An early start this morning to get to Eyesworth Pond in the New Forest to look for Mandarin Ducks to photo. A few about, but all hiding away in the shade. As soon as the sun came out, they all headed off and hid in the undergrowth on the island in the middle of the pond. But I managed to get a few photos...
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On a very grey damp day today, I played with my wireless shutter trigger and some remote flashes to photograph Bluetits in the garden. Mainly trying to work out how best to use it before I set up a better bird table arrangement. One example photo below.
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Spent yesterday afternoon at Bransbury Common near Andover. Surprisingly I'd never heard of it before given how close to home it is. A Hen Harrier, Great Grey Shrike, Short Eared Owls and 3 Barn Owls have all been seen there over the last week.
I arrived at midday. A male Hen Harrier was out hunting on and off for a couple of hours from 13:00. And the first Barn Owl appeared at about 14:00 with the second an hour later. All very distant, but good light so the photos are okayish - see below.
I also learnt of a near by tree in Mottisfont where Barn Owls regularly roost. I shall seek that out soon.
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For 2015, I'm not going to attempt a Yearlist. Instead, I'm going to focus on improving my photography and taking more "interesting" photos. So I have created this blog page which I'll be using to record the year.
For what it's worth, last year's "decent photo yearlist" was at exactly 140. Slightly higher if I include the rubbishy photos I got of other birds. 2014 ended quite nicely with some good shots of Dartford Warblers and Hawfinches. They didn't add to the yearlist, but I'm quite pleased with the results - see below.
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