Harbinger

Whilst spending my dinner hour looking for squirrels in the cemetery near work I took every possible shot that presented itself. Having wanted a shot of a crow on a grave stone for a while I was just as pleased when this jackdaw scooted away from my but landed perfectly. The inner-city cemetery near Ostbahnof is a lesson in nature prevails, even in the city.

Tiny pano, and things change

I waited for a couple of hours to shoot the voles in a more intimate position, but they never got together...not where my flashes were positioned anyway. So in the end I took 3 shots and stitched ;) I really love watching these guys, every one has its own personality.

Occasionally things change, that's part of the fun, something different each time. Like this fellow, looks like a fresh wound, could have been a predator, could have been a scrap....could have been the missus beating on him. 

Winter cometh?

So there I was, all excited, winter is coming. I go out a lot, feed various spots in the forest with bird food and expect them to damn well eat it. Which they would were it not unseasonally mild, we have not had one flake of snow and even the frosts have been limited to a few clear mornings. Last week my friend Sue came expecting deer, boar and birds...she left with none of them.

So there I sat last week waiting for the tits an finches, the robins and peckers. I could still be sat there now, they are not coming down, they are just too warm and comfy. But yesterday I did notice something, some critters are planning ahead, and that meant I had to get down and dirty.

So I returned today, still no birds and the martens had eaten all the fat and nuts, I still can't get me a shot of one. So I decided today to go small, maybe even smaller than the tits. Using a pair of speedlites and my trusty 7D, which can not only trigger the speedlites remotely it can also set the exposure of them, I got down to it. It took a few attempts, there is always a blade of grass or twig or fungus in the shot. The critters always hide behind said obstruction, regardless where it is. But I waited and I got wet in the rain soaked moss. But they came, I am sure there was more than one simply working on their personalities, and I feel better for having taken a picture on home soil, at last.

I presume they are field voles, the forest is full of them around here. Now I am a bit stuck, I cannot get closer with the 500 f4 and TC but I love the IQ it gives me. The 100-400 might work, maybe something to try over the next few days.