tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68565510991412966932024-03-06T06:00:31.571+00:00Alan Mackenzie PhotographyWildlife and Landscape PhotographerAlan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-1324289761752213592023-05-07T10:21:00.050+01:002023-07-10T18:18:02.544+01:00The Secret Bluebell Woods of Sussex<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">When the trees grow leaves and bluebells appear, I always feel a sense of achievement that I've made it through winter, and can now look forward to long daylight hours, warm temperatures and all the things I enjoy about the natural world. Plenty of sunlight reaches the ground in May, allowing wood anemones and yellow archangels to bloom alongside bluebells, before the tree canopy thickens, and forests become dark silent places over the summer. Things didn't begin too well for me, after suffering two coronavirus infections and a third untested illness in a short period, despite being 'fully vaccinationized' and having (whisper...natural immunity). Feeling unwell, I walked 26000 steps from the railway station to the forest and back, uphill both ways, twice over, with blisters and chafed inner thighs and I even managed to have 20 minutes spare at the end to buy chips, if I was lucky. I made life easier for myself by subsequently completing the walking segment of my journey by bus, saving 14000 steps and making my experience much calmer and enjoyable. Instead of wasting energy, I devoted my time to carefully seeking out new vantage points and returning to them as the bluebells, delayed by a cool April, bloomed as temperatures rose. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52888806855" title="The Secret Bluebell Woods of Sussex"><img alt="The Secret Bluebell Woods of Sussex" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52888806855_a298a7d3c4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <br /><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8gR069nZ45" title="Ancient Bluebell Forest"><img alt="Ancient Bluebell Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52866230895_6639499f8e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/beAQN81x16" title="Ancient Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Ancient Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52897372790_715bed69c9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/c91z43aQ2N" title="Ancient Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Ancient Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52897105665_5b11b1bb88_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6r36L2g1d6" title="Fairytale Bluebells"><img alt="Fairytale Bluebells" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52855972618_b93501cea9_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/S16tU91JJq" title="Ferns and Late Bluebells"><img alt="Ferns and Late Bluebells" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52895698309_25ac130920_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> <br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The
presence of dense bluebell carpets signifies that you are in ancient
woodland. It can take hundreds of years of self-propagation for bulbs to
reach the kind of densities seen across the British Isles in spring.
They push up through the earth in late winter, taking advantage of
leafless trees to photosynthesise, before flowering in late April or
early May. Even as a supporter of the right to roam, visitors ought to
be more careful to avoid walking on bluebells, something annoyingly
visible on my walks every spring. Last year, I found a two-metre wide
walkway, created by visitors, who had flattened a long section of
bluebells, instead of using existing paths to reach points of interest. This year, when visiting another bluebell wood to the north of Brighton, I was dismayed to see an estimated 20 m sq triangle of bluebells flattened by walkers, along with widespread general damage. I remember thinking that most of the visitors looked and sounded like middle class Green Party voters, and by coincidence, I spotted centrist Green MP Caroline Lucas walking there with her </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">husband and dog. Along with support for NATO proxy wars, maybe Greens can add bluebell destruction to their </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">résumé, although it has to be said, Lucas was not herself treading on them.<span><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">If flowering bluebells were to be dug up, no bulb would be found. Without foliage to regenerate and nourish depleted bulbs, which channel
all their stored energy into growth, damaged bluebells take five
years to recover. I always take great care to find the least damaging
route to a vantage point, using fallen tree trunks and bare patches to
navigate over to a safe position. I spoke to a couple, who have been
walking in a particular East Sussex bluebell wood for twenty years about
the damage in a nearby popular site, and they said </span>—<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">
"Thank goodness not many people seem to know about this place". Would people buy flowers
from garden centres, plant them in the ground, and trample over the
plants they just paid for? People can't be prevented from entering bluebell woods, but since the easily crushed bluebells only need to be damaged once, I would prefer not to share the locations.</span> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">
</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/nw25tt7D56" title="Low Weald Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Low Weald Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52848021118_fb29177ab4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br /></p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1ad22045oE" title="Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52863350770_da8b613444_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The most common question strangers ask me on my walks, as people did this month, is do I enter my photos into competitions? I have entered photos in the past, that I considered to be very strong candidates, but they never got anywhere. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">There
is surely something wrong about giving influencial photographers, who are
probably not much better than I am, the power to select or discard my
work as they see fit.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> I have since pushed back against the pervasive Enlightenment worldview fixated on cause and effect, metrics and goals, and the idea that if something cannot be 'measured' or 'categorised' in a rational way, it is effectively irrelevant. No amount of 'likes', 'views' and 'awards' can account for the lived human experience of being immersed in bluebell woods. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Photography is not an inherently competitive activity, unlike tennis or chess, but the infiltration of neoliberal ideology into all aspects of life over the past forty years</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> has reshaped hobbies and pastimes into vehicles of accumulation, self-promotion and one-upmanship. I have personal experience of the attitudes displayed by 'award-winning photographers'. I'm simply not interested in the trappings of fame, nor could I in any case pursue it, due to my considerable personal responsibilities, but I feel it's my duty to blow the whistle on what is simply an un-meritocratic system. UK landscape and wildlife competitions and editorials are highly managed, and achieving success owes much to social connections. My sources for these claims is someone who has been a judge in major UK competitions and my own research. <br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">If an ambitious photographer wants to get anywhere, they must 'network' </span>— <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">skills available</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> to those from upper/middle class backgrounds</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">. Like many other industries, photography is a revolving door between a 'specialised class' of elite editors, judges and photographers. There are cases where, professional photographers, meaning working class people who sell their images to pay their mortgages and buy groceries, get 'overlooked' by editors, who then publish images taken by their non-professional friends, who earn six-figure salaries in other sectors. Elite photographers all know each other and each shares the conviction that they deserve to be where they are, that they did it all themselves and class politics is conspiratorial nonsense. Although competition entries are 'anonymous' anyone with their ear to the ground can tell who took a particular image, based on location, subject, style and technique. If a gatekeeper judge wishes to advance the career of a photographer in their social circle, then it is easy enough for them to infer the identity of an entrant and advance the images to the shortlist and beyond. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">With parallels to Western 'managed democracies' preventing actual democracy from gaining foothold, elite photography is no meritocracy. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Like any managed system, a degree of openness is allowed. To sustain itself, the competition industry simultaneously pays lip service to openness by awarding commendations to new entrants, while taking money from eager participants and seizing copyrights. Another method is for editors and organisers to employ identity politics in order to make the status quo appear more 'diverse'. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Elite
female photographers can, for example, hide their economic privilege by
shrouding themselves in corporate-friendly liberal feminism, thereby
presenting themselves as plucky underdogs within the top-tier of influence. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Rather than abolishing their own power and influence, the 'specialised class' instead appropriates the latest 'boutique' social issues, from the comfort of their own neighbourhoods, but without being personally exposed to the associated risks from belonging to marginalised groups. Themes, takeovers and categories based on social issues may make people feel that change is taking place, but in reality, the same elite-controlled power structures remain.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">What the professional managerial classes call 'disinformation' and 'conspiracy theories' are often just facts that they want suppressed. In Western countries, factual information is suppressed by simply ignoring it and superimposing a power-friendly narrative. Since my account is 'all in a day's work' to the elite of credentialists who run the industry, in the unlikely event that any of them read it, they would just 'move on' and ignore it. I hope this answers the questions of the many people who ask me about competitions.<br /></span></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/R6n7404b11" title="Hornbeam trees and stream"><img alt="Hornbeam trees and stream" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52866204273_2e4f88b3d3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1Fu4a2osnQ" title="Bluebells at field margin"><img alt="Bluebells at field margin" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52876976626_7a8363db77_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9di9u87EAM" title="Bluebells and Tree Trunk"><img alt="Bluebells and Tree Trunk" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52873633084_c5d8657747_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <br /></p><p></p></div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52841804141/in/dateposted/" title="Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52841804141_15ff56a6cc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The cool, wet, unsettled weather of April 2023 delayed the peak blooming period by over a week, in comparison to last year, when frequent warm, albeit dry weather created an early, short-lived peak. Look at the above image to see how tall and open the bluebell flower heads were. On May 1st 2023, all the bluebells at this vantage point were closed. Look below at the 2023 version, to see how I have used my understanding of weather and lighting to create a dramatic image, as a cumulus cloud moving in-front of the sun created a sharp division between shadows and highlights. <br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/E3400n5QYq" title="Bluebell Woodland Glade"><img alt="Bluebell Woodland Glade" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52873583444_f872a1d31f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Finally, before I go, here are some tips for taking better bluebell photographs:</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">1. Find new vantage points and keep them a secret to protect the bulbs from damage. It's easy to get drawn into honeypot sites, but many of the photos shown here are located not far from sites extensively damaged by the public.<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">2. Pay attention to weather patterns over winter when planning the date to photograph bluebells. A mild, dry winter and spring, such as in 2022, will result in an earlier, shorter-lived display. Winter cold snaps, followed by a cool, wet April, as in 2023, leads to bluebell flowering lasting longer and peaking later.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">3. Bright, but diffused lighting is highly effective, if you photograph bluebells during normal waking hours. Direct sunlight creates harsh highlights and shadows, which can be distracting and creates issues when post-processing. The sun filtering through thin, high level clouds, especially in mid-evening, creates a glowing, warm lighting effect on the bluebells and forest canopy (see first two images).</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">4. Using a circular polarising filter to eliminate glare improves the appearance of foliage, while adding a small amount of focal length compression in the region of 50 mm increases the apparent density of bluebell carpets. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">5. Most people get carried away by the naked eye attractiveness of bluebell woodlands, and forget to employ basic techniques used when photographing regular subjects. Good images are often simple and orderly. If you look at the above image, I have used tree trunks and limbs to provide natural framing, and the footpath leads the viewer towards the 'destination' clump of trees still in the shade.<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Thank you for taking the time to read through my post on ancient bluebell woodlands. I felt much better by the second week, although my holiday went alarmingly quickly, which I made up for with a final visit on May 13th. I doubt many people will see my post, but I rely on your support in the comments section and for defeating the corporate-state controlled algorithms by sharing my post widely.</span><br /></span></p><p></p>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-68406237880590763272022-12-15T15:01:00.004+00:002023-01-13T21:24:58.773+00:00Photos of the Year - 2022<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: large;">From Sussex bluebells to Brighton in the snow, 2022 has been a great year for photography. </span></span> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As my mother and I sipped Aloxe Corton Pinot noir on my birthday, and we prepared to sit through 24 hours of Carry On films on ITV3 over Christmas, we looked back at the last 12 months of gardening and photography. The garden is (mostly) dormant, but the snowdrop bulbs I planted in November are sprouting through the central bed and should provide the first flowers in the new year. One hundred English bluebell bulbs sit 10cm below the surface in my newly-created woodland bed, along with crocuses, snowdrops, and anemones. Over in East Sussex, I was very pleased to discover two new bluebell sites. Dense, established carpets of bluebells is a sign of ancient woodland. In the coming years, my bluebell bulbs will multiply, self-seed and push themselves deeper underground in search of moisture.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Despite having taken wildlife photos for 20 years, I never managed to get even a half-decent picture of a wild fox. In May, I spotted a vixen making her way along the edge of a field, so I rushed to the entrance of a track, hoping she would head towards the camera. She did, and it was evident, </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">from her wet coat, exposing the teats of her nipples,</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> that the vixen was a hard-working mother. The vixen collected a dead rabbit she had killed earlier and took it back to her young.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">A territorial dispute between two male roe deer provided an ample opportunity to photograph the unfolding duel in a buttercup meadow. The pair didn't seem to mind me being nearby. It was a privilege to spend an hour in their company. The hot summer and extremely mild autumn meant I had to wait for true autumn colours. Two weeks away from the stresses and responsibilities of my job took me to a better place. The High Weald rocks never disappoints. Apart from photographing Powis Square, Brighton, when it snowed, I haven't taken any other winter photos. To get exercise and to enjoy the countryside in winter, without spending time at home burning expensive natural gas, I've been starting walks just before the mid-winter sun goes down. After drinking a flask of tea, I've been setting off through the woods and onto the South Downs by torchlight, finishing a few hours later at bus stops along the edge of Brighton. Sadly, night walking is not an activity that women and girls feel safe doing. It shouldn't be a privilege afforded only to men </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">— personal safety is a right. As a birthday treat, I decided to make my walks a bit brighter with the Sofirn Q8 Pro. With a sustained output of 1500 lumens and an 11000 lumen turbo mode, night will become day, should I need it. <br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52070204159/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52070204159_626f76bcb4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52112138604/in/dateposted/" title="Bluebell Wood, East Sussex"><img alt="Bluebell Wood, East Sussex" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52112138604_a0e8d34271_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52270360162/in/dateposted-public/" title="Red Fox (Vixen)"><img alt="Red Fox (Vixen)" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52270360162_d32f37f864_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52153154370/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe deer giving chase"><img alt="Roe deer giving chase" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52153154370_e3fb4edd71_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8xT64F3i6R" title="Roe Buck in meadow"><img alt="Roe Buck in meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52105275528_5fcfae677f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52195134246/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe deer in buttercup meadow"><img alt="Roe deer in buttercup meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52195134246_a7a2e06305_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52310126565/in/dateposted/" title="Roe deer browsing"><img alt="Roe deer browsing" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52310126565_d11230baa9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52572956114/in/dateposted/" title="November on the Rocks"><img alt="November on the Rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52572956114_ae684133c5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52534748422/in/dateposted/" title="Autumn Forest - Mid-November"><img alt="Autumn Forest - Mid-November" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52534748422_3e0c12821b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52557540353/in/dateposted/" title="Powis Square, Brighton - Snowfall on 11th December 2022"><img alt="Powis Square, Brighton - Snowfall on 11th December 2022" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52557540353_a7955fc66b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">2022 ended with bitterly cold arctic air being drawn into Western Europe by low pressure wedged between two larger high pressure systems. Brighton experienced rare snowfall on 11th December. Powis Square is architecturally and scenically one of the most attractive parts of Brighton and within walking distance of where I live. It very much reminds me of London, and the area is home to the upper-middle classes. I've been inside several homes at Powis Square, and they boast very grand interiors, albeit with small gardens. Residents of Powis Square converted the old red telephone boxes into miniature art galleries.</span> <br /></p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3Ap1R127T6" title="IMG_20220718_161748a"><img alt="IMG_20220718_161748a" height="1200" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52557706243_a3925c3a6d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">With lows of -8 °C being recorded in Sussex, it would be easy to forget that 2022 was the year when the UK reached and exceeded 40 °C for the first time since records began. I was at Wakehurst, as the temperature rose to 38.4 °C and </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">staff patrolled the grounds on carts, checking the welfare of visitors.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> It was certainly the hottest day of my lifetime, but I coped very well, having enjoyed a good night's sleep and taking plenty of cold water. I managed two circuits of the 500 acre grounds. Like many modern bags, my rucksack has a black metal USB charging port for powerbanks — when I touched it by mistake, the port was extremely hot. When exposed to direct sunlight, my smartwatch abruptly shut down due to overheating. Even the tops of my shoes felt like they were burning. Most Wakehurst visitors behaved like perspiring statues.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The poor ducks took shelter in bushes, exhaling through their beaks in an attempt to cool down. Wildfires raged around London and the south-east. Temperatures in Brighton soared to 28 </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">°C by 7am. I'd never felt so hot this early in the morning. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Seven miles away, Charlwood weather station recorded 39.9 </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">°C.
