Springtime in London

[CVP]

Well it's officially spring now. Much of the wildlife is waking up. Following 406's ladybirds getting it on I thought I'd post our output for the weekend.

1. Holland Park
we went here trying to get a good image of the wild black rabbits but they are very shy at the mo. However we were almost mugged by this little chap who was incredibly bold.




We also managed to "rescue" this toad from the middle of the path where he had just been run over someone pushing one of those 4*4 prams who simply didn't see him soaking up the sun. Moved him to a nice patch of sunlight and couldn't help but get some pictures



2. WWT Barnes
Definitely the highlight of the weekend. One of our favourite locations and one of my favourite subjects. This was one of those times when it all came right



and closely followed by



Quite how he swallowed such a sized fish is amazing. This bird carried on fishing and we saw it get another fish. Unfortunately this time I was cursed by technology with battery failure. In another few minutes the bird had flown off but it was a great spectacle as it went on.

These are all compressed down for the web, the originals are lovely at full A4 print size.

Chris

[Phil S]

I can't see the pictures!

[GetCarter]

Excellent work Chris. Next time you, the Porker and the camera are up in the Highlands, give us a shout.

..and if you ain't there... WHY NOT?

Steve

[docevi1]

thats them working now

very nice they are to! You say this was in London, quite surprising that wildlife like this exists in there to be honest

>> Edited by docevi1 on Monday 4th April 19:26

[V6GTO]

Chris,
Great shots! I love the heron eating the perch, but my fave has to be the toad...he looks totally stoned!

Martin.

[BrianThePirate]

Very nice pics mate.

How many tries it take u to get the pelican pics down?
Still trying to decide which one is my fav. And that frog def looks stoned.

[simpo two]

Squirrel 2 is great, and the way you Photoshopped that fish on the pelican is amazing One super shot and one good lucky one!

NB If you want bold squirrels try Colchester Castle Park; they'll probably eat out of your hand (thogh I've never had suitable food so can't prove it). Fat buggers they are too!

[mrs fish]

excellent pics

[V6GTO]

docevi1 said:

You say this was in London, quite surprising that wildlife like this exists in there to be honest

Barnes wetlands and wildlife park is a little oasis, but London isn't as bad as most people imagine.(Says the man who's just left for Spain!)

Martin.

[Paul.B]

Superb pictures! That Perch in the Herons mouth is amazing. What lens were you using over what sort of distance? The detail is stunning.

Paul.B

[CVP]

Paul.B said:

Superb pictures! That Perch in the Herons mouth is amazing. What lens were you using over what sort of distance? The detail is stunning. Paul.B

Cheers for the kind comments folks. It's an amazing thing to watch and luckily enough I got captured it too, but just seeing it was great.

Camera is my D100.

Lens for all heron & squirrel images is a lovely 300mm f2.8 AFS Nikkor that I treated myself to secondhand form Grays. The outside is a little battered but optically it's ace. It's a br to hand hold so mainly it's on a tripod with a fluid head held on loosely so I can pan and tilt but don't take the weight.

For the squirrel on the tree I was handholding but leaning against a tree to minimise camera shake. For both ther heron images I didn't have time to use the tripod so I was resting on a nearby clump of grass.

The toad was shot on a 105mm macro. Despite looking stoned he was quite active. One of the pieces of advice I have been given is alwyas to try and see things from the animal's point of view. For Me toad of course this meant me lying down full length in the leaf litter with Mr Toad walking slowly towards me. I
always shoot in aperture prioity mode and I think Mr Toad was about f11 and a shutter speed of roundabout 1/60th.

Re wildlife in London - you'd be amazed what is out and about.
Holland Park has the rabbits and squirrels plus the occasional toad
Hampstead Heath has lots of animals including reptiles
Richmond Park - deer are the main attraction
WWT Barnes - lots of herons turn up here, plus snipe, water rails, toads, lapwings, sand martins etc. It really is a little oasis and very accessible. You can get really close to many of the birds by just being a little patient.
Thames between Kingston and Hampton Court - Ring Necked Parakeets nest here and are now native to the UK.

I must try and take some good ones of the Porker but it'll be a long time if I'm ever up to the skills of messers Trackdemon and Gravymaster on the car front, they both very skilled photographers.

BTW if you are are the WWT and see a bloke a little like Chris Evans carrying a Nikon with monster lens say hi as it'll probably be me

Sorry for the long post - much to say.

Chris