Stockers Lake Trip
19th December 2009
On a cold snowy morning in mid-Decemember, me and my Dad, drove to Stockers Lake in Rickmansworth. After a very a few close calls with other cars due to the ice and snow on the roads we finally got there. We then met up with two talented young photographers, Jonah and Josh.
We walked to the lake and almost immediately encountered a brave little Robin which hopped across the path, pausing several times to eat some morsel of food. We were able to get pretty close and I got a few headshots.
We then headed off around the lake photographing as we went. We saw a large variety of birds including Shovelers, Tufted Ducks, Ring-necked Parakeets and Dunnocks.
After a short walk, we came across a small bridge going over the canal which runs alongside the lake. On the other side there had been some Little Owls nesting in the trees but sadly we didn't find any. However, there were lots of House Sparrows in the bordering hedges and we got quite a few shots of them in the warm, winter light.
We walked back across the bridge and soon reached the "causeway" which splits Stockers from a neighbouring lake. The causeway is a great place to photograph birds in-flight as they fly between the lakes and I got some nice flying Shoveller photos and also a Fieldfare eating berries in a tree.
Then we spotted a Heron sitting by the edge of the lake and stalked it for a while. We managed to get very close and got some nice head shots. The lighting was awkward to expose correctly but a few came out quite well.
We then walked around the other side of the lake and found another very tame Robin. This one almost landed on our hands and hopped right around our feet. Snow seems to make birds a lot tamer for some reason!
I put on my 180mm macro lens and got some really close-in shots.
The sun started to go down then so we headed to the cafe and had some food. On the way I got a few abstracts of the snow and setting sun.
After the food we said goodbye to Jonah and Josh went home.
Once again Stockers Lake proved to be an excellent place for bird photography.
We walked to the lake and almost immediately encountered a brave little Robin which hopped across the path, pausing several times to eat some morsel of food. We were able to get pretty close and I got a few headshots.
We then headed off around the lake photographing as we went. We saw a large variety of birds including Shovelers, Tufted Ducks, Ring-necked Parakeets and Dunnocks.
After a short walk, we came across a small bridge going over the canal which runs alongside the lake. On the other side there had been some Little Owls nesting in the trees but sadly we didn't find any. However, there were lots of House Sparrows in the bordering hedges and we got quite a few shots of them in the warm, winter light.
We walked back across the bridge and soon reached the "causeway" which splits Stockers from a neighbouring lake. The causeway is a great place to photograph birds in-flight as they fly between the lakes and I got some nice flying Shoveller photos and also a Fieldfare eating berries in a tree.
Then we spotted a Heron sitting by the edge of the lake and stalked it for a while. We managed to get very close and got some nice head shots. The lighting was awkward to expose correctly but a few came out quite well.
We then walked around the other side of the lake and found another very tame Robin. This one almost landed on our hands and hopped right around our feet. Snow seems to make birds a lot tamer for some reason!
I put on my 180mm macro lens and got some really close-in shots.
The sun started to go down then so we headed to the cafe and had some food. On the way I got a few abstracts of the snow and setting sun.
After the food we said goodbye to Jonah and Josh went home.
Once again Stockers Lake proved to be an excellent place for bird photography.