In email correspondence with the Met Office, I pointed out that the
weather station is in West Sussex, not Surrey, as widely believed, and
my home county should have a new temperature record. They wouldn't budge. The narrative
reads that vaccines block Covid-19, Russia blew up their own</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">
€23bn Nord Stream gas pipeline and Charlwood weather station is in
Surrey. This is official truth, and anything else is called 'doing your
own research'.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Climate change is making heat waves hotter, and cold waves milder. It might not feel that way, but the awkwardly-named 2022 'Troll of Trondheim' that we're experiencing is less severe than January 1987 or February 1991. Fortunately, it'll be Martini and barbecue time before Christmas, with 13 </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">°C forecast. Time to get the garden tables and chairs out prematurely.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">In all seriousness, with soaring inflation and record energy prices, the winter could end up being very unpleasant for many people, so wherever you are, I wish you a safe Christmas and a happy New Year. Take care.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></p>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-26430263566807855192022-11-14T08:01:00.006+00:002022-12-20T10:30:29.858+00:00Autumn in England 2022<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Our rapidly warming climate is pushing the English autumn colours further and further ahead. As of 25th October 2022, Abbots Wood in East Sussex was still on the green side. I always book a holiday in late October, based on happy childhood memories of the New Forest, but the climate was much cooler back then. The autumn colours now peak in early to mid-November. Unlike parts of North America, where fall can last just a few weeks, ours continues well into December. Fortunately, the village of Little Horsted has a collection of non-native ornamental trees </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">—</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> Ginkgo, Japanese Maple and Witch Hazel, along with native European beech. These species tend to fall earlier than, say, English Oak, Elm or Hornbeam. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Little Horsted is about the same distance from Lewes as Lewes is from Brighton, and the bus journey is not too long. The bus takes me on part of the route my family took from Kent, where I was born, as we moved down to Brighton. My mother said the car stopped in Ringmer, because I needed to be fed. It was a bitterly cold month and snow was on the ground. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">After photographing the stunning Maple and Witch Hazel leaves, I crossed the road and wandered into the East Sussex National golf course. There's a woodland adjacent to the fairway. Fallow deer can be seen (and heard) and mushrooms pop up from the ground. I spent a very happy and warm afternoon in the village and watched the sun go down from the churchyard.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">A minor mishap nearly scuppered my second outing </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">— at home, I thought my camera batteries were being charged, only to find out, at the last minute, that the cable had a fault and the batteries were nearly empty. It was a good thing, that I am well-prepared for emergencies. I own several power banks and for the first time, I charged up my camera batteries en route. I put a torch in my camera bag in the summer and will add the power bank and a spare USB charger. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">My third outing took me to a rocky, heavily wooded landscape two hours from Brighton. Since the clocks went back on 30th October, I set off in mid-morning to maximise available daylight. The walk takes me along a narrow country lane, past streams, oast houses and alongside fields of horses. Fallow deer can be heard rutting in the distance. Several years ago, I took a series of pictures with the <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/22016240921/" target="_blank">setting sun illuminating pine trees</a>, but this is no longer possible. Quick growing birch trees now obscure the view. For the same, overgrown location, I used a slow shutter speed, while panning the camera up and down to create intentional blur. I stayed at home on Thursday, as an unprecedented 80.3 mm of rain fell in 24 hours. After record-breaking heat and summer drought, I've seldom seen horizontal, torrential rain, driven by gales in the UK. But, the next day had perfect conditions for a return visit. Away from the sandstone cliffs, walking deeper into the woods, and across a meandering stream, the afternoon sun bathed a glade in autumn light. For early November, the trees were very green</span> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">— another sign of the fall being pushed further into the calendar.<br /></span></p><p> </p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/QpJ6772971" title="Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52463603673_c5d14dd379_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8L30m7F6K1" title="Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52463338969_6b559dc3ff_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/b825nG2xHs" title="Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Japanese Maple Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52463601083_4f56cab0e4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/jQir0D7973" title="Witch Hazel in Autumn"><img alt="Witch Hazel in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52462553387_58c40ea87e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Foq2zwW1S0" title="Ginkgo biloba"><img alt="Ginkgo biloba" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52464160751_768c546ecc_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8NVvZ7bP44" title="Beech Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Beech Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52462559877_5d18363aee_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8V08dTe2r5" title="Autumn beech blur"><img alt="Autumn beech blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52462845242_e493e44e4b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">When my mother sees this picture, she will say, "This is what the world looks like before I put my glasses on in the morning". Although my eyesight lacks the 20/20 clarity of my early childhood, when I could read my teacher's answers upside down from the back row, I'm lucky enough, not to have needed glasses in adulthood. The 500mm lens I used for the purpose of reaching into tree branches lost focus, and I liked the result. </span><br /></p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9j733q9d41" title="Parasol Mushrooms"><img alt="Parasol Mushrooms" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52462561027_8a6e2a8cbb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5z8o8RLKu8" title="Birch woodland in autumn"><img alt="Birch woodland in autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52468694394_02cad59988_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/" title="Beech woodland and rocky landscape in autumn"><img alt="Beech woodland and rocky landscape in autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52468967423_639ccef81b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/N3xjtV4j52" title="Mature beech tree and rocky landscape in autumn"><img alt="Mature beech tree and rocky landscape in autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52468695559_c152060bad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52498197702/in/dateposted-public/" title="Green Autumn"><img alt="Green Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52498197702_66a03f0201_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52534748422/in/photostream/" title="Autumn Forest - Mid-November"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52534748422_3e0c12821b_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1067" alt="Autumn Forest - Mid-November"></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/68hSj11tef" title="Beech Woodland and Cliffs in Autumn"><img alt="Beech Woodland and Cliffs in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52497132362_535a34e702_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/" title="November on the Rocks"><img alt="November on the Rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52506369804_193a8782bc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52572956114/in/dateposted/" title="November on the Rocks"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52572956114_ae684133c5_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1067" alt="November on the Rocks"></a>
</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The green woods had finally turned red and orange by the time I returned on Sunday 13th November. The weather felt like mid-October. In 'cooler' years, peak colour would be now, but we've still got a few days before this happens in 2022. In the future, I will be photographing autumn colours in late November or early December. This marmalade orange scene is my favourite image of the autumn. Let me know which images you like best in the comments, and be sure to share this page.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Other than moving, if only I could travel to this rocky sandstone woodland every week. It's my joint favourite Sussex location, alongside the roe deer meadow. In 2023, I ought to book time off from November onwards to get the best colour. Meanwhile, I've got over 500 bulbs to plant in my mother's garden </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">— alliums, bluebells, crocus, daffodils, fritillaries, irises, snowdrops and tulips. Winter is my least favourite season, but I always look forward to the new year and the first snowdrops!</span><br /></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-1526456602578799752022-06-09T13:00:00.031+01:002022-11-19T10:08:20.537+00:00Early Summer Roe Deer Project - 2022<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I've been visiting a nature reserve on the Sussex/Surrey border since 2011, and it's an ideal place to photograph Roe deer, especially in early summer, when the grass isn't too tall and food sources are plentiful. Human visitors to the reserve are almost always polite and considerate to me. The fact that roe deer can be observed from close quarters in plain sight is testament to how much local people care about the animals and birds living here. Although a few photographers know about the reserve, I prefer not to share the location, as photographers would be at cross-purposes, with one person having to structure their activity around the others'.</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The mature buck (see below) is chasing a younger, smaller buck away from his territory, following one of many incursions. The unfortunate victim of chasing had a rotten day. More on this later. Visitors to this site will be delighted to recognise the same mature buck from 2021. It's a pity that I wasn't able to spot any baby deer. The does were as always very cautious and any kids will be kept well hidden.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4KW400" title="Roe buck chase"><img alt="Roe buck chase" height="1366" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52111019228_b7892550ee_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/XK84bL" title="Roe Buck in meadow"><img alt="Roe Buck in meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52105275993_c2ed6dafce_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/79f2i7" title="Roe Buck in meadow"><img alt="Roe Buck in meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52105275528_9bd0256afb_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/18F49L" title="Roe buck walking through meadow"><img alt="Roe buck walking through meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52104209407_d56e1c4b9c_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The mature buck, if a little nervous at first, settled down to feeding and allowed me to observe him as he made his way from flower to flower. I could see and hear a group of teenage males approaching from the north. The buck stopped feeding and observed the group. I worried that the buck would learn to distrust me through 'guilt by association' <span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">— that simply being nearby a source of disturbance would be enough to put the deer off me.</span> The young lads, which belong to a demographic that suffers universal negative stereotyping, actually turned out to be far more kind and considerate than anything I've seen in Brighton, where I live. The group quietly stood nearby, whispering about the deer and my camera, before taking an alternative and more inconvenient route through the woods. This is not a one-off example. As I cycled through town, a car passenger flagged me down to warn that my bag was open (the small rear compartment zips are broken). Soon afterwards, a group of children leaving the reserve kindly asked me to take care on the muddy path ahead. Take the nice man walking his dog, who pointed me in the direction of a young buck feeding on buttercups, and who met me on the other side of the field to give further directions. Further afield, several people around Balcombe have invited me onto their land. One couple in the village even offered to drive me down to Haywards Heath station, after a long conversation, which they feared would cause me to miss my train. <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/DGB1FT" title="Roe buck in buttercup meadow"><img alt="Roe buck in buttercup meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52114870672_3da067faa1_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4337D2" title="Roe buck grazing on buttercups"><img alt="Roe buck grazing on buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52115894901_8e829a3ba9_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/nP7qKX" title="Roe buck eating buttercups"><img alt="Roe buck eating buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52114872327_562554f185_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/s50T1n" title="Roe buck grazing on buttercup flowers"><img alt="Roe buck grazing on buttercup flowers" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52116405310_0b493833b2_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">A surprise encounter spooked the mature buck into retreating back towards the woods, but ultimately it set in motion a chain of events, which lead to him sitting in a buttercup meadow, before getting up and feeding. I spent a wonderful 30 minutes very close to sunset, photographing him in low light conditions. I was concerned about the need to finish my visit and return to the station without disturbing the buck. Fortunately, with his back turned, I ducked under the fence and returned to the hiding place, where I chained my electric bike. To my surprise, a black and white cat was marking the aluminium frame <span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">— the cat must have a big territory to wander this far. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><br /></span></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/U5VFTN" title="Partially blind roe deer in meadow"><img alt="Partially blind roe deer in meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52115896991_af1823d32c_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This partially blind doe raised a baby last year, which hopefully survived the winter and could very well be one of the young bucks seen nearby. The doe quietly grazes in the public fields, carefully watching any person entering her territory. Since only her left eye functions, the doe gazes at an angle. She does not appear to have a kid this year. Her disability would have made protecting her baby and courtship with a buck a little too much. The one-eyed buck from 2021, which had occupied the same field for several years now appears to be gone.<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/A93Q3a" title="Young roe deer eating buttercups"><img alt="Young roe deer eating buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52123458953_9658981a4c_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/yz39Vu" title="Young roe buck in buttercup meadow"><img alt="Young roe buck in buttercup meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52121489907_09bd22bb7f_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3Fe6q7" title="Young roe deer eating buttercups"><img alt="Young roe deer eating buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52122565836_4460cb11c9_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/wF2R6F" title="Young Roe Deer in Buttercup Meadow"><img alt="Young Roe Deer in Buttercup Meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52122553603_78292fa201_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/j8Pe0X" title="Young roe buck in buttercup field"><img alt="Young roe buck in buttercup field" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52122518056_f5cc90b145_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The poor young buck, which had been chased twice in 10 minutes by an aggressive dog and several times around the fields by the mature buck, finally had the meadow to himself on Saturday 4th June. I spent half an hour on the field margin, observing him from a distance of about 40 metres. He'd worked up an appetite, after spending a good 10 minutes locking his antlers with a fallen tree branch. In a few years time, he will be chasing younger deer away from territory occupied by does and fighting mature bucks. I bumped into him at 8pm in a neighbouring field, as he digested his meal, and not wishing to scare him off, I immediately turned straight back. The buck sat back down within minutes <span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span> another win-win for animal welfare and recognition from the buck that he could tolerate my presence without fear. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I was expecting the trains to be busy, so I relied on local buses for getting back to the station, but not before treating myself to takeaway chips under an oak tree in the rain, reflecting on a great day in the meadow. I felt proud that a wild animal, which evolved to outwit the Eurasian Lynx, felt comfortable enough to discount me as a potential threat and carry on with its activity. There is no point in trying to outwit their excellent hearing and sense of smell by attempting to hide. Through years of experience, I've found that demonstration of trustworthiness through non-threatening plain sight presentation yields consistent results. <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/y7qwWu" title="Roe buck newcomer"><img alt="Roe buck newcomer" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130510298_fb3c221309_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">By Tuesday 7th June, I was beginning to feel that the young buck was a little put upon. An older buck entered the meadow and caught my attention straight away. The mildly inconsiderate behaviour of a dog walker began a chain of events that led to an hour-long encounter with two bucks over a territorial dispute. Although I felt annoyed at the man for walking straight towards the older buck, the incident caused the deer to move in the direction of our young, put upon yearling buck. After eying each other, the young buck started trying to make himself look bigger in a comical attempt to intimidate his older adversary. He ran around in circles, leaping into the air, locking antlers with plants, at one point trying to charge the older buck, only to realise he was outmatched in size and experience. Since both deer were determined to stand their ground and not concede any territory, this presented an ideal opportunity to photograph the pair in plain sight and at close distances. At one point, I stood within 10 metres of both deer and on another, the younger buck even felt comfortable enough to approach me for a closer look. