Nearly but not quite

Someone very wise once said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It’s true, and that’s what we do as wildlife photographers. We visit the same spot again and again, hoping for that one moment when it all comes together. The light, the subject – we wait for that one moment. Well that’s what I’ve been doing for several weeks now. Waiting on the Fen, for a special subject. This morning was a beautiful frosty start to the day, the first thing I see slinking through the crystallised grass is a Fox, sleek and handsome he stares at me when I squeak, and then bounces away as I try to turn the camera towards him. The frozen ground crunches underfoot, and the first golden light pours over the glistening white frost. The hedge is full of chattering Fieldfares, a pair of Swans glide overhead and two of the resident Roe deer watch shyly as I walk by.

Great reedmace, Typha latifoli, Bulrush, frost, Winter, Suffolk, December

 

Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, covered in frost, Winter, December, Suffolk

 

I reach the spot and wait, an hour or maybe two goes by with nothing but the most fleeting of glimpses. I move on, and then there,  a movement. Two more, quite close, a flutter, a whistle, they flit on the top of the reeds, the birds I’ve been trying to photograph for weeks.

 

Beardedtit061214DM1895

Bearded tits. Not very well named really, they’re not a member of the tit family, and the male wears a rather dapper moustache rather than a beard. Anyway, they are special little birds, a regular, though elusive Winter visitor to the Fen. So here’s my nearly but not quite photo, they decided to perch momentarily on the same reed, meaning I couldn’t get both in focus, then they moved down into the reeds to feed, not allowing any other chances to get a clear view. Nearly, but not quite. I’ll keep trying!

 

(Click images to view larger…)

If you like what you see, please consider sharing![social_share/]

BOB_Avatar

 

 

 

 

 

UK & Eire Natural History Bloggers

Current favourite books, click for more info:




 

Similar Posts

  • To the Sea

    The coast in winter, the roar of the sea, beauty and ferocity. Wind whipped sea foam sparkling in the weak sun, the fizz of waves pouring over pebbles. A twittering from small birds dashing away from the rising tide. I visited the most easterly point in the UK, Ness Point in Lowestoft, in search of…

  • A Very Hungry Caterpillar

    Firstly, apologies again for the blog silence. A number of things have been holding me back recently, not least a bad shoulder injury. (Think: a dog, on lead, and a rabbit, with ‘Carry on dog walking’ style falling over due to the lead wrapped round my legs, all followed by a three hour visit to…

  • This Weekend

    I’ve not had very much chance to get out with the camera of late, and this weekend wasn’t much better either! With the dull weather I decided to do some work in the garden, and as I was sowing some seeds all the Woodpigeons in the hedgerow scattered, and the small birds dived for cover….

  • Yellow and Green

    Oh the exquisite British Summer, hot, sunny and humid for a week or two then back to the dreary drizzle of rain. The slugs in my garden are alarmingly huge this year, and they have eaten their way through most of my bee friendly flowers, but the little patch of Golden Rod I’ve left is…

  • The Littlest Dragon

    Ok, I admit it. Lizards. My favourite species to photograph. Don’t get me wrong, I love the hares and the barn owls too, but lizards, so full of character, so fascinating in their little macro world. It absorbs me, my attention, I could spend hours watching, yet to me feels like barely a few minutes….

  • Happy New Year!

    Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! It’s been a while since I last posted here, I’ve taken a sort of sabbatical from photography since September, work and life has been such a whirlwind. But, it’s a new year, and this year is my year. My time to enjoy doing what I love. Last…

2 Comments

  1. Cracking photos Dawn, to get a pic of one bearded tit is pretty good, but two together, a double whammy! You must have been frozen it was certainly a hard frost on Saturday morning.

Leave a Reply