Dunham

Dunham Massey is a stunning Georgian House with an extensive Fallow Deer park. With the bright sunshine creating an azure blue sky, the day was ideal to get out and take photos of the wildlife and try to get some more macro practice.

The first port of call was to the front of the house itself before hordes of people got in the way of the shot. As it was, I still managed to get some bodies on it, but nowhere near as busy as it got much later in the day.

Having turned off the main path, I headed towards one of the lakes and the exploded bull rushes - perfect nesting materials for the local birds.

The light once I set foot into one of the original plantations was lovely and the obelisk stood out magnificently. I was expecting the obelisk to be in memoriam of a loved member of the family, so I was pleasantly surprised when I read the engraving on it - "Langhorn Grove. Planted AD 1914" - this lovely monument was in honour of the trees!A lovely thought.

By another plantation I tried out my macro skills on a very tiny fern that was growing at the base of a rotten stump. A spot of lying on the ground getting muddy and wet, but I think the shot came out pretty well. Not too far from here was a fenced off are where a very talented chap turns his hand to creating sculptures out of fallen trees and stumps: side by side were the Wood Fairy Rising and this fellow - Old Stumpy.

Onwards and heading towards the old boundary wall and a small group of Fallow Bucks were grazing and lazing around a huge fallen tree. taking a chance that they might flee (a few of them did) I crept towards the tree and soon found myself within touching distance of this very handsome buck. He stayed for quite some time playing with the little branch above his head and nibbling on the grass by his feet. After he'd had enough and wandered of to the shade of the plantation, I again tried my hand at macro, this time on some bracket fungus.

The last place I visited was the large lake which housed a Koi Carp, Coots, Moorhens, Tufted Ducks and a very graceful swan.

See LiveSearch view of this locale.

Birdlife

As I've never really spent much time on bird photography a trip to Martin Mere was in order. After spending several hours there, I came away with some amazing shots of some fantastic waterfowl.

Mandarin Duck (Asia) & Carolina Duck (USA)

Emperor Goose (Alaska) & Eider (Siberia)

Demoiselle Crane (Central Asia) & Fulvous Whistling Duck (Tropics)

Marbled Teal (Mediterranean) & Common Shelduck (Europe)

Greater Flamingo (Africa, Asia & Europe) & Chilean Flamingo (South America)

See LiveSearch view of this locale

I'm in heaven

Friday became one of the best days I've had in a while after taking a wander (hike) up to Chew Reservoir where I caught some stunning shots.

On the way up:

A misty Indian's head

A rock that's been tossed around by glacial waters

The Great Wall of Chew

Reflections

The best view of all:

And back down again:

See LiveSearch Aerial View of this locale.

Panorama & Macro

I went for a wander yesterday over to Hartshead Pike as it's probably one of the best places for taking panorama shots that I know of. I tried to capture the moodiness of the skies behind the pike and the silhouette.

Despite the picture being taken at midday, I think it captured the mood quite well.

I must have really liked the surroundings as I ended up taking well over 100 shots, mainly here, but also at Daisy Nook where I tested out the macro side of things.

While walking through the trees along the riverside the sunkept glinting on a gorgeous rusty orange/mustard colour that was on the trunks of quite a few trees. As I got closer to take a look I spotted a good opportunity to use the macro lens on the amazing Lichens that were predominant on this particular bankside. Again, I think I got a little snap-happy as there were a fair few shots to plough through when I got home!