Changing The Guard

With my lens back from Sigma I’ve been itching to get out again. I checked the met office forecast for this morning and it was looking good. I got up nice and early, made a flask of tea and set off. When I got to the car and saw the ice I knew it would be a few minutes before I could go anywhere. With the heaters on and a cup of tea, I sat listening to the birds waking up under the early morning moon light. The temperature outside was minus 4.

I was hoping I might find the Barn Owls before the sun came up and get an idea of where they were hunting. I’ve had a couple of tip offs from locals that they seem to hunting regularly where they were last winter. There is a spot along a hedge row where they hunt, where I can hide and they often fly right over my head.

Unfortunately this morning there was no sign of the Owls. Not long after first light a Buzzard swooped over the top of the car and landed in the field. It is extremely rare that I see the Barn Owls about when there is a Buzzard near by. I could also see two Kestrels on top of telegraph poles not far from me so I didn’t think I would see the Owls today.

A little way from the car I could see a male Pheasant sitting on a wooden gate. I thought it made quite a pretty shot and good opportunity to test the lens especially in such low light conditions. With iso 6400 set I still had very slow shutter speeds but I took a few shots as the Pheasant stretched up and flapped his wings. You can actually see the Pheasants breath in the shot.

I started to wonder if I could get high enough up the lane to achieve a shot of one of the Kestrels on the Telegraph pole with the beautiful orange glow of the sunrise behind. This was going to be difficult as I knew I would need to walk or drive past the Kestrels to get that side. I decided that by driving I would be least likely to spook the Kestrels and it worked. As I parked the car further up the lane I decided to take a couple of shots first in case he was easily spooked. I had just set up the camera when the Buzzard decided that it was time to change the guard and chased the Kestrel off the post and took his place on the pole.

It was a really beautiful morning with a rainbow of colours from the sunrise. I had a quick walk around to where the Hares were, but since the hedge laying course was done in the field they seem to have moved on.

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