a new month, a new season

...this morning, I put away my macro lens and exchanged it for a telephoto, in preparation for a new season and a change in subject material.

With less time to spend each day in search of a blip, my strategy is to get a landscape or architectural shot as early in the day as possible, which I will use as a reserve image. Beyond this, my main objective will still be to find a good wildlife or nature subject and, as I am rubbish at bird photography, that is an area I want to experiment with and get better at.

Today, we chose the RSPB reserve at Arne because, throughout the time I have been capturing insects, there has always been a good quantity of green woodpeckers, goldcrests, finches and, of course, waders.

The Little Egret, Egretta garzetta is a relative newcomer to the UK. It first appeared in significant numbers in 1989 but it wasn't until 1996 that, in Dorset, it first bred. Even today, it is more common as an overwintering bird, during which season the 146-162 pairs of resident little egrets expands to 4,500 individuals. They are members of the bittern and heron family and feed on fish.

Depending on the weather, we may return to Arne tomorrow...