In the Valley

I spent an hour or so this afternoon in Sheepcote Valley and there are actually some sheep there at the moment. The local council use them to manage the vegetation. They're dotted in the distance in this shot, but won't be around for more than a few weeks before being moved to (low-grade) pastures new.

We were blessed with some blue skies, and precious little wind. The trails of the aircraft overhead were standing out brightly against the sky.

The weather to the south didn't look quite so promising. Plenty of cloud and what looks suspiciously like a mini tornado :yikes: It's taken from a distance and was probably high over the sea.

In the east, the moon was rising.

And to the west, as the sun was setting, the starlings were flocking.

Of the little wildlife I did see, this blue tit provided the best photo.

There was one other sighting of note. As I was leaving, and as the light had all but vanished, perched on a low branch over looking the scrub I spotted a male kestrel. Always nice to have kestrels back on the blog 😉


Nature Blog Network
site stats
Camera note: the first two shots were taken with the Canon 7D and EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens. The rest were all taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

Tags: , , , , ,

This Post Has 12 Comments

  1. derWandersmann

    8 Jan 2012

    Good job.
    How ever did you get the flocking starlings? Manual focus?

  2. claudeb

    8 Jan 2012

    Of course, if you can spot the kestrel, he can spot you too… Fun!

  3. serola

    8 Jan 2012

    Nice and interesting set of shots :up:

  4. cakkleberrylane

    8 Jan 2012

    Very nice variety of shots. The rising moon with the sheep is really beautiful.

  5. Words

    8 Jan 2012

    Sami, thanks.

  6. Words

    8 Jan 2012

    dW, the starlings aren't quite in focus bu they are far enough away not to matter too much. I was tracking them with the AF but I do sometimes manually adjust.

  7. Words

    8 Jan 2012

    Lois, I love the moon when it's low in the sky like that. I took some shots with the sheep in focus, but preferred this one in the end.

  8. Words

    8 Jan 2012

    Felix, the local kestrels are usually very cooperative with the camera, especially the males for some reason.

  9. claudeb

    9 Jan 2012

    Well, kestrels are predators, aren't they? Predators are smart by definition, and smart equals curious.

  10. Words

    9 Jan 2012

    Felix, they are among my favourites, especially when I'm lucky enough to see this.

  11. SittingFox

    11 Jan 2012

    That cloud doesn't look at all friendly :eyes:

  12. Words

    11 Jan 2012

    Adele, we get quite a few come in over the sea, but it's the first time I've seen one. It was quite a way off so no harm done.

Comments are closed.

Close Menu