The Blue Hour (A.M)

After yesterday's floodlit church (which hit the Spotlight - thanks to all who helped get it there!) I thought I'd check again to see if it was floodlit again...

And it was... even to this point, about half an hour before sunrise. This view is from across the road, which goes off up to the left and you can see from where I took yesterday's night-time view.

Lens (Nikkor D 17-35mm f2.8, again) well-stopped down, to generate some movement in the slow moving clouds. This bank of cloud didn't really shift and so sunrise was wasn't really going to happen here, I'd decided, so I walked back home.

A barn owl swooped in on the road not more than 20 feet from me, then over a hedge and then along it, just on the inside of the field, its eyes glued to the undergrowth, for breakfast. It then plummeted down, beyond my eyeline. I then caught sight of his (or her) pale sandstone colour, against the dimness, wings flapping just above a watermeadow, in bursts rather like a butterfly's as it undulated over the deep grass. It didn't seem to swoop down again and after watching for a minute, I let him get on with it, as he went further away into the distance.

So, you can't say that the mad hour of before sunrise doesn't have its rewards - no traffic, no people, just me and the dawn chorus and Mr Barn Owl. Perfect start to the day!

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