I should be talking about the demise of the Conservative Party as we have known it this morning. Everyone else is.
I could be watching some hopeless party spokesperson wittering on about the poverty of their political offer on the morning's politics shows.
Or, I could be looking at some images taken last night during an evening walk at the Kingfisher Bridge Nature Reserve and its immediate environs.
There were three of us on the walk, me, my son Thomas who is working with me on the video project and my wife.
Thomas was using a Sont RX10 camera with a lens of up to 600mm. I was using the Sony A7iv we are now using to make videos - because learning about it is a key part of that project. I had a maximum focal length of 70mm.
Thomas went for birds in the evening light. This is a chiff-chaff:
A kestrel was looking for its last meal of the day:
A little egret was heading to its roost - which is not on this site.
He also filmed this footage of cows on the banks of the River Cam in ate evening light from a drone:
I can't work out what the use of a drone is for our work as yet - so this is definitely his. He may persuade me.
Meanwhile, I went for plantlife:
And this cow parsley (and I am pushing my luck on enlargement here, and don't care, because this supposed weed is stunning):
At the end of the evening, there was this shot asking to be taken:
It was a beautiful evening, made better by the cafe being open until late.
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Lovely photos.
I never thought of cow parsley as a weed when, as a child, together with my mum, I spent many happy weekends visiting and caring for my grandfather who – on the eve of WW1 – had retired to the country on the edge of the Wyre Forest (Worcs), where I first experienced the joys of nature and especially the plant life which has been a constant throughout my life. So thanks for including some.
I like it. I know those who do think it a weed..
A sensible respite from the overall silliness of what our economic leaders and opinion leaders are constantly selfishly telling us what we really should be wanting from life. ( for their benefit) We have been doing the same getting out in the beautiful environment along the east coast country seafronts here in Scotland. Good on you.
Cow Parsley or Hemlock Water Dropwort ?
The latter probably more reflects the current Conservative Party ?
Other than the birds, more photos of cows, deer, sheep, random wildlife and even badgers please!
If you have a dog, please post a picture!
No dog: he departed sime time ago
I rarely see live badgers, only dead ones
Deer are surrpisngly commonb on occasion – including last night, so I temd to ignore them
There are almost no sheep here
And cows are also in short supply – this is an agricultural area
Butterflies? And of course more plant life would be nice.
Butterflies are notably scarce right now….
“Butterflies are notably scarce right now…. ‘
I know – very sad isn’t it? I still get some in my garden in Brittany, but much less than 20 years ago.
Well before that in England, I had a phase attempting to photograph butterflies (not easy!), including in East Anglia.
Last year there was an abundance compared to this year. I guess the wet weather explains that – but I am not sure why.
On our cycle today we passed the ancient tower where the peregrines have their nest and right on cue as the one on guard saw us approach up it went uttering that unmistakable cry. It was good to know they are back.
“I should be talking about the demise of the Conservative Party as we have known it this morning. Everyone else is.”
Demise of the Conservative Party: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/09/surreys-middle-classes-angry-tories-sunak
Very good
I like his on the ground approach to journalism
Hi Richard,
Are you using the SEEK app, part of the iNaturalist app. As with the Merlin app (used to help identify bird song) treat results with caution, but a useful way to help identify plants, insects etc! Also if you link the SEEK to the iNaturalist it helps build up a species list for the area.
I am not using it, but will take a look. Thanks.