and a the promotion code BUTTERFLIES, and they will send you the chart. Stop Press — The Woolpack burnt down over night see the link http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/Police-close-road-in-Stoke.5206829.jp
Got the train from Hemel to Euston (where they were filming in the departure hall, big cameras looks like they had real film in them) and then a bus to Exhibition Road. Quick look round the Formula One bit of the Science Museum then decided it was too crowded and headed off back to the Photographers Gallery in it’s new location just off Oxford Street. Before finding the exhibition we had lunch at Apostrophe which sells French stuff, I had a Marseille (Tuna, Mayo, Green Beans), Helen had Paris (Avocado, Tomatoes and Parmesan), not sure how that is Paris but there you go. The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2009 quite good a mixed bag of photo’s from the 70′s to date. Next we headed on down to the Frith Street Gallery, which took some finding as it is 15 minutes walk from Frith Street in Golden Square! Some great photos’s of the London landscape, many pictures had both urban concrete and nature in the same frame.
We are treating Helen’s parents to a weekend away, the pub at Eastbridge is just the ticket. Arrived at around 7:00 on Friday. Had breakfast the headed off towards Dunwich Heath. Weather showers which seemed to be showering when we were walking. After a tea break at the coast guard cottages we headed off round the hides of Minsmere. Late lunch at the visitors centre, I had the lovely spinach bake. Quick trip to Southwold for the papers then a rest and into the pub for a well earned beer.
Blackbird, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Mute Swan, Greylag, Mallard, Moorhen, Goldcrest, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Carrion Crow, Stonechat, Kestrel, Cormorant, LBB Gull, Red-throated Diver, Black-headed Gull, Gadwall, Black Tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Avocet, Little Egret, Cormorant, Marsh Harrier, Shelduck, Herring Gull, Coot, Lapwing, Meadow Pipit, Wigeon, Shoveler, Knot, Oystercatcher, Jay, Coal Tit, Jackdaw, Rook, Snipe, Starling, Curlew, Pheasant.
Another great day, so went for a walk round Dancersend, the same walk I did a couple of weeks ago but the other way round, which is a better way to do it. Wood Pigeon, Pheasant, Rook, Blue Tit, Magpie, Jay, Chaffinch, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Red Kite, Yellowhammer, Black-headed Gull, Robin (13). Yellowhammers seem to stay where they are, again today I saw them when I had seem them before.
I now have a Flickr account. Below is a sample entry, basically you can insert a Flickr set into a post. Here is a group of photos mainly fungi taken on a holiday during October 2007. 
HDR is a photographic technique that uses several bracketed images to extract and use a bigger range of luminance than would be available in a single shot. Here is a wikipeida link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging. Also here is an embeded picture in Flickr |
||
|
Copyright © 2010 Neil Baldwin's personal blog - All Rights Reserved |
||
