Showing posts with label Cramlington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cramlington. Show all posts

Saturday, 7 December 2013

A trip to Arcot Hall near Cramlington.



I had a walk to Arcot Hall it’s actually a grass reserve with rare grass but there is a lake with wildlife. I had set up my tripod and was having a look around with my binoculars and across the lake I spotted a deer, on the lake there mute swans, teal and Gadwall. On a walk in the nearby woods I saw a woodpecker and a treecreeper hovering nearby was a bird of prey but it flew away before I could get a decent picture. There was also a nice yellow bird but I did not get a picture.

Someone came over with a tripod and a terrific monocular he let me look at the deer with it he told me there are terrapins in the lake about the size of dinner plates and told me where I might see them in the summer, something to look forward to.

Today I also discovered manual focus on my camera and tried it out on some swans and seagulls.The highlight of the day was the deer after taking more photos of it than a Vogue photo shoot it came forward out of the grass and was followed by another deer they walked along by the side of the lake which was frozen and they were reflected on the ice, I have a couple of photos of them and I’m really pleased with the image.

When I was at The Rising Sun Nature park the other day I had picked up a leaflet about a photo competition for north east wildlife one of the rules is that pictures can not be published so I am taking no chances with them and not putting on any websites, the prize is£250 and the picture produced and hung in the Hancock natural history museum but I do have a couple to show around.

When my wife came home from a shopping trip she’s bought me one of those fleece balaclava hats and its camaflage so I’ll be able to sneak around the undergrowth and they’ll never see me coming :)