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The older buck tailed his young rival around the meadow. Both would pause for several minutes to eat buttercups, before the older buck suddenly gave chase. The young buck is certainly a plucky deer. Although no match in stature and strength, he refused to concede <span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">—</span> no matter how many times he got chased, the yearling calmly resumed grazing at each stopover. The dispute spilled over into a very large neighbouring buttercup field and eventually a muddy farmyard half-a-mile away from the first point of contact. The following evening, very late on, the pair could be seen again in the same field, but without confrontation. I wondered if the older buck had simply wasted a lot of energy trying to drive off a young rival, without landing a 'knockout' blow.<br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/A4P50T" title="Roe buck territory dispute"><img alt="Roe buck territory dispute" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52129467662_995a851e60_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/L295L3" title="Young roe buck trying to intimidate older buck"><img alt="Young roe buck trying to intimidate older buck" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130987775_d2136ca26b_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/W1S4XJ" title="Young roe buck trying to intimidate older buck"><img alt="Young roe buck trying to intimidate older buck" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130728719_2d93e90c26_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Pgf0h1" title="Young roe buck trying to intimidate older buck"><img alt="Young roe buck trying to intimidate older buck" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52132977399_c2a6c2de18_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Ziit74" title="Young roe buck eating buttercups"><img alt="Young roe buck eating buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130733119_c89644113d_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9K2aoi" title="Older buck following younger buck"><img alt="Older buck following younger buck" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52132725273_364d6499a9_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/ag77Bc" title="Young roe buck walking across path"><img alt="Young roe buck walking across path" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52131254216_6c8830145e_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/qLnA21" title="Young roe buck standing his ground in meadow"><img alt="Young roe buck standing his ground in meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52131254881_0aaf130ba1_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Bq5i4w" title="Young roe buck in sunny buttercup meadow"><img alt="Young roe buck in sunny buttercup meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130990010_7977db1933_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/GZi32V" title="Young roe deer feeding on buttercups"><img alt="Young roe deer feeding on buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52132617047_1e3e3eb605_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/d78N14" title="Young roe buck in sunny buttercup meadow"><img alt="Young roe buck in sunny buttercup meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130730804_bbd2a2d241_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9418qp" title="Young roe buck in buttercups"><img alt="Young roe buck in buttercups" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52132626266_f0bcf1f76a_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6PD2qD" title="Older roe buck in sunny buttercup meadow"><img alt="Older roe buck in sunny buttercup meadow" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52130992095_0bef0e439c_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/B3XkF6" title="Roe deer scenting out rival buck"><img alt="Roe deer scenting out rival buck" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52132627358_2d7a1eac33_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I returned to the meadow on Wednesday 8th June, hoping to witness more fascinating deer behaviour, but life isn't like that! Only two does, which probably had babies to protect, were a visible presence in daytime. The territorial dispute on Tuesday evening could easily have taken place when I was not there <span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">— I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to see it unfold, and even luckier that a very considerate woman took her dog on a diversion to avoid disturbing my shoot. Events, such the male dog walker pushing the older buck towards a new rival might not have happened either. If I could monitor the reserve 24 hours a day, I would not be surprised if, following a major dispute, the deer population disperses widely, leaving any photographer like myself, wondering where everybody has gone. Roe deer normally avoid grazing in areas used by horses or cattle, but plentiful rainfall this June cleansed away any contaminants left by domesticated animals on the buttercups. My mother's birthday is in early June, and she has endured many rain-soaked celebrations over the years. Over a glass of Chablis, we enjoyed talking about the deer and viewing the many beautiful photos I've taken of this fascinating animal.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf">A delay repay rail voucher and temperatures of 30</span><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span>°C tempted me back to visit my friends on Friday 17th June. Roe deer tend to rest in hot weather and may not emerge in daytime at all when temperatures reach the mid-30s. I predicted correctly that the roe would emerge in late evening, as the air cooled down, aided by a strong breeze. The partially blind doe sat down in a secluded meadow near the river path, but any hope of photographing her was dashed, when a child's squeaky toy, resembling the call of a kid, caused her to jump up and run towards the path, where the child walked with her father. Later on, there was another doe sitting in the long grass less than 10 metres away, but rather than upset her, I left the doe alone. She could see me and the click of my camera caused her to flinch slightly. It's just not worth causing them alarm for the sake of a photo. The two older bucks were out and about and browsed freely with me nearby. The buck, which had expended much time and energy chasing his put-upon rival on 7th June ate bramble leaves as the sun went down. As expected, the plucky young buck wasn't deterred from entering the meadow. Finally, I've been visitng the nature reserve since 2011, but I've never shown my work to local people, so I placed a couple of posters on fences, inviting people to view my photos online.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span>If you've enjoyed my photo essay and want to say hello or find out more about roe deer, please leave a comment below. </span></span><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6J270V" title="Roe buck grooming"><img alt="Roe buck grooming" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52154864658_6df0661984_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5Lz9r6" title="Roe buck in late evening"><img alt="Roe buck in late evening" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52155097504_40a42e8ce2_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> <br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="MUxGbd wuQ4Ob WZ8Tjf"><span> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/H092je" title="Roe buck eating brambles"><img alt="Roe buck eating brambles" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52155348655_742f376927_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a> </span></span></p>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-56249296279624430602022-05-06T00:05:00.014+01:002023-05-07T11:36:19.160+01:00The Sussex Bluebell Season<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Welcome to my 2022 bluebell woodland project, which this year took me to quiet woodlands in East Sussex. The majority of people enjoy bluebell displays at a very popular nearby woodland, but other woodlands can be discovered through (occasional) word of mouth. To protect these woodlands, I will not share the location names, and not without good reason. I noticed severe damage to bluebells in near a popular car park, caused by intentional trampling. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">In the past, saying hello to people and starting up conversations in the countryside was the norm, but in the last few years, I've begun to notice that the majority of walkers refuse to speak to me out of fear. Ten years ago, people would stop and ask me about my photography, take my card and bring up my work the next time we met. That has all gone, possibly forever.<br /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Another exceptionally mild (and dry) winter and spring lead to early flowering, with the peak height and blooming around 25th April. I visited the woods on 30th April last year during a cold and dry spring and the bluebells were at medium height and only half out. This created problems, as I had booked leave for a typical bluebell season, but spring 2021 was so cold, by the time bluebells flowered in significant numbers, my holiday was nearly over. I'm happy that my timing was better in 2022 and there were ample subjects to photograph.<br /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/40P3p4" title="Woodland Bluebells"><img alt="Woodland Bluebells" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52035124570_43acbd7599_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/243512" title="Woodland Bluebells"><img alt="Woodland Bluebells" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52034609286_3846f2359c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/PWf8GB" title="Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52035517462_d32499a35b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Early morning and late evening are good times to photograph bluebell woods — rays of sunlight turn flower heads mauve and trees cast long shadows. Yet, photographers often overlook the benefits of bright, but sunless skies. Provided the winds are light, I can photograph bluebells all day long in these conditions. Diffused lighting really brings out the vibrant spring colours. Using a circular polariser filter improves the appearance of foliage by eliminating reflections. The camera is always mounted on a tripod and I use mirror-lock and a timer to avoid vibrations.</span><br /></p>
<p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/E5WxQK" title="Oak in Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Oak in Bluebell Wood" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52029090082_8fd924329b_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a> </p>
<p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/52041769631/in/dateposted/" title="Bluebell Flowerhead"><img alt="Bluebell Flowerhead" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52041769631_272ce80284_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a> </p>
<p> <img alt="Yellow Archangel" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52041167194_5d522a0140_h.jpg" width="1067" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/F8V0eU" title="Yellow Archangel and Bluebells"><img alt="Yellow Archangel and Bluebells" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52043176654_bceb8ff145_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/r34uJt" title="Bluebells, Yellow Archangels and Anemones"><img alt="Bluebells, Yellow Archangels and Anemones" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52037077980_f6f2b21cb0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It's a sad fact that most bluebell woods are dull to look at in summer. Bluebells thrive best in woodlands allowing plenty of light between February and April, when the trees are bare, but which block light from reaching the ground in summer, eliminating plant competition. Fortunately, the southern and western periphery of this woodland allows plenty of light for Yellow Archangels and Anemones to grow alongside bluebells. The intricate flower heads of Yellow Archangels resemble orchids, and although we toyed with the idea of buying seeds for the garden, it spreads very easily and is best enjoyed in the wild.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Bluebells thrive in dry conditions like spring 2022, because they have deep roots, which push bulbs further down, enabling access to moisture and providing protection from sub-zero temperatures. Although the surface of the Sussex Weald is currently rock hard, the underlying clay holds moisture well. While gardeners need to water their plants daily, bluebells give themselves a head start with their ingenious ecology.<br /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The best way to photograph bluebells and other woodland flowers in close detail is to use a telephoto lens. Lenses with a long reach allow the photographer to get close, without physically trampling on bluebells. If I can't get close enough, even with a 500mm lens, it is sometimes possible to reach the subject by stepping into bare patches of ground or carefully walking over fallen tree trunks to get a closer perspective.<br /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/v3UB0o" title="Ferns in Bluebell Wood"><img alt="Ferns in Bluebell Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52041427410_e49180dfbd_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/ZPATm3" title="Hornbeam Forest in Spring"><img alt="Hornbeam Forest in Spring" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52050537166_f58f07704e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/64Xc27" title="Open Bluebells, Abbots Wood"><img alt="Open Bluebells, Abbots Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52036740838_b4ea3c5843_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">On my way back to the railway station one evening, I noticed that logging work created an open space for bluebells to thrive in full sun. The bulbs were already in the ground when the original trees were felled. Poor historical planting practices left many parts of the wood far too dense, preventing ground plants from establishing themselves. The wonderful sight of bluebells thriving on open ground is in welcome contrast to the dark, silent plantations elsewhere.<br /></span>
</div>
<p> </p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Rg4Pp8" title="Woodland Glade Bluebells"><img alt="Woodland Glade Bluebells" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52048519168_68af7b773c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <br /></p>
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/F56977" title="Oak and Hornbeam Woodland"><img alt="Oak and Hornbeam Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52041502340_312489bcb0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <br /></p>
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/x5wAn0" title="Evening Light, Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="Evening Light, Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52041170379_b2cef71107_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">From the railways to the destination woodland, I carried around 14 kg of equipment for roughly 4 miles each way, completing 22000 steps in 6 hours. That took a lot out of me, but the experience was incredibly good for my physical and mental health. Spending time in this beautiful bluebell woodland, with its mild Hyacinth-like scent, was immensely enjoyable. I've been showing these photos to my mother on the laptop, and she really wanted to enjoy the bluebells with me. It's a great thing that I can bring the bluebell wood to my mother — both as a photo essay and the 200 bulbs I'm going to plant in the garden this autumn. Now, it's time to say thank you, Mother Nature for another bluebell season and cheers to Mother MacKenzie for the Rioja we're going to share over dinner this evening!</span></p><p></p>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-75657024394054830262021-06-19T08:16:00.024+01:002021-07-12T10:17:21.295+01:00Early Summer Roe Deer Project - June 2021<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I felt like a fraud at first, but I returned to the deer meadow in 2021 by train and bike. Last year's prohibitions on the use of public transport for non-essential journeys meant completing the entire 52 mile round trip by bicycle. I can now step off the train and cycle to the nature reserve, but I still get 8 miles of cycling. I am drawn to the meadow in early June because an explosion of wildflowers attracts Roe deer from surrounding land to feed, raise young and establish territory for the rutting season. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I've struck lucky with a tolerant older buck this summer (see below). At first, I thought he was the same buck from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48048547876/" target="_blank">2019</a> and 2020, but they are probably just related. He was a little nervous on the first encounter. The buck got up, ate as many buttercups as he could and moved to a different spot nearby. It's almost as if was hedging his bets. My presence didn't frighten him, but the deer stocked up on energy in case I turned out to be one of the unfortunate recent disruptive human visitors, whose noisy activity prevented deer from grazing in their meadow.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Male roe deer are very territorial in summer, so with the right approach, it's relatively easy to spend time photographing them. Roe deer would obviously prefer not to have my company at all, but they will continue with their activity if they can see me at all times and I don't try to hide</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> The paradox at this particular site is that while humans disturb the roe every day, if it wasn't for human visitors, the roe wouldn't have learned to tolerate quiet observers nearby with a camera. However, the presence of humans and dogs reduces the chance of observing roe interacting with one another. I am therefore mostly limited to watching single deer. If only I could persuade the council to seal off the entire reserve every June!