Photographing Quicksilver, a little time with Swifts

Sunday and with a decidedly chilly weather forecast we decide on a family walk along the landward side of the pines between Holkham and Burnham Overy Staithe. Part mobile football match, part birdwatch and part picnic we make our way along a surprisingly quiet path heading west from Lady Anne's Drive.

Female Wheatear, Burnham Overy Dunes

I didn't have any great birdy expectations apart from getting to add Spoonbill to my year list and sure enough we saw a number of these around the Cormorant colony as expected. The only other year tick was a Greenshank that I picked up as it called as it flew over whilst we had our picnic in the dunes.

Male Wheatear, Burnham Overy Dunes

The dunes didn't hold any Ring Ousels that I could find and in the cold northerly wind migrants were thin on the ground so two or three Wheatear's were nice to see and included a very tame female that allowed me to shuffle within a couple of metres of her.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

As we walked on the landward side of the seawall back towards Burnham Overy Staithe, large numbers of Swifts buzzed around our heads and I got sucked into one of my favourite summer pastimes trying to photograph Quicksilver aka as Swift photography. I really didn't have the right kit with me a ten year old EOS 400D body and an even older Canon  100 - 300 mm 1; 4.5-5.6 lens the auto focus on which wheezed slowly in and out far more slowly than the Swifts moved through the sky which made the already tricky task of photographing them much harder.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

Nonetheless I had a great time, Swifts are such charismatic birds and so unpredictable in flight, just when you think that you that you and your camera have finally focused on one, it does a sudden shimmy and is gone. One eagerly anticipated moment when photographing Swifts, never guaranteed and never predictable, is when one fly's so close to your face that you can hear the rush of air through its wings and for a second you wonder if its wing brushes against you, will slice your ear off.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

I took lots of shots, most were out of focus, but one or two were OK as record shots and I have shared a few here.

Swift, Burham Overy Staithe

Whilst waiting for the Swifts this male Kestrel worked its way down the sea bank and for a moment or two was almost directly overhead an din good light. A very pleasant twenty minutes.

Blickling Hall Bluebell Walk

Over the past few weeks it became clear from my social media accounts that across the south of the UK the display in Bluebell woods was peaking and with a early May Bank Holiday weekend free we decided to take the family to the National Trusts Blickling Estate to see the carpets of Bluebells in the woods there.

Bluebells at Blickling Hall, Norfolk

On arrival we managed to squeeze into the last parking space in the woodland car park and join a steady stream of families heading up the hill into the woods. Birdsong was a little muted but in the distance I could hear a Nuthatch and there were some very vocal Blackcap's and Chiff Chaffs around the trail.

I'd taken a couple of cameras with me and within minutes our two young boys had taken these off me so that they could join in with the other visitors to the woods in a orgy of  Bluebell Photography and selfie taking. Our fellow Bluebell Pilgrims displayed the full range of camera kit from mobile phones through tablets to full blown DSLR's.

Bluebell photography at Blickling Hall, Norfolk

There are some natural phenomena which seem to drag the great British public out in their droves, in Norfolk early Spring Snowdrop walks are a big thing at places like Walsingham Abbey and are a great way of having a gentle stroll in the countryside perhaps bookmarked by Coffee and cake. A couple of months later come the Bluebell's more nice walks with family and friends and of course more refreshments.

Bluebell walk at Blickling Hall, Norfolk

The Bluebells at Blickling were at their peak all were open and none that I could see had yet started to turn over, amongst them were the odd spots of pink from Red Campion flowers and a thin splash of white where a clump of Wild Garlic grew along the side of a ditch.

Bluebells at Blickling Hall, Norfolk

Bluebells are a feature of our woods as I understand a combination of our mild  Atlantic climate and a removal of some natural processes such as Wild Boar rooting for bulbs has allowed the carpets that we see today to flourish. I wonder if anyone has noticed a change to the display of Bluebells where Wild Boar have made a welcome return to our woods in places such as the Forest of Dean? Other threats are introduced Spanish Bluebells hybridising with out native Bluebells and climate change impacting on the conditions that they need to thrive.

Bluebells at Blickling Hall, Norfolk

We ended our walk by driving the short distance round to the main Blickling Hall car park and walked down to the edge of the lake for a picnic tea. All in all a pleasant afternoon.