Saturday 3 September 2016

SPLASH!!!

Now that WAS an interesting month... It all started so well - I managed to make the trip up to my favourite Nature Reserve of all - Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire (I was a resident volunteer warden here back in the 1990's) and have an affinity with the place; great sand dunes, salt marsh and scrub - most importantly some very good friends... Leaving home at 3:30 so as to ensure I arrived at dawn I was greeted by a wonderful sunrise over the freshwater mere...







The walk down Mill Pond Road hadn't changed... but the first highlight came when I noticed a waving figure on Mill Hill - turned out to be a very good friend and fellow birder...last time I saw Nige I think was when a load of us went on holiday together to Greece 16 years ago!!! I can't tell you how good it was to see the fella and count some swifts on visible migration... We were soon joined by the warden Kev who along with his wife Sam are also very valued and much loved friends - a great hour was spent chatting about this and that - a fine start to the day...




Swift on passage beneath the off-shore wind farm...




Large flock of waders fly-by the wind farm...




Recent flooding of the reserve has resulted in the rebuilding of the visitor centre and the demolition of the accommodation block. The old coast guard station remains... A decent job has been done but it doesn't have quite the same feel as the old place...









Love this place...



On the shingle around the coast guard station is a colony of henbane - one of the most poisonous plants in the UK...






The weather station - daily data collected from here and sent to the Met Office - also one of the best places to see migrants - first wheatear of the year always seemed to show up on the fence...




Old saltmarsh with main creek - the creeks are inundated by the tide everyday and during high tides they overtop and flood into the marsh - adding through the process of accretion to the silt content...



The old saltmarsh grades into a dune slack - although more protected from the tides by elevation the influence of the salt is still in evidence with the ground flora dominated by halophytes including sea lavender, sea aster and scurvy-grass.



Ringing hut - near the Heligoland traps and mist nets in ringing hollow this is where captured birds are processed and ringed before release... many species have passed through here during the years...





Access steps over the dunes...rebuilt during my time here and providing access for the general public to appreciate the whole reserve...



 An invertebrates delight - rough grassland with ragwort and scattered scrub...

After lunch with Kev and Sam I jumped back into the Saab and headed north for a few days in Scarborough with my folks...














The weather wasn't so good up north but I did manage some decent sunrise images using the harbour and lighthouse to add interest...my favourite is just the sea however...

Now comes the not so good bit...Lucy had taken Quinn to Vienna for a few days, and waking up one morning back at home I decided to take a trip out onto the fen at sunrise for some landscape and wildlife shots... so here is the picture... early morning, no one knows where I am... I have walked a couple of miles from the road... no one in sight... I'm happy... in my element capturing wildlife on my lovely Nikon D3 with either my 20mm or 105mm lenses.  Standing on the bank of a river I'm trying to get a shot of flowering rush... (I'd seen it there before but on that occasion hadn't had the right lens). As I stood there - the bank gave way beneath my feet...and I fell straight down...into the river. Up to my shoulders in river water...camera and bag submerged. It took a while for me to scramble back up the bank. iPhone in my pocket also soaked...



Struggling home and changing I put the sorry gear on the garden table to dry... the last picture?



So - a phone call to the insurers and a form filled in... the pay out wasn't enough to replace all for new and I sent off the gear to Nikon UK for a free evaluation (advantage of being a Pro user).  After the insurance paid out I ordered a replacement body - this time a D3X - more mega-pixels...better quality images (more on that later). The thing about the insurance claim that I found interesting was that they seemed more concerned about paying out for the iPhone than the camera and lenses. They accepted the image of the damaged cameras, but needed to inspect the phone... the pay out would have been delayed whilst they checked the phone... an old iPhone 4S... I just removed it from the claim... found one on Amazon and bought that...

So, the D3X arrived from my favourite supplier - Ffordes in Scotland - and for a body nearly 6 years old it was in perfect condition... number of actuations 10,000 which is absolutely nothing for a pro body... once I had sorted out the settings the quality of the pictures are amazing...




 This is the first test shot with the D3X plus my Nikkor 300mm f4 AFS telephoto lens...love those colours and clarity...

Now all I was missing was a couple of lenses... Now I have a pro wide-angle zoom (Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8) which I will use to replace the 20mm prime but I was sorely missing the 105mm macro. After some searching on line I found my dream lens... the Nikon 200mm - or more accurately AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f4D IF-ED. Only about 12,000 of these lenses have been made since its introduction in 1992 and very expensive... After some considered thought I decided not to have the 105mm repaired should it be necessary and replace it with the 200mm... That duly arrived and THAT is gorgeous, just lovely glass... sharp as a tack and contrast to justify it's stellar reputation...



Common darter in the garden... D3X + Nikkor 200mm f4 macro

The final chapter in the "fall in the river" saga concerns Nikon UK's verdict on my damaged gear. The D3 and the 20mm are beyond economic repair...too much water ingress, so they were scrapped. The 105mm needed a new AF unit and although the price wasn't that high I decided at this stage not to have it repaired and asked for it to be returned. When it arrived I tried it out - it works like a charm... aperture and AF linkage is perfect and the glass produces the same sharp, contrasty images...




Hoverfly on evening primrose - D3X + Nikkor 105mm f2.8 macro...

So, after all that I have come out with a better camera and a brilliant new lens...

And what else? Well I haven't been able to get out that much due to Summer Holiday commitments and varying family things... For the wildlife people out there I managed a new dragonfly species for me in the UK, namely willow emerald damselfly...



Always fun to see a new species...

The garden continues to supply decent photo opportunities - especially invertebrates...




















But more interestingly was the appearance of a bank vole regularly visiting the pond and munching away on some marginal plants... he gave me some great shots...













The new 200mm came in very handy for those shots...

So now it turns to September...autumn is arriving quickly and soon the heat from the sun will lessen, leaves will change and species will start to prepare for the oncoming winter... I shall continue to learn and try new techniques - several in the pipeline for the coming autumn so keep your eyes open for new images...

You can buy any images from me direct or via the agency - my portfolio is available via this link...plus of course Facebook...

I shall return next month with tales of Fall...

TTFN