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/T8m1jQ" title="R O E B U C K"><img alt="R O E B U C K" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51234067024_1af3bda9e8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/q5tqvX" title="Mature roe deer buck eating buttercups"><img alt="Mature roe deer buck eating buttercups" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51234359825_f914f96ce9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6KeBU2" title="Yawning Roe deer"><img alt="Yawning Roe deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51233639113_5574baea88_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/45c9B4" title="Deer"><img alt="Mr Roe Deer" height="2048" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51233330511_03f41b7629_k.jpg" width="1365" /></a> </div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/47Gc5Z" title="Mr Buck sitting down"><img alt="Mr Buck sitting down" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51244922596_3cee359b77_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <div><br /><div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/iH974K" title="Mr Roebuck out for salad"><img alt="Mr Roebuck out for salad" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51255314099_10c95ea07d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><div> </div></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/pnt5c0" title="Mr Buck eating buttercups"><img alt="Mr Buck eating buttercups" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51239150492_bf73d16a11_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/KY39TZ" title="Roe deer mother and kid"><img alt="Roe deer mother and kid" height="2048" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51222112516_0b01a8cf00_k.jpg" width="1365" /></a> </div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/paTwAN" title="Roe deer mother and kid suckling"><img alt="Roe deer mother and kid suckling" height="2048" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51221414947_6036dac24b_k.jpg" width="1365" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Nature can be a cruel place and this female Roe deer must raise her baby despite being blind in her right eye. In this case, it looks like the condition is caused by a corneal disease. She must consume enough nutrients from the rich meadow to sustain herself and produce milk, which is in regular demand. The meadow looks idyllic in early June and the weather is usually very good, but the reality is that deer have to survive here in all conditions. We humans are fortunate to have evolved large brains and developed advanced technological infrastructure to shield us from the brutal indifference of nature. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Although humans share a common ancestor with Roe deer, we are so different. We live on the same planet, yet humans are so alienated from nature that encounters such as this invite us into a different world. When we humans exit the cocoon of our sedentary, indoor lives and step out into wild places, we are fishes out of water. A wildlife photographer, with knowledge of how to calm roe deer is almost like an astronaut. Extraterrestrial life may or may not exist elsewhere in the universe, but <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2019.2149" target="_blank">intelligent life is probably extremely rare</a>. I often wonder how theoretical aliens would react if they encountered humans. Would they treat us the way humans often treat other animals? All too often, the alien invader mindset affects how humans view nature. A recent BBC video ostensibly showed a woman 'rescuing' her dogs from a bear. It did not occur to the BBC that the bear might have been defending its young from the dogs and that human invasion of natural habitats is forcing wildlife into urban areas.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It was unusual to see a mother and her baby together in daytime, as their extra level of wariness normally keeps them away from public areas. The Kids, as they are known, usually spend daytime hidden in long grass, while the doe feeds. Until early June, the UK endured low temperatures, heavy rainfall and strong winds. Coronavirus restrictions left many people unable to attend large gatherings or go on holiday, so the nature reserve became a site for illegal raves, firework displays, camping and the dumping of rubbish.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It would be dishonest to pretend that we can just carry on with business-as-usual, all the while shielding wildlife inside reservations. It's becoming ever more urgent that in order to keep the planet habitable, vast areas of land need to be returned to the wild. While individual action can make a difference, history shows that only collective action through organised movements can shatter the status quo.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As an environmental injustice, there's a similarity between the settler-colonialist mindset and the theft of natural habitats from its native life. When a group takes land and resources at the expense of another, the relationship between indigenous people and their environment is broken. In the global south we see all surface life forms evicted from areas of land and their life support systems destroyed to grow produce demanded by consumers in the global north. This happens most often on the level of nation-states and corporations, but also on a more personal level, like the human supremacists who recently disrupted the lives of wild animals here just to satisfy their temporary urges. Someone just decided "I want fire a shotgun every 30 seconds for six hours" or "I want to have a rave and invite hundreds of people". That meant birds and other animals couldn't gather food for their young until the people stopped. Worse still, the possibility of a vast construction project could one day see the entire nature reserve destroyed. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Perhaps the daytime appearance of the mother and her baby was a sign of nature catching up on lost time whenever an opportunity arose. It certainly helped that the temperature reached 27°C in a sudden transition to summer <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> a good 20 degrees warmer than on my visit to a nearby forest in late May, when I spent 2 hours shivering under a tree in torrential rain. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1QWiK4" title="One-eyed Roe Buck"><img alt="One-eyed Roe Buck" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51222239162_a19428d9ac_h.jpg" width="1066" /></a>
<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I was upset to see that this familiar face had lost his right eye, most probably in an accident. Bucks can injure each other with their antlers during fights. It's also possible that his eye was damaged by a sharp object, such as a branch. Human eyes can detect three colours <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> red, green and blue, but roe deer see the world in shades of green and blue. They aren't so good at identifying still subjects, but will easily spot movement. Wild animals are genetically hardwired to be stoic. The buck adapted to his new disability. I found him picking out buttercups and reaching up to eat leaves from low-hanging branches. I first spotted him in 2016, when he was about two years old. Whenever I see him, his grey-white face reminds me of the moon. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48042501772/" target="_blank">He rarely strays from one particular field</a> and wil</span><span>l</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> be the father to many of the roe seen in the meadow. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div> <div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3FT88M" title="Gazelle-like Roe Deer"><img alt="Gazelle-like Roe Deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51235532974_ab659cfd70_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">This exotic-looking supermodel is the new kid on the block. I saw a female version of him dart across a field in 2019. They both have chiseled features, great facial symmetry and a gazelle-like appearance. They are probably related. There was nothing I could do about his state of alarm (see raised fur on posterior) and he didn't stick around for long. He appeared again on a sunny evening around the periphery of a field used to graze horses, but it's likely that older, more dominant bucks will chase him off.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/51306311723/in/dateposted-public/" title="Mature Roe Deer Buck"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51306311723_a5f2a0da25_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1067" alt="Mature Roe Deer Buck"></a></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4G7YD3" title="Roe deer looking observant"><img alt="Roe deer looking observant" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51236582080_ad542b707c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/s545g3" title="Roe Buck Side"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51271572140_6c16b66b74_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1066" alt="Roe Buck Side"></a><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2m0B39" title="Grazing Roebuck"><img alt="Grazing Roebuck" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51238236012_0b4e532dcc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The mature buck appeared once again on Tuesday evening near to where I saw him on Monday. Although he spent about a minute staring into the camera, he became relaxed more quickly this time. Everyone loves images of roe looking directly at the camera, but this is not their natural behaviour. The next two images show him losing interest, as he looks to visit the buttercups to his left. Roe are drawn to this particular location, because of the flowers and its proximity to hide and observe places under trees. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It pays to understand that roe have limited fat reserves to waste on escaping when they don't need to and they will accept quiet, predictable human observers. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">After 25 minutes, the deer became distracted by people nearby and shortly afterwards bolted across to the adjacent field when chased by a dog. When I asked the owner to keep his dog on a lead, he told me to 'f*ck off' and raised his middle finger. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On another day, I spotted the doe and her baby at 5pm in a field used frequently by dog walkers. As a partially blind mother and vulnerable baby, they were sitting ducks to some of the characters about and </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I feared for their safety</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">. I could have taken advantage of a photo opportunity, but I instead semi-circled them to purposely usher the pair into a privately-owned field. My trick worked. The mother appeared, but had left the baby safely in a thick hedge. Hopefully, the pair will soon escape the attention of dogs, as the grass grows long enough to completely obscure them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The unfortunate character responsible for suggesting procreation is not typical of the area. It's true that boredom attracted visitors, who would otherwise be attending various forms of purchased entertainment, but they've gone now. People here are quite down to earth, welcoming and considerate. Much more so than Brighton. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I love visiting the nature reserve so much, that I may even consider moving up here when I'm older and make Roe deer a lifetime project. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">My experience of living in Brighton is another topic, but I don't feel comfortable using my camera in the city because of all the negative and hostile reactions from people. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/88Si2K" title="Summer Orchid Meadow"><img alt="Summer Orchid Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51251782241_9c56123b9a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The deer meadow is home to many wild flowers and plants. I found these mesmerising orchids, hidden within a large group of Dill plants. The orchids wouldn't have looked out of place in a fully-staffed garden. Unfortunately, sunny conditions and 28°C temperatures broke down as the heatwave ended. I photographed these orchids in rain, which became so heavy, I was forced to pack my camera away and conceive an alternative plan for getting home. This meant cycling in torrential rain through dark suburban roads, which were under several cm of water to the nearest railway station and changing for a service to Brighton. Not the way I wanted to end this year's adventures in the meadow, but according to the rainfall radar, the earliest time for the rain to clear was about 11pm.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div> </div><div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/z759A1" title="Roe in buttercups"><img alt="Roe in buttercups" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51244010472_37208db4e8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <div> <div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I hope you've enjoyed my early summer roe deer photos as much as I've enjoyed taking them. This is always the project I love the most and feel the saddest about having to stop. Traffic to this site is now very small due to tech giants skewing their algorithms towards credentialed, 'trustworthy' internet brands to the detriment of what they deem 'marginal content'. Ten years ago, the internet was briefly a much more open space to express ideas and attract engagement, where all traffic had equal priority, but this has changed, ostensibly to filter out 'fake news' and deliver 'relevant' content to people. I am currently verifying my site in the Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submitting a sitemap and requesting page indexing to help people find my work, but I am not hopeful this will lead to increased traffic or meaningful interaction.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The one place my work still thrives is <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/" target="_blank">good old Flickr</a>, which is a platform that makes an effort to treat each post equally. I have a strong following there and I don't feel that I'm being manipulated or algorithmed into oblivion because my content is not 'optimised'. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In any case, if you do happen to like my photos, please add my site to your bookmarks and leave a comment.</span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://www.alanmackenziephotography.com">www.alanmackenziephotography.com</a></span></div>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-21508509674695852012021-05-02T23:04:00.016+01:002021-06-19T07:52:42.488+01:00Best of Bluebells: 2013 - 2021<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The UK hasn't enjoyed the best of spring weather in 2021. Below average temperatures and lack of rainfall left flora about 20 days behind normal growth levels. Climate change is now causing high pressure systems to stall, resulting in long periods of dry, but above or below average temperatures. Apart from three recent visits to Abbot's Wood, limited opportunities for taking pictures this spring prompted me to look back on the many arduous memories of trips to bluebell woodlands over the last eight years, excluding 2020 because of the pandemic. Seeing trees and the forest floor wake up signals the end of winter and the start of a new growing season for birds, mammals and plants.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/26863371261/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebell Woodland, West Sussex"><img alt="Bluebell Woodland, West Sussex" height="1064" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7343/26863371261_3301af0bf2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Mid-Sussex, May 2016.</span></div><div> <div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/26141017794/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebells, Abbots Wood"><img alt="Bluebells, Abbots Wood" height="1060" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1679/26141017794_d9fc1a376f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Abbot's Wood, East Sussex, April 2016.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/46923599715/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebells in Abbots Wood"><img alt="Bluebells in Abbots Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46923599715_58691f933a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Abbot's Wood, East Sussex, April 2019.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/41134087442/in/dateposted-public/" title="Dockey Bluebells"><img alt="Dockey Bluebells" height="958" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/794/41134087442_76bf0fd902_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Dockey Wood, Buckinghamshire, April 2015.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47771677682/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe Deer in Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="Roe Deer in Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47771677682_18b8faee87_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Itchen Wood, Hampshire, April 2019.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49690120562/in/dateposted-public/" title="Micheldever Bluebells"><img alt="Micheldever Bluebells" height="863" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49690120562_06bef03dad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Micheldever Wood, Hampshire, April 2019.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/40850522103/in/dateposted-public/" title="High Weald Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="High Weald Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40850522103_593af01538_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Mid Sussex, May 2019.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49755397963/in/dateposted-public/" title="West Sussex Bluebell Wood and Stream"><img alt="West Sussex Bluebell Wood and Stream" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49755397963_b9e0ed7d83_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Mid-Sussex, May 2019.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/zJ9i8o" title="Roe deer eating oak leaves in bluebell wood"><img alt="Roe deer eating oak leaves in bluebell wood" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49698260183_4b4b29cd66_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Mid-Sussex, May 2019.</span></div><div> <a bluebells="" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/8698505456/title="><img alt="Bluebells" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8137/8698505456_ad604333c4_h.jpg" width="1592" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Lower Stumble Wood, West Sussex, April 2013.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/26696631583/in/dateposted-public/" title="Budding Bluebells"><img alt="Budding Bluebells" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7349/26696631583_d7ff6e8927_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Abbot's Wood, East Sussex, April 2016.