{"id":1454,"date":"2009-08-09T23:08:57","date_gmt":"2009-08-09T22:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/archives\/1454"},"modified":"2013-11-13T21:15:07","modified_gmt":"2013-11-13T21:15:07","slug":"there-once-was-an-ugly-duckling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/there-once-was-an-ugly-duckling\/","title":{"rendered":"There Once Was an Ugly Duckling…"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

We spent yesterday at Wakehurst Place. It's always a good spot for an easy day out with the camera. The lake and ponds ensure there's always some wildlife to see, and the gardens and woodland walks are spectacular. The stars were undoubtedly the ducklings (not an ugly one in sight \ud83d\ude09 ), but there were a few surprises as well.<\/p>\n

\"duckling\"One duckling<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"duckling\"Two ducklings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"duckling\"Five ducklings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"duckling\"Eight ducklings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Those were taken mainly by the ornamental pond near the front of the gardens. There were also pheasants (Mr<\/a> and Mrs<\/a>), and down in the bird hide at the bottom of the valley, overlooking one of the lakes, what was for me a relatively rare sighting of some grey wagtails<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was towards the latter part of the visit, when we had returned for a 'last look' at the ducklings that the big surprise revealed itself. I was watching the young moorhens hopping across the lily pads. I took this shot, and as I did I noticed something interesting, but out of focus, in the foreground.<\/p>\n

\"youngYoung moorhen<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I refocused and got this. <\/p>\n

\"grassGrass snake<\/span><\/a>
Yes, it's a grass snake. I only managed a couple of frames before the moorhen, with the true curiosity of the young, took a quick peck at it and watched the snake slide into the safety of the water. I hadn't realized that they were good swimmers (they are), and often to be found near water. I do now!<\/p>\n

Lastly, here's a short tutorial on how to approach a hedgehog. I had a young helper with me to demonstrate :whistle:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/span>
\"Nature<\/a><\/span>
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 400mm f\/5.6L USM lens.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[427,989],"tags":[566,1128,1168,1178,567],"class_list":["post-1454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-snake","category-water-birds-birds-2","tag-duckings","tag-fox","tag-hedgehog","tag-snake","tag-wakehust-place","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t