It has been a busy week this week. Thursday threw me a 4am start to get to my old home county of Oxfordshire, where I spent most of the day at Bourton-on-the-Water. After the early start and long journey I wasn't as quick with the camera as I would of liked but I still got a few decent shots:
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| Southern Hawker Dragonfly (Female) |
The journey back was even longer with the M6 closure. However, it did let me try my hand at photographing red kites from a moving vehicle. Sadly, most of the shots were of passing lorries and the only one I did get was out of focus with too much movement from the car. But it's something to try an achieve next time!
The Saturday at Bickerton was a complete washout. With the thunderstorm the night before I was hoping the weather would be fair; but this is a British summer...the only thing that gets warmer is the rain!
Hiding under trees to spare the camera, there were still some pretty decent shots available:
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| Rainbow's End...I can confirm there is no gold! |
The ponies, like me, had taken refuge under some large birch trees and were grazing at the bracken. Well, most of them were, Sam had decided to try his hand at eating a thistle; no matter how daintily he tested the flower with his lips and teeth the thing was still prickly; and when the flower finally broke off in his mouth he decided better of it and spat the thing out.
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| Sam Testing the Thistle |
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| Taff |
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| Sam and Mist |
After checking all the ponies I turned to leave; however, Fflach had managed to sneak up behind me and was now asleep with no more than ten centimeters distance between us, it was lucky I had my camera lens pointing downwards to shield it from the rain or I may well have bopped her on the nose with it.
Although Taff and Fflach seem very accepting of me I really didn't think it was a good idea to be that close to a sleeping pony when any swift movement could startle her awake. So I backed off slowly and as quietly as I could to which Fflach only woke to switch her weight to different legs.
Needless to say that was a special day for me; to have the ponies move in that close was amazing and the fact that Fflach was comfortable enough to fall asleep with me so close was quite touching considering it's one of the rare vulnerabilities these animals have.
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| Fflach and Mist |
Sunday was especially busy. As it was my last weekend down in Chester I decided to take a trip to Delamere with Bickerton following afterward.
Delamere was also rainy but it cleared quickly allowing me to confidently use the camera without the risk of any damage. But I only managed a couple of shots before the rain clouds massed again, forcing me to find cover:
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| Buzzard |
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| Baby Toad |
By the time I arrived at Bickerton the rain had stopped and the sun was able to push through the clouds.
With the sunny weather butterflies were seen although were an unusually uncommon site, probably with the earlier unfavourable weather:
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| Small Copper Butterfly |
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| Tortoishell Butterfly |
The herd of six were yet again the only ponies I found on Bickerton. With the sun out they were all found dozing on an upland clearing allowing their coats to dry:
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| Sam |
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| Mist |
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| Ellie and Fflach |
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| Ellie and Fflach |
Taff and Shy were the only two not stretched out in the sunlight. Shy was too busy grazing on the fresh grass shoots that had been fed by the rain; while Taff stood, although sometimes dozing, gaurding the herd. When he saw me taking photos he came over to inspect; sniffing at my hands and at the camera, I was worried he might try to eat the camera strap again, but he soon turned round and went back to his guarding duty.
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| Taff Guarding the Herd |
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| Mist |
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| Mist, Fflach and Ellie |
This week was a good, although tiring, week. And with one final visit to Bickerton due on Wednesday it seems that next week is going to be even more interesting.