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/27014887742/in/dateposted-public/" title="To the Nines"><img alt="To the Nines" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7480/27014887742_2dbcad84ee_h.jpg" width="1282" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">West Wepham Wood, West Sussex, May 2016.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/41494908782/in/dateposted-public/" title="Uncoiling ferns and bluebells"><img alt="Uncoiling ferns and bluebells" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/912/41494908782_1251020780_h.jpg" width="1080" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Wellgrove Wood, West Sussex, April 2014.</span></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/32777546627/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebells in Beech Woodland"><img alt="Bluebells in Beech Woodland" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/32777546627_da40155ac7_h.jpg" width="1119" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">West Wepham Wood, West Sussex, May 2016.</span></div><div> <div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/G4636r" title="Bluebells, Wood Anemones and Oak, Abbot's Wood"><img alt="Bluebells, Wood Anemones and Oak, Abbot's Wood" height="2048" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51150394400_3d07e7cf62_k.jpg" width="1365" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Highlands Wood, East Sussex, April 2021.</span></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I had booked leave in anticipation of another early bloom in 2021, but cold, dry spring weather led to bluebells and leaf cover being delayed. I turned my attention to birds at Cuckmere Haven and Woods Mill Nature Reserve, just as temperatures reached average levels. After one week of sunshine, this was just enough to bring out wood anemones and bluebells in the predominately Hornbeam populated Abbot's Wood, in East Sussex. It's always a good idea to say hello to local people, who walk in the area every day. Thanks to the directions provided by two Irish women out with their dogs, I located a hidden bluebell wood to the north, called Highlands Wood. If I hadn't spoken to them or passed at a different time, I'd never have discovered this hidden gem, known only to people who've been walking here for longer than anyone else. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The woodland experience took me out of reality and into a much better space, worth mentally replaying for days afterwards.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As with other detail shots on this page, I used a super-telephoto lens to compress several visual elements spaced many metres apart in a single frame. People often feel bowled over by bluebell woods and excitedly abandon basic compositional techniques on a trigger-happy binge, but this doesn't matter much. I'm sure there are many activities I would enjoy without being good at them and the last thing I'd want is an expert telling me how to 'improve'. Too many people don't have hobbies because they're afraid of being bad at them, but my advice is to enjoy your interest in photography whatever 'level' you're at. Being good at something has enough downsides not to recommend it </span><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> I carried a bag many people could barely lift off the ground for a total of ten miles from Polegate Station and back. Sometimes, I wake up in the morning, having made plans, only to cancel them and stay in my pyjamas all day.</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/AFx391" title="Hornbeam tree in evening sunshine, Highlands Wood."><img alt="Hornbeam tree in evening sunshine, Highlands Wood." height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51150442938_309e54b70d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </div><div> <img alt="Hornbeam Leaves, Abbot's Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51150209791_d8a47dbcef_h.jpg" width="1600" /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9q3j23" title="Blackbird Nest and Eggs, Abbot's Wood"><img alt="Blackbird Nest and Eggs, Abbot's Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51152977532_cdb72af0ef_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/UTZ1gE" title="Robin, Woods Mill Nature Reserve"><img alt="Robin, Woods Mill Nature Reserve" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51149536297_fc67b4b0ee_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Just like the weather, most birds deserted me on my annual leave, but this bold Robin joined me in the hope I might bring out a shovel and dig up some worms. British robins have evolved to seek feeding opportunities within very close proximity to humans. Their European counterparts are wary of humans, but will instead follow wild boar, which also dig up soil. As ever, no-one can rely on the British weather, but it's quite touching when a Robin makes up for everything with a sing-song! I was also delighted to find a nest of Blackbird eggs in the base of a Hornbeam tree. After spending five minutes at the nest, I retreated to watch mum and dad return to their untouched eggs.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">If the mixed weather had a silver-lining, it gave me the opportunity to relax and enjoy my time off. For many, hobbies are a vehicle of social upward mobility rather than a way to unwind from professional responsibilities. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It's no longer enough to cycle in the fresh air, enjoy beautiful scenery and be healthy. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Today, you're not doing it correctly, unless your fitness tracker logs blood oxygen saturation and you aspire to climb hills like a solicitor called Ben, who rides a £5000 carbon-fibre bike at weekends. Consider the</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> amateur photographer, who once hired me to help them move up a league table in a national competition, despite working punishing hours and raising a family. Lost in the chase for validation is the simple pursuit of modest competence. I've spent the last year being hyper-vigilant in daily close contact with non-masked hospital discharge patients, and all without a vaccine. Now that I am fully immunised and able to relax, I want to move away from the </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">professionalisation of leisure time</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">What have I got to prove with my photography?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I took one really good bluebell photo this year, met friendly locals and discovered a new woodland and that's good enough for me. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><b>UPDATE:</b> I enjoyed one final
chance to photograph the bluebells on May 24th in a sheltered
forest valley on the High Weald. My image captured the unusual
lighting conditions that occur when the sun begins to appear
behind very dark clouds. The bluebells here are always late to
flower and can persist until June. By coincidence, my first ever
visit to this magical place was May 24th 2012, when the
temperature reached 27<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">°C</span>. In
contrast, yesterday reached the dizzy heights of 12<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">°C, falling
to 7</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">°C as I sheltered under a tree during a rainstorm. </span></span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The ecology of this woodland differs
from beech dominated woods, such as Micheldever, where dense
leaf cover prevents any competitor plants from growing. The
presence of a stream and late leafing trees allows many plants
to flourish. But heavy clay stops bulbs from growing deep roots.
The bluebells here will never be dense or tall. </span></span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The sun disappears from the bluebell
wood at around 18:00, but my usual evening of deer stalking came
to a prolonged end when a two hour rain deluge left me marooned
a good 30 minutes walk from where I'd chained my bike. I was
forced to pack up and trudge through heavy, saturated ground,
before unchaining the bike and loading the panniers with one
hand, the other holding my umbrella. When the rain finally
stopped, I made my way down to the station. It's not fun
speeding down a wet road at 35mph without mudguards, but at
least my bike got cleaned.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></span></div></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/z49xeC" title="Bluebell Wood and Stream"><img alt="Bluebell Wood and Stream" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51202373978_b0eb6b2dab_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <div><a href="http://www.alanmackenziephotography.com"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">www.alanmackenziephotography.com</span></a></div>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-24093410855096297462021-01-11T09:00:00.068+00:002022-08-30T22:47:07.191+01:00Brighton Starling Murmurations - 2020 / 2021<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Welcome to my starling murmuration essay for 2020/21. I had planned to photograph something else this winter, but I changed my mind on a whim, after going to Brighton Pier a few days after the second lockdown ended. By the forth visit, I had enough creative images to stop and publish the essay </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">— and the twenty images here are from a total of six trips to the pier</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">. Some of my images are highly unusual, and left me wondering how I even managed to take them. Take the first picture <span class="aCOpRe">—</span> a night city motion blur shot of birds and light trails from evening traffic. Shots three and four give us an idea of what a starling murmuration would look like, if photographed from within the atmosphere of Jupiter. The monochromatic motion blur images (ten to eighteen) look like they've been sketched on art paper using a pencil. I captured the strangeness of the murmuration, as it compacted into an oval before unravelling like a rope in pouring rain well after sunset, as most other photographers sheltered under a veranda. All images are single exposures </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">— my camera is set to write data straight from the sensor and I bring the flat, unprocessed raw images to life in Adobe Photoshop. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Phone cameras and apps are so good at automating image workflows, that anyone can take photographs to an acceptable standard, post them to social media and receive hundreds of likes. The demarcation between beginner and expert has become less clear, now that technology has made photography more accessible. My journey as a wildlife photographer began in the absence of friendly validation and the imperative was therefore on me to judge and improve my standards. I have always found taking photographs easy, but so many variables must come together at just the right time, that creating consistently good art requires years of experience to execute. I hope this comes across in my latest photo essay.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Brighton murmurations take a while to gather, particularly in fine weather, as the starlings maximise feeding time before heading over to the pier. I've seen quite a few people turn up early and ask "Is that all there is?" before wandering off disappointed, only to miss breathtaking huge oval-shaped murmurations fly 50 metres overhead 20 minutes later. The murmurations usually reach their peak about 15 minutes after sunset, so keep warm and sit tight. Rain just before sunset can prompt the starlings to gather early and if you're lucky, the sun might come out again when the murmuration reaches peak size. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/uF19iu" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration and Brighton Night Traffic"><img alt="Starling Murmuration and Brighton Night Traffic" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50695744296_1f78a9216a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/D53B7g" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Blurmuration over Brighton Seafront"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration over Brighton Seafront" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50695812391_4600ba320b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/X1R56W" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration at Sunset - Brighton 2020"><img alt="Starling Murmuration at Sunset - Brighton 2020" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50695831927_a5ee89c3d9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/99g8ht" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starlings and Jovian Sky"><img alt="Starlings and Jovian Sky" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50696351732_7013800001_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2KR6y3" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration and Red Sky"><img alt="Starling Murmuration and Red Sky" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50696469662_0a6c0f3d2f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/yQ9j04" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Orange and Grey Sky and Murmuration"><img alt="Orange and Grey Sky and Murmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50698642192_60c1de8697_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/" title="Motion Blur Starling Murmuration"><img alt="Motion Blur Starling Murmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50755731637_226da256fe_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/w1HJ56" title="Brighton Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur"><img alt="Brighton Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50755733002_1ad54fce16_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/q92WF5" title="Starling Motion Blur"><img alt="Starling Motion Blur" height="1017" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50756194257_707fde1f7b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/n5t060" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50707150802_75edb3b0fe_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/eu6Yx3" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50707067711_30c386f0f2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2130hn" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50706334113_b7dc180660_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/28VYR4" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Sausage Shape"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Sausage Shape" height="1011" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50709335257_e8757e18d8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/RLwE29" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50708525258_0303ae7a90_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/zBnotB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50708523068_36d5519911_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/p2kdPh" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50709337702_1b66f6daff_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/0F4KHP" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50708520153_f66f98ce35_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/12DwR3" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal"><img alt="Starling Murmuration - Motion Blur - Minimal" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50709252136_802c650893_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">
</span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/7E8h04" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" title="Starling Motion Blur and Waves"><img alt="Starling Motion Blur and Waves" height="1013" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50709948293_7cb6684ead_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/72pqZD" title="Starling Blurmuration over Sea"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration over Sea" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50723164443_0934e478f9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><b>Technical Specs:</b> I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 IS L USM lens handheld for all shots. To prevent the lens focus from jumping from the starlings to the background, I reduced the focus tracking sensitivity to the lowest setting. Murmurations change direction and speed erratically, so I increased the autofocus acceleration/deceleration sensitivity to the highest setting. Low sun angles and vivid skies increase the risk of blown out highlights, so for the images shot at high shutter speeds, I turned on Highlight Tone Priority. I set my camera to shutter priority and used 1/13th second for the motion blur images, adjusting the ISO from 50 to 400, depending on the light levels.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I hope you've enjoyed my starling murmuration photo essay for winter 2020/21. Your comments are always appreciated. It would be great to see your starling murmuration shots, at Brighton Pier or any of the other places around Europe known for starlings, so don't forget to include a link. Let's hope 2021 will prove to be a better year than 2020. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you receive one of the various experimental coronavirus injections soon and everyone can safely return to the activities we enjoy!</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Like me on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/alanmackenziephotography">www.facebook.com/alanmackenziephotography</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.alanmackenziephotography.com"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">www.alanmackenziephotography.com</span></a></div><p></p>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-48208149183970682552020-12-20T18:24:00.051+00:002023-01-30T11:11:12.757+00:00Photos of the Year — 2020<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49886057911/in/dateposted-public/" title="Downland Path"><img alt="Downland Path" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49886057911_502c79f506_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Obviously, 2020 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons and wherever you are in the world, I hope you stay safe. I was unlucky enough to suffer fever, body aches, a dry cough, loss of taste and smell and confusion back in March. An NHS laboratory test in November confirmed the presence of Covid-19 antibodies in my blood. If there's a silver lining, I still had antibodies (at the time of testing) some <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/01/06/1015822/covid-19-immunity-likely-lasts-for-years/" target="_blank">8 months after recovery</a> and they should confer at least some immunity. Since I am on the priority list due to my job in adult social care, I expect to receive my first injection in the new year. Sadly, not everyone was lucky enough to recover unharmed. I have met several older adults, who nearly died from Covid-19, along with younger people in my age group, who display symptoms of 'Long Covid'.
