First Adder Watch of 2016!

Today i set off with the hopes of finding and photographing some Adders, i love these little creatures and seeing as i missed them the past couple of years due to work i was determined to take some shots this year.
I arrived quite early in the morning and before i went adderwatching decided to let the day warm up abit and take some landscapes. Granted i ended up deleting most of them as i wasn't using a tripod or any filters but a few came out OK and at least i wouldn't go home completely empty handed (with how my luck has been so far this year i didn't have high hopes of the adders being about).

And so off i went on the hunt!  I was about halfway down the first "wall" when i heard a distinctive Hiss, not good i thought must have missed an adder coming down, so i looked around and saw nothing. I was frozen and unmoving bar my head as i scanned the area as the only time i've known Adders to hiss is when your right on top of them, but nothing, am i going mad? The hiss was getting louder turning into aggression and finally i spotted the snake.  About 10 foot away!! Honestly i wasn't anywhere near the damn thing, she was worked up though in full defense mode. When a snake is like that i always leave them be but i couldn't work out why so worked up as i wasn't near her, perhaps a dog disturbed her earlier or something.
Anyway i carried on walking and left her hissing in peace. I found nothing else on the way down the wall so decided to see if Ms hissy was still about as i came back up. She was and this though still on edge was calmer and no longer hissing or flattening out her body so i was able to take some shots.

I continued my search but wasn't having much luck (annoying as weather was perfect being slightly overcast) but noticed another watcher in a different area. Normally i don't take notice of other people but decided it could be a snake so wandered in that direction.  It was in fact three snakes and they were being photographed by a Francis Taylor (check out www.francisjtaylor.co.uk to see this guys amazing images!) who turned out to be a really nice guy and allowed my company. He was using some impressive kit and his approach has given me a few ideas. We talked for abit as we both took images of the rather uncooperative vipers and in the end i think i took about hundred shots, some were even decent!

I was using a zoom lens taking these and was struggling with focus, i think the distance between me and the snake combined with there small size made it tricky. Still i haven't done much photography of late so wasn't really on top form. No matter though i'm just happy to watch Adders and can easily spend a few hours doing so.  Eventually the weather turned very overcast and Francis left, it was nice meeting him though. I stayed for about forty minutes after watching the snakes until they eventually disappeared. On the way back though i couldn't resist seeing if my Ms Hissy was still out, turned out she was and perhaps unsurprisingly was in full defense mode again! No hissing or aggression but after a couple of captures i left her be. If you ever come across a snake like this it is best to avoid it as they can strike without much provocation.

 
All in all it was quite a good day today, though i have decided that my macro will be the next lens i upgrade! Hopefully i will be back for more Adders as the days go by.

25th March 2016 - of Moss and Adders!

I headed to my local woods this morning with the intention of doing some woodland bird photography, but after a half hour stint i decided it was too nice a day to not have a walk about.
I don't know why but i have a fascination with moss, the colors, shapes and alive nature always grabs my attention and it wasn't long till i got my Macro lens out and took some shots.

Due to not having my trusty tripod with me i was relying on a higher iso than usual and in the end just set it to auto (only the third time i've ever done that!) and just accepted any noise that appeared. When looking at moss i always try to isolate small areas or even a single seed head or err....leaf? What do you call parts of moss anyway - must look that up one day. 

Getting the focus right with out a tripod proved interesting! Guess i've become too used to a set up of tripod, live view and manual focus!! 

Overall though i was happy with what i managed to do and i must say i greatly enjoyed the walk, even if i didn't get round to photographing those birds. 

After the walk i ended up at the moors and found some Adders!! Sadly i was late and with the sun blazing down they were already warmed up and soon disappeared at my approach.

 Still at least there about and i can soon try again. I also came across some Frogs and toads which is always nice, the toads were too far away for images but i managed a couple of a particular female frog.

All in all a good day. Looks like the weekend will be miserable but i'm hoping toads will appear at my local breeding pond so bad weather or not i will be on the hunt!