Jurassic Bowl

This bowl was turned from a piece of stone found at a beach in Dorset which, is known for its a rich  history of Jurassic fossils and geology.

Chill Time

My work load at the moment seems to grow likes a volcano, ok a bit dramatic I know but I am bloody busy and seem to all of a sudden have orders, articles, commissions, etc coming from all directions. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, I would rather be feeling the pressure of having too much work than not enough. It does mean however that I have to balance what I am doing, like everyone I guess, but I refuse to get fully back onto the treadmill as my work and family is a way of life and I am damned if the materialistic trappings of modern society are going to get the hooks back into me. 

So being self employed, when I feel the strain, I down tools , grab the camera, whistle the dog and walk out of my home into the fields and woods. Ok, I lose some money by taking time out, but hey it's a material and as long as I have enough to pay the bills,  life is just too good to miss.

Here are some pictures taken during my hour chill time. A young Robin pictured at the tp sat patiently waiting for me to get a good picture. He was high up in a tree and the camera was on 35 x optical zoom, so I was surprised when I got home and processed the pictures to find it came out so well.

The other pictures are of various flowers etc along the way.

Time to fly

Well today I looked out of my window to see if there was any movement in the nest and it appeared to be empty. So I decided to go outside to carefully look and sure enough it was empty, however the adult male wasn't far away with worms in his mouth so I started to retreat slowly and down on the floor only a foot away from me was one of the young birds, I then noticed one of the other younglings sat on a branch just inside of the bush looking straight at me.

So I left them be and managed to get some photos of them as I believe it will be the last time I will see them as they are ready to fly off on their own journey of life.

Here are what I think the last few pictures of these Blackbirds I will get, it has been wonderful being able to watch them grow and for them to get use to me enough, albeit from my window to be able to photograph them.

Now I have to put a DLSR camera and 400mm zoom lens on my Christmas list.

Growing fast

It is astounding how fast the blackbird chicks are growing. There are far from I can see three in total which are being fed now by both the mother and father on shifts. It is amazing how fast they are growing, but then I guess if it took them 18yrs to fly the nest the bird population would somewhat decline.

The picture here was taken today, after a bit more research into this sort of photography I have managed to get a sharper more defined picture. It is amazing how useful instruction manuals can be :-).

Black bird update

Chicks quiet and hunkered down waiting for mother to return. It is amazing how camouflaged they are, of course they are as it is their defense but nature never fails to amaze me. 

The black birds nesting at the front of my house have hatched and are growing fast. I have managed to set up my camera inside of the house and by using the 35 x optical zoom I am able to sit some distance away to take pictures of the chicks development. Although I am within the house with the lens being set up to protrude through a gap in the wooden blinds, the parent birds are all too aware of my movement, although they seem little concerned, or even the vehicles and people that move closely by their home. Instead they sit nearby with beaks full of worms waiting for their moment to return and feed. 

These pictures are grainy and of a fairly low quality as the iso due to the darkness within the bush where the birds have nested has been set at 1600 with the use of the zoom compounding the problem with regards to any movement, but being able to watch the progress at all is a privilege

Movement before mother returns

The feeding frenzy 

Mother settling down and is aware of my presence.

  

Hawthorne

A selection of some of the many pictures taken today while out walking today, some lovely textures and forms to work with.

As above, Hawthorne.

Ornamental Cherry