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">2020 was a year in which many of us attended more closely to our health. I dropped 17 kg using diet and exercise and this winter, I'm walking 8 miles, several times per week. And the weight has not rebounded either. I've had influenza many times and it's a horrible illness, but I got vaccinated for the first time this year to protect myself and help my wonderful colleagues in the NHS. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The most memorable thing I achieved in 2020 was photography-related, but it actually involved cycling all the way up to the Sussex/Surrey border (five times), carrying 20 kg of photography equipment. The return trip is 52 miles and if anything, using an electric bike makes this type of journey feasible. The typical kneejerk response to e-bikes, is that they are 'cheating', but a 20 kg bike plus a heavy payload feels like anything but. Using the lowest two assistance levels, the battery indicator dropped from 100% to 40% by the time I returned home. The route had steep climbs, particularly from Bolney to Warninglid, Staplefield to Pease Pottage and a good workout at Tilgate on the way back. After completing 5 hours of wildlife photography, the trip was only half-complete and I would begin my journey home in practically another county. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Every climb became a descent in the opposite direction and it was fun speeding along country lanes at 30mph, although I had to purchase an ultra-bright LED light for unlit roads. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I would stop beside the A23 near Warninglid for a water break, popping grapes as lorries headed northbound, knowing dinner would have to wait until 11.30pm. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Nymans Gardens, temporarily closed, Staplefield Cricket Club, the drain cover at Bolney, 30 mph and half-way home, speeding through Pond Wood and dodging branches, Brighton 11 at Travelodge Hickstead, freewheeling past Braypool, battery bar two.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It was tiring and frankly, when I look back, I can't quite believe I put in all that effort,</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">but despite all of this, </span><a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2020/06/early-summer-roe-deer-project-2020.html" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" target="_blank">the photos speak for themselves</a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The cycle rides to Friston Forest were a little more sedate. There's nothing more lovely than starting your return journey in a beautiful forest and ending the ride along Brighton's wonderful seafront. I was very pleased to photograph a doe along the southern end of Friston Forest and capture a pair of Marbled White butterflies an hour later in a huge meadow. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I was of course delighted to finally capture a high quality image of the famous and elusive Purple Emperor butterfly at the Knepp Estate. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">I broke my speed record on the way to Knepp </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> Saddlescombe Road, near Devil's Dyke is an absurdly steep hill on the South Downs and I reached 51mph downhill. I could have gone faster, but that's quite enough! And an impatient van driver still overtook me. No matter where you are, observing the upper end of 20/30/40mph speed limits, drivers still have to gain advantage by overtaking. </span></div><div><br /></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49947971126/in/dateposted-public/" title="The Sun and the Rainfall"><img alt="The Sun and the Rainfall" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49947971126_d05c75983c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50012067032/in/pool-3158571@N21" title="View of the South Downs from Waterpit Hill"><img alt="View of the South Downs from Waterpit Hill" height="1018" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50012067032_8d0c0582e6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49824235703/in/dateposted/" title="Chestnut Leaves"><img alt="Chestnut Leaves" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49824235703_4453612dc7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50187604851/in/dateposted-public/" title="Young Badger"><img alt="Young Badger" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50187604851_043348b2b9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50063996493/in/dateposted-public/" title="Mature Roe Buck in Summer Meadow"><img alt="Mature Roe Buck in Summer Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50063996493_8aa264b38c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50122014406/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe Deer, Friston Forest"><img alt="Roe Deer, Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50122014406_10574bce0d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50444277812/in/dateposted-public/" title="Marbled Whites (male and female) Friston Gallops"><img alt="Marbled Whites (male and female) Friston Gallops" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50444277812_3a601876a4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50244011587/in/dateposted-public/" title="Purple Emperor, Knepp Estate"><img alt="Purple Emperor, Knepp Estate" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50244011587_c14c26ca50_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50593015296/in/dateposted-public/" title="High Weald Rocks, Hot September"><img alt="High Weald Rocks, Hot September" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50593015296_48b0aed3d7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/478c7J" title="Fly Agaric in Woodland at Sunset"><img alt="Fly Agaric in Woodland at Sunset" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50534014438_a78533706a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/agV5kT" title="Beech Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Beech Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50544019818_572da3347e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49419007912/in/dateposted/" title="Starling Blur"><img alt="Starling Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49419007912_38e8bdd596_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Thank you for taking the time to look at my pick of 2020 in photos. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The strict lockdown in April meant I couldn't visit Micheldever Wood in Hampshire as planned, but I will hopefully see the bluebells again in 2021, even if they are closer to home in West Sussex.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> I'm near to completing a new starling murmuration photo essay and I hope you come back in early January to enjoy it. Meanwhile, there's always a reason for a Riesling and I think I'm entitled to pour myself a generous glass of a wine variety, that I could not taste at all when I had Covid-19. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://www.alanmackenziephotography.com">www.alanmackenziephotography.com</a></span></div>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-18853700893185348442020-11-05T19:18:00.007+00:002021-01-05T17:41:26.437+00:00Autumn Colours in East Sussex<div style="text-align: justify;"><span data-offset-key="7vtap-0-0" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">No-one could say I didn't take advantage of limited opportunities to photograph the beautiful autumn colours of 2020. With frequent wet weather and the use of public transport restricted, I was left with just three days of suitable outdoor conditions. If you want a respite from the terrible events happening around the world, you've come to the right place, because I've photographed some wonderful places in my home county of East Sussex. From the tiny village of Little Horsted and its surrounding ancient woodlands to the High Weald rocks on the Kent border, I've discovered landscapes challenging Dartmoor and the New Forest. I hope you enjoy my autumn photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!</span></div> <div><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/v83tx1" title="Autumn Woodland - 22nd October 2020"><img alt="Autumn Woodland - 22nd October 2020" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50519628016_89fe32ca8e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/K803g9" title="Autumn Woodland - 22nd October 2020"><img alt="Autumn Woodland - 22nd October 2020" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50518908273_4489281eba_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/b7b441" title="Autumn Woodland - 22nd October 2020"><img alt="Autumn Woodland - 22nd October 2020" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50519803517_09d475c11d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/fkt6SK" title="Autumn Woodland, Little Horsted"><img alt="Autumn Woodland, Little Horsted" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50534016423_612da329b9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4q5Kmk" title="Autumn Woodland, Little Horsted"><img alt="Autumn Woodland, Little Horsted" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50534743911_11a46447c0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50802978951/" title="Fly Agaric in Woodland at Sunset"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50802978951_fdc1696427_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1067" alt="Fly Agaric in Woodland at Sunset"></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Es909v" title="Fallow Deer in Autumn Woodland"><img alt="Fallow Deer in Autumn Woodland" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50541901707_3c019f08f5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/ey0vn8" title="Beech Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Beech Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50544019818_572da3347e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/66oTeC" title="Beech Leaves in Autumn"><img alt="Beech Leaves in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50541901107_03981cbae5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9gj65B" title="Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted"><img alt="Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50535343608_694cb9227e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/0HL2PF" title="Multicolour Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted"><img alt="Multicolour Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50536191142_76f3570c06_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/dr8318" title="Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted"><img alt="Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50534897737_2dac404896_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/X7d3s8" title="Vivid Japanse Maple Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted"><img alt="Vivid Japanse Maple Autumn Leaves, Little Horsted" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50534746136_bc03c6739a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-87891437723011853012020-09-23T09:05:00.004+01:002020-11-27T10:04:31.634+00:00Early autumn colours in 2020 brought on by changing climate<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Apologies to anyone expecting a late summer Roe deer project this year. I cycled 260 miles to produce the last one in June, followed by a butterfly project over July. This was my annual leave and I didn't want to spend the entire summer working. I find landscape photography very relaxing, especially compared to pedaling an eBike and payload weighing a combined 40kg over 50 miles in one day. Believe me, riding an eBike is not 'cheating' or 'easy'. It just makes the journey feasible! I am allowed to use public transport now, although the situation may change soon, due to surging Covid-19 infection rates. I may be returning to the saddle sooner than expected!</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The United Kingdom is warmer than it should be for its latitude, due to Atlantic ocean currents, although the British climate is known for being cool and rainy. The period 2015 - 2020 is about 1.2<span style="background-color: white;">°C warmer globally than pre-industrial levels. South-east England is noticeably warmer today, with mild and wet winters and increasingly dry summers. Ten years ago, in Brighton and Hove, where I live, temperatures of 26</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">°C would be a talking point. Five years ago, that increased to 29</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">°C. Southerly sea-breezes would always keep maximum temperatures down, compared to inland Sussex. Easterly winds in July 2018 allowed the mercury to reach 31</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">°C, with the same temperature recorded in July 2019. August 2020 brought four days in excess of 30</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">°C, with hot northerly winds creating a new record of 33</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">°C at Shoreham Airport on 9th August. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The side-effects of climate change are quite pleasant for many of us in southern England. It's tempting to believe everything is fine, even as wildfires ravage California, Argentina, the Amazon and Siberia. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Since we are dependent on capitalism to meet all our basic needs, many of us find it difficult to step outside of the little black ideological boxes we have grown up in. The so-called 'mainstream' media prime us to imagine that alternatives to capitalism are either Soviet-style bread queues or reverting back to the Stone Age. This mental paralysis leads us to accept a world in which a tree, rhino or pangolin is worth more dead than alive, where entire landscapes are razed to extract fossil fuels and minerals or to grow soya and produce palm oil. Everything mundane and every organism is a marketplace, to be used for profit-extraction by psychopathic corporations. The event horizon is getting nearer. Generation Z could grow old in a perfect storm of climate breakdown, ecological collapse, conflict over who controls dwindling resources and pandemic disease.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/oqW1rn" title="High Weald Rocks in August"><img alt="High Weald Rocks in August" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50187719876_22d76aef0f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2oxy5J" title="Summer Evening on High Weald Rocks"><img alt="Summer Evening on High Weald Rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50201841026_b79f3fc737_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/v90E50" title="Early autumn colours in summer"><img alt="Early autumn colours in summer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50367163176_b5e6da51d7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I photographed these two scenes just one week apart (August 6th and August 13th). During this period, the area (Sussex/Kent border) experienced six days, where the temperature reached 33 - 35<span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156;">°</span>C. Parts of south-east England received about 60% below average rainfall for the period April - August 2020. The August heatwave triggered early autumn colours from already drought-stressed trees and ferns. In Brighton and Hove, many leaves simply withered away and disintegrated, leaving trees bare several weeks before they usually begin turning yellow. Some trees in the city have had November colours since July, while others look dead. Any rain that fell, quickly evaporated in strong, dry winds. Caterpillars this summer may struggle to fatten themselves up for pupation. With flash-flooding in winter and drought in summer, farmers increasingly report soil erosion, waterlogged fields and decreased crop yields. As south-east England makes a transition to a warm summer climate with a dry season, many native animals reliant on summer vegetation may not adapt.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The ferns below should remain green well into September, but they had late-October colouring by August 13th. The fern fronds were completely dead when I returned one month later. Vegetation in exposed sites like this stand no chance during prolonged spells of dry, hot weather. The Forestry Commission erected posters warning visitors not to light fires or drop cigarettes. Had a fire broken out, the strong winds that defined summer 2020 would have left the forest razed to cinders. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/0MQ272" title="Effects of drought and heat on heather and ferns"><img alt="Effects of drought and heat on heather and ferns" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50226554061_0dc83c3614_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/86520H" title="High Weald Rocks, Hot September"><img alt="High Weald Rocks, Hot September" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50345003997_98f98d3769_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/gB80Y3" title="Sundown on High Weald rocks"><img alt="Sundown on High Weald rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50367251587_58280fe3e6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/P4JB0X" title="Sundown on High Weald rocks"><img alt="Sundown on High Weald rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50367252862_93912e31b1_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Friston Forest (see below) is nearer to the south coast and therefore one would expect it to be cooler, but the nearest weather station still recorded 32 - 34°C over six successive days. The forest remains green, because beech trees are more resilient to heat and drought than birch, chestnut, oak and ferns. Since Friston Forest is quite dense, the canopy serves to cool temperatures enough to prevent sun scorching.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/56466W" title="Friston Forest in September"><img alt="Friston Forest in September" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50370591816_de0d008c68_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6yyQXm" title="Friston Forest in September"><img alt="Friston Forest in September" height="1365" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50372457772_78bd2fc3b0_k.jpg" width="2048" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5Xx41a" title="Friston Forest in September"><img alt="Friston Forest in September" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50370752882_f3e299219f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I can't promise anything this autumn due to the rapidly changing lockdown rules. It's likely that use of public transport will once again be restricted to essential travel only. Chailey Common is within relatively easy reach for mushrooms and toadstools. I explored woodlands near Uckfield last autumn. Unless new rules prevent <i>any</i> non-essential travel, I expect to be cycling to my destinations this autumn. </span></div>
Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-54980079077637704512020-07-18T08:35:00.003+01:002021-06-19T07:56:27.914+01:00The Sussex Butterfly Safari 2020<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Welcome to my summer butterfly project for 2020, which, like my Roe deer essay last month, was completed by travelling many miles on my bicycle from one end of Sussex to another. Locations include the Knepp Estate, Malling Down Nature Reserve, Castle Hill National Nature Reserve and Friston Forest. The summer butterfly season is always something I look forward to, despite the intensely farmed, vandalised UK only having 59 species, many of which are hard to find. I had booked leave for the Orange Tip and Pearl-bordered Fritillary this spring, but the UK was in lockdown and sadly I missed out. It was just as well I'd spent time on butterflies before my holiday. Although my first visit to Knepp took place in hot, sunny weather, conditions deteriorated a few days later, as gales swept across the country. The weather improved just as my time off ended, forcing me to use spare evenings and days off to complete the project.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Big Butterfly Count.</span></span></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50244011587/stats" title="Purple Emperor, Knepp Estate"><img alt="Purple Emperor, Knepp Estate" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50244011587_c14c26ca50_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/g07JRc" title="Purple Emperor, Knepp"><img alt="Purple Emperor, Knepp" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50052050182_507e5d64ff_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Purple Emperor will be familiar to any UK butterfly enthusiast, but many people will have only vaguely heard of the species. Open-winged males are an iridescent blue when the sun is at the right angle, while females are brown. Many wildlife photographers would place getting a high quality shot, especially open winged males, near the top of their lifetime bucket list. It is very elusive and mostly confined to oak woodlands with accompanying Goat Willow and Grey Willow in central southern England. Adults feed on aphid honeydew, although they occasionally land on paths to feed on essential minerals. They love fresh animal dung or anything revolting. Males are very aggressive and territorial and will attack anything from each other to medium-sized birds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My favourite place to spot Purple Emperors at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, is towards the top end of a north-south path, where the oak trees are much younger and smaller. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although the Purple Emperor is the UK's second largest butterfly, you still need to be fairly close, even with 700mm of focal length at your disposal. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> High temperatures and easterly winds on 24th June 2020 led to the butterflies perching on these lower, west-facing branches. My arrival after 4pm meant I was well placed to observe them bathed in early evening sunlight. Last year, I tried and failed to photograph the Emperors in south-westerly winds, because I was looking in the wrong place! The butterflies would have been perching on the east-facing branches, but my novice thinking couldn't grasp that. Given the elusive nature of Purple Emperors, most photographers, including myself, have developed low expectations of what we can achieve. T</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he majority of images we take are low resolution, record shots of Emperors high in the trees.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Few photographers therefore eagerly exchange contact details to share each other's work. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was thrilled to get a side-profile shot to my standard on this special occasion and I hope the people I met see it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had hoped the butterflies would land on the ground to drink soil minerals, but activity from the small, friendly group that had formed around me deterred them. Even 'good' UK sites like Knepp, have very low numbers of Purple Emperors, compared to other European countries. In Ukraine, there are recordings of fifteen Purple Emperors landing on a single dead frog. Another photographer poured a revolting fish paste concoction on the path as bait, but to no avail. Grounded Purple Emperors, like any other butterfly, can be easily disturbed by the over-eager observer. I have never seen one grounded, but I have a specific plan to wait until the butterfly's proboscis is out before I move closer. A feeding butterfly is a preoccupied butterfly. Only then is it safe to make an approach. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6nP1F8" title="Dark Green Fritillary, Friston Forest"><img alt="Dark Green Fritillary, Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50069580353_4e53cd8691_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8TAo6i" title="Dark Green Fritillary, Friston Forest"><img alt="Dark Green Fritillary, Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50069728003_87e636f7e0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/25xjR7" title="Dark Green Fritillary, Friston Forest"><img alt="Dark Green Fritillary, Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50071144601_126988964e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Despite strong winds and sunny intervals persisting into Thursday 2nd July, I cycled off to Friston Forest in search of more butterflies. All photographers make mistakes and I am no exception <span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> forgetting on this occasion to put the memory cards back in my camera! I knew this would happen eventually and I always keep spare 32GB and 16GB backup cards zipped away in my bag, which never get used, except when I'm 18 miles from home on a bike in the middle of a forest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I noticed a decent sized colony of Dark Green Fritillaries in a meadow surrounded on all sides by tall beech trees.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> I will now earmark this meadow as a reliable site for this species. It has the advantage of being a relatively small space, where the butterflies are constricted by geography. In open meadows, this powerful flier can travel a good 100 metres when disturbed, leaving the photographer high and dry. Both sexes were very active, flying from one Knapweed to another, with the females (seen in all 3 photos) periodically basking open-winged near the ground, to attract mates. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Dark Green Fritillary is a habitat specialist, which means it usually isn't found in the open countryside or in private gardens. Although its distribution is widespread, you will only see the species at sites which support it. It feeds on the Common Dog Violet, Hairy Violet and Marsh Violet. As you can see here, it likes the Knapweed and both sexes spent hours feeding on them. I have also seen them feeding on buddleia at Malling Down. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/jQX1uu" title="Dark Green Fritillary (male), Friston Forest"><img alt="Dark Green Fritillary (male), Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50084108628_e9615677c8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/m0r5Du" title="Dark Green Fritillary (male), Friston Forest"><img alt="Dark Green Fritillary (male), Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50084689871_b1bd50c52c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The final day of my holiday just had to be calm, sunny and warm, didn't it? I was planning to visit the Knepp Estate to look for an open-winged male Purple Emperor, but I was advised not to travel. This species roosts in the treetops. Sadly the Purple Emperor lacks the capacity to anticipate mortal danger and most adults at Knepp will have been killed to pieces by the recent nocturnal gales. The 2020 Purple Emperor season at the exposed Knepp site was a disaster, with prospects looking bad for 2021. I was therefore very fortunate in booking my holiday for late June and visiting right at the start of the season. Instead, I rocketed off to Friston Forest, and spent three hours photographing male Dark Green Fritillaries before returning home. There were about 20 of the Dark Green Fritillary and over 50 Marbled Whites, plus two mating Small Skippers and three Small Coppers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The ride to Friston Forest <span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> along Brighton seafront, under the cliffs to Saltdean, through a nature reserve between Newhaven and Seaford and finally down towards the Cuckmere Valley <span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> is a picturesque incentive to ride more often. Having dropped from 95kg to 78kg since January, I can cycle non-stop to Seaford before needing a break. Let's also not forget the therapeutic effects of being close to nature. Having been absent from Friston Forest since last July, I wanted to cycle around the glades for another hour, instead of going home early because I had work in the morning.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/hyRQC9" title="Mating Small Skippers"><img alt="Mating Small Skippers" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50084183688_55b99b27b9_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50122014406/in/dateposted/" title="Roe Deer, Friston Forest"><img alt="Roe Deer, Friston Forest" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50122014406_10574bce0d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With at least the next ten days looking warm and sunny, I felt a sense of urgency to get on my bike and visit Friston Forest again. While I was away, my computer copied 2.5 terabytes of images from an existing external hard drive to a new 5 terabyte drive. I keep three external hard drives off-site in case my primary drives fail or are destroyed. External hard disks with a capacity of 5 terabytes can be purchased in the UK for £95. I would advise any photographer to buy at least two drives and keep one off-site. This is a small price to pay for peace of mind. Imagine having your life work on a single computer and losing all your data in a theft, fire, flood or hardware failure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The wind at Friston Gallops was stronger than expected, so I made my way back into Friston Forest. Very few roe deer manage to elude the corner of my eye and sure enough, despite her best effort at remaining still, the visual anomaly of her beautiful face caught my attention straight away. The doe was obviously quite used to seeing humans and probably expected me, like most other visitors, to just continue walking. At one time, Roe deer were so elusive in Friston Forest, that some local people thought <a href="https://goodmorningseaford.blogspot.com/2008/06/deer-in-friston-forest.html" target="_blank">the sightings were 'a joke' that had been fabricated by 'quacks and weirdos'</a>. I would occasionally spot them myself in the early 2010s, but they were timid creatures. I visited the forest several times in summer 2019 and I saw them so frequently, that Friston Forest can now be classed as a reliable site for Roe deer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was pleased that the doe felt relaxed enough to look away from the camera, as all too often, the presence of a photographer makes the deer nervous, resulting in the animal unnaturally looking straight back at the camera. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4945WS" title="Marbled Whites (male and female) Friston Gallops"><img alt="Marbled Whites (male and female) Friston Gallops" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105045502_e1c99028db_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/8M64r6" title="Male Marbled White, Friston Forest"><img alt="Male Marbled White, Friston Forest" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50104836542_02e2e9eaad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The moderate breeze finally dissipated before sunset, leaving still air at Friston Gallops. There were two Marbled Whites (male and female) roosting on a wild carrot. 2020 was a good year for Marbled Whites, but poor for Chalkhill Blues. The north end of Friston Gallops was teeming them in 2019, but numbers were down this year. The two male Marbled Whites below were photographed at Castle Hill National Nature Reserve in late June. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/06Conc" title="Male Marbled Whites"><img alt="Male Marbled Whites" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50029483101_8cc7ec7f48_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/s7A8n3" title="Peacock Butterfly, South Downs"><img alt="Peacock Butterfly, South Downs" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50036512861_8f56b791cb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50370921082/in/dateposted-public/" title="Peacock Butterfly, South Downs"><img alt="Peacock Butterfly, South Downs" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50370921082_b8bcf9cb4f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Sar681" title="Peacock Butterfly, South Downs"><img alt="Peacock Butterfly, South Downs" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50036513591_915ee85597_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3bx4K4" title="Peacock Butterfly Open Wings"><img alt="Peacock Butterfly Open Wings" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50037440358_0665221f2c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A large group of buddleias attracts colourful summer butterflies at Malling Down Nature Reserve, near Lewes in East Sussex. The westerly aspect is ideal for evening shooting, but the wind needs to be calm. On the two occasions I visited, beautiful Peacocks nectared uninterrupted on abundant flowers, since the aggressive, territorial Red Admirals often seen here were completely preoccupied for the same reasons. This is my go-to local site for the Peacock. I might occasionally see a Wall Brown and Dark Green Fritillary. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/NH3Eq2" title="Comma Butterfly Open Wings"><img alt="Comma Butterfly Open Wings" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50049370128_42f24ab2cb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/kk7nx9" title="Meadow Brown Open Wings"><img alt="Meadow Brown Open Wings" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50048044853_17196fa689_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Big Butterfly Count</span></div>
