Nature's Secret Larder - A Snowy Day's Work

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Bushcraft Blog

A Snowy Day's Work
5th February 2012

Where I’m based, in Essex (England) it has been pretty cold recently, cold for the south east anyway.  Last night, about 7pm it began snowing quite heavily.  It’s a very fine snow, the type that drifts easily, and is rather compact under foot.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the snow; in fact I prefer any weather than most people deem to be “horrible”.  If the sky is grey, or the wind is blowing hard with a touch of Jack Frost nipping the air, then that’s my type of weather. I prefer that to a hot summer’s day on just about any occasion.

I decided to try and get a few snowy scene shots with my camera, but I really don’t have the correct lens at the moment, so instead I opened the upstairs windows so that I could try to capture a robin Erithacus rubecula in the snow, for use on some Christmas cards I plan to have printed this year.

I spent an hour or two waiting around, windows wide open with a 600mm lens poking over the window ledge – god knows what the neighbours thought! I had some great opportunities, but each time there was something in the way, a stray branch or poor background.  Due to being constricted to the width of a small window I was very limited with movement, so I had to be patient and wait for an opportunity to arise, which it did on two occasions.  A blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus decided to feed in a patch of snow resting on a conifer tree, but as soon as it did someone decided to shout out loud, and that was the end of that!

So, I waited a bit longer, until I had the chance of getting a robin shot, which did eventually come, but sods law, it was perched up too high for there to be any snow in the shot!

I didn’t managed to get anything great, as, by this time the light was poor, and I decided to pack up for the day.  I won’t be able to use any of the images I did capture, but I’ve included a few here for you to have a look at anyway.

 

Robin

Robin

Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs



Catch you on the trail
Kris


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