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

  • Peek-a-boo

    Over the Fen this morning, couldn’t resist photographing this little rabbit as he peeked out of his burrow at me. Sunshine and showers kept the Sedge and Reed warblers hiding low in the vegetation, but the Cuckoo was still singing away. Five Roe deer were very camera shy, only the rabbits would let me photograph…

  • Merry Christmas!

      Wishing all my subscribers and readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you all for your continued support over the past year, I truly appreciate it. Plenty to look forward to next year – Project Turtle Dove is well under way – despite the awful weather the weeds have started…

  • Conservation Pony

    Had a day off today, so was determined to go out somewhere, despite the dull conditions. Decided to visit Redgrave and Lopham Fen, which is probably my nearest nature reserve. Didn’t see too much, a couple of Muntjac deer, and some Reed Buntings. The hardy Konik ponies are used to graze the fen, helping to…

  • The King of the River

    The Norfolk Broads, a watery wonderland that has to be one of my favourite places. At dawn and dusk it’s a magical wild world, that huge Norfolk sky reflected in the mirror still surface of the river, giving you the impression of being held suspended in an infinite space, immersed in the bluest sky, surrounded…

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