I spent some of the weekend in Snape, near the Suffolk coast. That was partly to have a break. It was also about some bird watching. And it was about trying out a lens because I have never really used a zoom telephoto, and as we are taking all the pictures for our YouTube thumbnails, as that avoids all potential copyright issues, meaning that taking photos is something I now need to do.
For those not familiar with the place, Snape is the home of an old Maltings that is now the main concert hall of Britten Pears Aldeburgh Festival:
The weather was variable, but that was fun. This barge is at the old quay, this being the limit of tidal navigation on the River Alde - and that, of course, is the reason for the maltings being where they are. The Christmas lights were on.
That tidal issue is important. This is a place where mudflats come, and go:
Just for variety, there is also great woodland and heath nearby, and I loved this bark:
That said, down the road at Hazlewood Marshes (which I have spelt correctly, and which is an amazing Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve), where farmland has become inter-tidal marsh after the river wall was breached, the effect on the trees that now have their roots in salt water has been dramatic:
And there were birds, of course, but a moderately priced telephoto zoom was challenged by the light so getting photos was not easy. This avocet was looking, as they always do, serene. This is the Audrey Hepburn of the bird world. The black-tailed godwit was busy:
And this male teal was getting decidedly muddy, which is amusing for such a smart little duck:
There were a lot more photos, and I have not had time to look through them all. But it was definitely a good weekend, and the birding was quite exceptional. Frankly, if given the choice of Hazlewood Marches or the vastly RSPB better-known Minsmere, which is just up the road (but was not visited), I would definitely choose Snape. There were waders, ducks, passerines and the odd bird of prey, but almost no geese. Stonechat, linnet, turnstone, ringed plover, knots, a good selection of ducks, and waders galore - most especially dunlin, redshank, and those godwits and avocet, plus curlews and others, made this a lot of fun.
There is more to life than economics - but I confess to doing quite a lot of this thinking as well. I couldn't help it with inspiration all around.
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Some beautiful photos, I especially love the trees and mudflats. Such beautiful light at this time of year…just not quite enough of it!
Thanks, and agreed
Lovely, and so good for clearing the head too. In places where there is a lot of bird or indeed any activity, it is fun to plug in an Intervalometer to make a short timelapse. They can be purchased from Amazon or similar for about twenty quid, ideally though you need a tripod.
I will take a look
Are you able to increase the ISO/ASA sensitivity of your camera?
Up-rating from say 100 to 400, 800 and even 1600ASA might help your zoom lens cope with lower light levels? It will increase sensitivity and mean that higher shutter speeds and even smaller apertures could be used? Smaller apertures in landscapes mean everything is rendered sharper, even on a telephoto lens (unless you desire the foreground and back ground to be blurred).
Most modern digital cameras have over-come the graininess of the faster film stock we used to use (400/800/1600ASA).
I hasten to add I have no idea what equipment you are using.
Nice pictures – the one of the tree bark is my favourite.
I do have control
Most of these were on ISO 800
I sometimes had to go higher
They were shot in RAW
These are on a Sony A6700
APSC, but it works for me
I too liked the bark, and the first of the dead trees
I must learn Adobe…
Richard, please, before you start draining your bank balance with an Adobe subscription, have a look at Affinity Photo 2.
https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/
It’s as good as Photoshop but it’s a one time purchase – currently 50% off at £33.99 until Dec 10th
I am aware of it
But, do people make editing profiles for it?
Sounds and looks like you are getting into it, something that will take you away from the ‘day job’.
A bit….
There are free, open source, equivalents to Adobe’s offerings (and rated as just as good) – GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program, at https://www.gimp.org/) and Darktable (at https://www.darktable.org/ )
I will investigate
Great pictures and great part of the world – with all the Britten-Pears resonances.
Such a strange river – almost reaches the sea at Aldeburgh – but veers ninety degrees behind a raised beach to go miles further south before actually joining the sea. Remember cooking mackeral on a wood fire on that pebble beach decades ago.
You are right. It’s weird. One day the sea will break through. It is inevitable.
I read, with some nostalgia, your visit to Snape. I was there for the closing weekend of the Aldeburgh Festival this year – Curlew River performed in Blythburgh Church (Ian Bostridge, Duncan Rock, Marcus Farnsworth and Willard White – directed by Deborah Warner) was, as The Times put it, an ‘I was there’ moment. Also Schoenberg ‘Pierrot Lunaire’, some Shostakovich performed by the talented youngsters of the RAM, and also invited to sit in on a rehearsal with Mark Elder and the Hallé (Mahler 5) – a veritable feast. It brought back many memories of my school days close to Aldeburgh from 1954 to 1963, when both Britten and Pears were both performing, but of course this was prior to to the opening of Snape Maltings. I was fortunate to attend many performances by Britten and Pears in Orford and Blythburgh churches, and other venues I forget. I did once spot a bittern, almost hidden in the marshes. Then this morning on Radio 4 (or was it the World Service) it was announced that an (approximately) 74 year old Albatross had laid an egg – which started me thinking of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ (STC). You are fortunate to have close access to those wonderful landscapes, as I have to my northern hills!
I gave not been to a concert there for some time – we have decided to change that next year. My mother taught me to like Britten, although it is an acquired taste. I have also been to those churches – and love both and the villages. This is one of my favourite parts of the world. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I did not start school until I was 7 – but started piano well before that age. I was very (or more than) fortunate that the music director for my main school was the assistant organist for Canterbury Cathedral – I was (to put it mildly) ‘encouraged’ at school and I relished in the music and performances on offer – I still do. I have again reserved accommodation in Aldeburgh for the appropriate dates in June 2025, so that I may, in my twilight years, enjoy some more music and memories – but can you imagine, not only appreciating and being present in/at that musical era, but also being told to ‘do a good deed’ which was to play the piano for Myra Hess’s sister – I was very nervous but, rationing had only just passed, she gave me a good tea! My Father, in retrospect rightly, would not allow me to become a professional musician, despite my various teachers wishes. I did not have that hunger – Father was right. But Father continued to pay for my music studies all through my ‘articles’ until I qualified as an ACA in 1967 (later FCA), but it taught me a huge appreciation of music, and which, in my dotage, I still enjoy! I soon went to Paris to work as an Expert Comptable where I had even more music! I am fortunate that I have enjoyed a wealth of music around the world.