a-country-diary

It has been a while since I have posted anything of interest here on my blog...for those of you who are kind enough to take a look I am very sorry. Lack of work and inevitably Money has forced me to spend time nearer home rather than on my permissions where I have acre after acre to roam over.

Recently I took my Video kit to a local riverside walk to film the Geese...it is here that a massive flock/gaggle (never sure of the exact terminology) spend theirearly mornings stripping local fields of clover and other juicy goodies before flying to the river for some take off and landing practice...I find this fascinating as they come in to land in groups of a dozen or so, they then swim for a few minuted before taking back off again in similar sized groups...back and forth they go giving me lots of practice with my camera.

I got a nice present for Christmas from my lovely wife...a set of lenses for my Full HD video Camera...I would like to tell you about the kit I use. I use a Panasonic HDC SD 200 full cinema quality HD Camera, this is a triple CCD Camera for true cinema colour quality filming...it boasts every feature you need to make stunning movies including remote control. The lenses I got for xmas are a superb 2.2 X Telephoto with superior clarity glassware...when you use this in conjunction with the optical zoom it gives you almost the same zoom range that you get if you use the digital zoom, but without the loss of detail that digital zoom gives...The second lens, a superb 0.38 X wide angle, gives almost twice the already available wide angle that the camera comes with...when filming scenery you get fantastic panorama with a limited digital zoom range as clarity is lost at big zoom ranges. Finally the Macro lens is simply superb, macro to 14 diopters and bringing truly superb detail that you don't see with the standard macro facility.

Also in my camera case is a 5 inch remote monitor, spare batteries, lots of Sd Cards all of which are class 6 or higher and always super high speed...the niftiest gadget in the case is a small motion stabilising tripod which is D shaped and can be seen in the small video I have attached for your perusal...I use this a lot and it is very easy to set up even with different lenses....I also have a professional tripod for static shooting along with a smaller one that I have adapted for the remote monitor.

Most of this kit fits in a standard aluminium camera case including the motion tripod...the bulky tripod I carry in its case over my shoulder so it is a very managable set up and is what I use for my filming, some of which I am nearly ready to post so keep looking folks.

 The Tawny Owl, a cute little creature about the size of a Pigeon, with brown chestnut feathers and big "cuddle me eyes"...don't misunderstand this is not a creature for cuddling, rather it is a mean killing machine and misses little during the night....it eats Small mammals, birds, amphibians, worms and beetles, mostly between dusk and dawn and it can be identified by its 'tu-whit, tu woo' call which is the male (who hoots) and a female (whose call is now often rendered 'keewick') calling to each other...it is a sweet noise and easy to learn, I often sit and call to the him and await his replies.

Just lately we have been woken during the night by our resident Tawney who has taken to sitting in the Beech tree in front of our bedroom window...he sits and calls and to date we have not hear-ed a reply from a female so he is a bit of a loner, but he still gives it a go....he hunts in and amongst the trees and woodland that surrounds our property and this has kept him very well fed....the resident feral's hate him as he spies one of them, homes in ready for the kill, and with an attack plan as silent and precise as an assassin he makes his move and "Thwack" another dirty feral bites the dust....for a small bird he is very powerful, all the small birds and mammals don't stand a chance once he has them in his hold.

I have seen him plucking his kill on the front lawn and once finished he retreats further into the trees to eat...I have found his nesting place in a big old Beech Tree  near the garages and recently collected a couple of his pellets for my own perusal...he is fond of mice as these tend to be the general contents of the pellets but occasionally I have found feathers, bones of small song birds, beetle wings and shells.....We are pleased he has taken up residence as we have noticed less and less signs of rodents about the buildings so he is doing a good job.....he must watch out for the cats as they will have him if he is not careful.

There are other raptor residents in the woods amongst which are Kestrels and some not too distant Peregrine Falcons who put in an appearance occasionally, along with all the beautiful song birds, squirrels, and odd rabbits we have quite a collection of fur and feather on our doorstep....who needs the television!.

I had a week off last week and spent most of it outside in the general region of where I live, the weather was fabulous and I mad a special point of spending every minute I could outside....one of my trips out was to the Prehistoric Copper Mines In Aldeley Edge Cheshire...not just a mine this is a beautiful park with rolling woodlands a hidden Garden called Hare Hill, a Wizards Walk and a natural habitat for a multitude of animals and insects...the Copper Mines stopped producing Copper in the 1960's and were shortly after taken over and the area became under the protection of the National Trust...it is still possible to go down the mines with the Derbyshire Caving Club twice a year and have an explore.

The woodland is predominately Scots Pine and Beech and this along with a sprinkling of oak, birch, rowan and holly help hold the fragile nature of the site together as the area is wholly made up of red sandstone and the many hundreds of years mining have taken its toll on the landscape with lots of areas under constant erosion by the elements...this aside the whole area brings back the wish to go and explore which is what I did with abandone.

I was amazed at the freedom you have to go and explore and was expecting not to be able to go in some of the caves, but they are there and freedom is what you have....there are Red Kites, rabbits, several species of songbirds including  wood warblers, redstarts, marsh tit, redpoll, woodcock, several types of finches and the bigger birds such as ravens, crows, magpies and pigeons, lots of rabbits and this is the time of the year to see the kits (babies)...not afraid like the parents you can get close and almost pick them up as they have not yet learned to be afraid....there are Bees, mining bees, honey bees and my favourites the dragonflies.

There are also three types of bats to be found living in the caves of the species, Pipistrelle, Daubentons, whiskered and long eared bats, as well as winter roosting they can be found living in the eves of local buildings during the warmer months...of course the insects are in abundance with a couple of rare species including the winter gnat which is a nationally scarce.....in the ponds you will find frogs newts and dragonflies as well as damselflies and more bitey bugs.

What a place!, one story that I was told by the national trust warden was that from time to time coins are unearthed especially Roman and several prehistoric axe heads have been found on the site, the largest being a small pot full of roman coins from the first centuary AD found in one of the roman shafts....what a find.

Wild mushrooms for the pot and lots of edible berries are to be found amongst the brambles and hedgerows and as I like to forage this was a nice bonus to the day.....I spent several hours trudging around taking in the whole area and have vowed to take my two girls with me this weekend for some more exploratory fun, with a picnic, my trusty Trangia cooker for the hot drinks and my suffering wife we will have another free day of fun in the countryside.

You can find details of this site and others at. www.DerbysCC.org.uk   go on have a fun, free day out in the countryside on me....all you pay for is the carpark.