Little before 10.30 hrs, this morning, whilst sat at the laptop perusing the usual stuff that passes for entertainment in my little world, a flock of birds whizzing over the field beyond our garden boundary caught my eye. I grabbed my binos and rushed outside, just in time to watch a small bunch of Golden Plovers pitch down onto the field some 600m to the north. Knowing that they wouldn't hang around for too long, due to dog walkers, I grabbed my camera and took a quick stroll to see if I could get a record shot, or two? With the sun shining brightly, I was very happy to spot them almost immediately, out on the recently sown stubble.
As I made my way around the field perimeter, in order to get a better angle for the light conditions, I stumbled across a lone Stonechat flicking around the hedgerow vegetation. A really nice bonus, I quickly rattled off a few shots, before continuing on my mission. The plovers were always a bit distant, but I did my best and, as predicted, it wasn't long before they were airbourne, due to a couple of dogs charging about the adjacent footpath. It wasn't a deliberate, or malicious, situation which caused the disturbance, just an everyday occurrence which the eleven Golden Plovers had dropped into. I rattled off some flight shots which, for me, aren't too shabby. A nice outcome from this chance encounter, Goldies not being annual visitors to my Newlands Farm patch.
No fishing now, until after Christmas. So much to do and the weather forecast does nothing to inspire me to find a window of opportunity. Fortunately, the majority of the shopping chores have been done and it's just those few last minute bits which need seeing to. This next week will see a round of socializing and present drops - happy days!
No comments:
Post a Comment