Rural idyll

Peeping through the treetops is the parish church at Aldwincle, the village nearest to the Titchmarsh nature reserve. The pair of Mute Swans obligingly gave me an interesting middle-ground.

I stopped this one down to f/14 to get better depth of focus.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 40mm, 1/200 sec at f/14, ISO 320

Marsh Warbler

We had a slightly frustrating time at the Titchmarsh bird hide. The only birds close to us were warblers well hidden in the reed beds. I got a couple of blurred and partially obscured shots. But as we were leaving the hide to walk back, we could hear this fellow singing in the undergrowth, and I managed a quick shot before he saw us. By the heavy eye stripes, this is a Marsh Warbler.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/500 sec at f/9, ISO 320

Catch of the day

This Common Tern was fishing in the lakes and streams at Titchmarsh. And it was obviously finding success!

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/4000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 320

Is it a Swift? No, it's a Hobby!

A visit today to Fowlmere RSPB reserve. At one point, I was trying to catch a good shot of Swifts in flight, low over the lake at the Reed Bed Hide. I tracked this one and got off just the one shot, thinking "That was a large Swift." Checking the LCD screen, I realised that was no Swift, that was a Hobby! What a piece of luck.

BTW I thought for a while this was a Peregrine Falcon, from the face markings, before we realised that Hobbies have much the same markings, and were far more likely in this area.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/1250 sec at f/7.1, ISO 3200

House Martin

The House Martins were out in force at Titchmarsh, flying low as temperatures started to fall in the evening and their insect prey descended. Their delightful chatter was the background music on our walk.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 320

Buzzard over Titchmarsh

We visited Titchmarsh lakes for the first time recently. It's just off the A14 near Corby. This Buzzard went gliding by as we were walking round to the hides.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/2600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 320

Common Tern

This lovely Tern was fishing at Stanwick Lakes in Northants.

Canon 60D with Canon EF-S 18-200mm at 200mm, 1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 320