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Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-77215589597318643882020-06-15T09:29:00.006+01:002021-08-21T08:06:09.511+01:00Early Summer Roe Deer Project 2020<div style="text-align: justify;">Don't miss my roe deer projects from <a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2019/06/early-summer-roe-deer-project-2019.html" target="_blank">2019</a> and <a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2021/06/return-to-deer-meadow-june-2021.html" target="_blank">2021</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">Welcome once again to my annual early summer Roe deer project, which was accomplished this year by cycling 52 miles on five round trips to a reliable site on the Sussex/Surrey border. In previous years, I caught the train to a nearby station and cycled to the nature reserve, but since I am not allowed to use public transport for non-essential journeys, cycling is my only available option. I was nervous about travelling so far by bicycle, due to the risk of coming home with nothing. The free time people have during the lockdown increased the chance of human presence in late evening, just at a time when the deer normally emerge to make the most of the short summer nights. Fortunately, local people here are considerate and they used alternative routes when I signalled to them that wildlife photography was underway. Although the holiday segment of my project began in good weather, Atlantic low pressure systems led to frustration at cancelled trips. I had to schedule visits on my days off to make up for these losses.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">By the third and forth visits, it felt obvious that the cycle journey was becoming routine. My fitness and stamina are much improved and I require fewer stops to rest. Since the new year, I've dropped from 95kg to 81kg and my leg muscles are becoming enlarged. I might keep this up, even when public transport restrictions are eased. Nonetheless, the e-bike and payload is four times heavier than a road bike. I can drink 8 litres of water in a single day and still get dehydrate</span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">d </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> i</span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">nland parts of Sussex, even on an average summer day, are much warmer than Brighton.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif"> Carrying heavy equipment around the reserve for several hours and getting home at 11:30pm took a lot out of me. I've benefited from days off afterwards, as have the deer. They would have quickly become wary of my presence, had I kept turning up night after night, intruding on their activity.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50063996493/in/dateposted-public/" title="Mature Roe Buck in Summer Meadow"><img alt="Mature Roe Buck in Summer Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50063996493_8aa264b38c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Ja1h84" title="The A-Listers"><img alt="The A-Listers" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49973379682_815002f4ee_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">The appearance of this A-List couple in the most attractive part of the meadow was a dream come true. I love how the buck is standing in a gap, as all too often long grasses prevent a clean view. They were briefly distracted by two walkers out for a late stroll and I used this opportunity to get closer. Just like human partners, they displayed 'couple behaviour', such as mirrored body language. Their reactions, travel and body movements were closely linked. The mature buck still hadn't fully shed his winter coat, but he had a fine set of near-symmetrical antlers. I was lucky enough to accidentally tread on a naturally fallen antler here last summer. I took the antler home and after a thorough cleaning, it is now kept in my living room.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Pr2A63" title="I want those oak leaves"><img alt="I want those oak leaves" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49973120676_c7c1d75204_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/FV04Z6" title="Roe Deer. Vegan. Sorted"><img alt="Roe Deer. Vegan. Sorted" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49973121781_78b0cf8750_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">Approaching rain clouds tricked this young, inexperienced doe into thinking it was dusk. She looked nervous for a minute, but she quickly realised I posed no threat and set about looking for oak leaves growing on saplings. Roe deer dislike uncertainty and wildlife photographers hiding behind bushes is the quickest way to make them nervous. If Roe deer can see you are not a threat, they will quickly lose interest. In August 2018, I spent three visits at another site encouraging a young buck to become used to me and I finally managed to sit for half-an-hour within twenty metres of him. The buck even dozed off at one point. When I've presented myself to Roe deer in plain sight, built up a degree of trust and left the scene with the deer feeling calm, I feel like I have earned my right to photograph them. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">If you look at the first picture of the doe eyeing up the oak leaves, you can see how focussed she is, almost like a human staring at a plate of chocolate biscuits. Her body language relaxes slightly in the second picture, as she eats, but she remains focussed on the other leaves. Roe deer are very choosy eaters. I've seen them travel distances over meadows, looking for the most nutritious plants. They are particularly fond of oak leaves and buttercups. And they would eat your garden, too, if you didn't protect it with a fence! </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">After about ten minutes, two groups of walkers appeared, but they exercised restraint when I signalled to them. The size of my lens gave away that something important was happening! I could see the walkers getting their binoculars out to watch the deer from their own vantage points. It was refreshing to see locals in this part of Sussex showing restraint and instead using the opportunity to observe the wildlife for themselves. All too often, in Brighton, residents just walk straight in-front of the camera, frightening the birds and butterflies they too could have enjoyed watching. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/91bv76" title="Roe deer walking through meadow"><img alt="Roe deer walking through meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49984245477_5adc1c8637_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4PG817" title="Female Roe Deer"><img alt="Female Roe Deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49983985901_ed7ed19ada_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49984246902/in/dateposted/" title="Roe deer grooming herself"><img alt="Roe deer grooming herself" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49984246902_bbf05530c4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">I didn't realise it at the time, but I photographed this doe before, in 2016, 2018 and 2019. She is quite laid back for a doe (mothers with young to protect take fewer risks). The doe stopped to look back, before grooming herself and walking off to a neighbouring field. I was so close, that the first picture is full frame and the other two are only slightly cropped. I've started seeing the benefits of the 'silent drive' mode on my camera. The mirror return 'click' in DSLR cameras is the primary reason for making wild animals tense and alert in pictures. The silent mode slows the mirror return speed inside the camera, creating a much softer and quieter</span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif"> sound. The second factor improving my chances of recording natural behaviour is due to the extra 200mm reach from my Canon EF 1.4x MKIII teleconverter. I can stay within the deer's comfort zone and still take high resolution shots, with minimal cropping. The roe deer subsequently spend more time engaging in their natural behaviour, instead of poking their heads up in alarm every time the shutter goes off or losing their nerve, because I am too close.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">In this sequence, we can see the doe's natural behaviour of keeping her head down, to avoid being seen by predators. She was also focussed on potential food sources. The doe stopped, when she saw me, but since I did not give off any predatory behaviour, she lost interest. Foxes bolt very quickly with rare exception when disturbed. Their high calorie meals (small mammals and birds) provide sufficient energy for a quick, immediate departure, but if you're a Roe deer, an hour of foraging may only amount to the same calories from a bag of salad. Roe deer lack body fat reserves and their diet is low in calories, so they won't waste energy running away if they don't have to.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/rDMcK6" title="Roe deer reaching to eat leaves from a branch"><img alt="Roe deer reaching to eat leaves from a branch" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49983754198_f7f5bf17bc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/0416G2" title="Roe deer eating buttercups"><img alt="Roe deer eating buttercups" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49984248507_c804f75019_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">Roe deer normally avoid grazing in fields occupied by domesticated animals, after all, who could blame them for not wanting to eat plants tainted by animal droppings and urine? This doe, seen earlier, fixating on buttercups, finally ventured into the horse field, after rain fell overnight and during the afternoon, cleansing the buttercups. I've often seen roe using their long necks to reach up and eat leaves on branches, but this was the first time I had been close enough to get a picture.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/y462xJ" title="Roe deer standing in trees"><img alt="Roe deer standing in trees" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49984945282_8f04c0b77a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">I'd seen another young doe eating buttercups at the edge of a smaller pasture, before disappearing into the trees. I wandered over, to check if she'd walked into the meadows opposite. My ability to avoid stepping on twigs or accidentally bang my tripod legs on tree trunks has improved since May. I get out of practice over the winter! There she was, biding her time in the trees. She noticed me eventually, but wandered off after working out I wasn't a threat.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2CS2DK" title="Mature Roe Buck in woodland meadow"><img alt="Mature Roe Buck in woodland meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50004609262_ee18290184_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">My fifth visit documented the arrival of a mature buck with three-pronged antlers. His behaviour reminded me of that younger male deer I photographed at another site in August 2018. He was one of those relatively uncommon bucks, who stood his ground and remained quite indifferent, even when I was 20 metres away in plain sight. I unexpectedly encountered this mature buck at the edge of a small wooded area. He turned up again in late evening in an open meadow. I could see him through the long grass and he occasionally looked back at me, despite being very close. This is his territory now. The buck is not going to waste energy moving, just because I am here. But, he did finally get up. More on this later.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/G7U7M2" title="Roe deer in summer meadow"><img alt="Roe deer in summer meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50004897717_df7958d208_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Qy2e9P" title="Roe deer blinking"><img alt="Roe deer blinking" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50003826728_0592921ffc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/GmF276" title="Doe walking through meadow"><img alt="Doe walking through meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50004346436_c25d9e7d53_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">This doe appeared in a quiet spot, popular with deer wanting to browse for leaves without being disturbed. The small meadow is adjacent to a wildlife corridor between fields and acts as a route for deer bypassing areas where disturbance from people is likely. The network of corridors enables deer to travel from one side of the reserve to another, completely unnoticed, as in the case of the mature buck who used the secret routes, reappearing a good 400 metres from where I first saw him.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/K39kG6" title="Doe observing something in the distance"><img alt="Doe observing something in the distance" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50005370436_70bbc88477_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">Showery weather didn't deter the doe I had been cultivating since early in the project from helping herself to more flowers and oak leaves. I've noticed she prefers to graze in the public fields and has not to my knowledge strayed into private land, except once into the field used for grazing horses. She spent a good few minutes observing something in the distance.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/u0509c" title="Great Spotted Woodpecker"><img alt="Great Spotted Woodpecker" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49952072042_898c2679c2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">The Great Spotted Woodpecker chick seen on an earlier visit had flown the nest, but I had the privilege of photographing an adult and juvenile interacting in open sight on a nearby tree. The adult was clearly trying to teach their offspring survival skills and they were so preoccupied, that the photographer standing nearby was an irrelevance. I must remember next year to visit the nature reserve earlier into May to see more of the woodpeckers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/569C7u" title="Mature buck strikes a pose"><img alt="Mature buck strikes a pose" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50005768737_030b85de51_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">The mature roe buck seen earlier in the evening had sat down in the meadow, so I positioned myself in hope he would get up at the anticipated time to begin grazing. I waited and waited and waited, before heading back to where I had chained my bike. Then the King of the Meadow rose at precisely 21:23 and 43 seconds. The light by this time had become so poor, that I knew the image would require a little more adjustment than normal to get it looking right. Viewing the image on my camera LCD, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48048547876/" target="_blank">I recognised the buck from last year</a>. Unless I've just met his twin brother, it's him. If you look at the periphery of his ears and the black markings around the nose, they are exactly the same. Another year older, he is stockier and the new antlers are more developed. Even his body language is the same.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9qd4N7" title="Setting sunlight cast on oak trees"><img alt="Setting sunlight cast on oak trees" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49983483608_824f67cddb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">If I lived nearby, I could have visited the nature reserve more often and told a far more complete story than I possibly could through these often arduous long distance cycle journeys. I've clocked up 260 miles on long ascents and across bumpy and pot-hole riven asphalt. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif">Some of these rides were in blazing hot sunshine, others in driving nighttime rain.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms", sans-serif"> The distance in a straight line is incidentally just four miles shy of Brighton to Barnard Castle, Durham. It's now time to finish the project, relax and pour out a glass of English chardonnay from the Kent Downs. But not before I've started the 2014 Rioja Reserva sitting on my wine rack.</span><br /></div>
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</span>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-78049044782445187322020-04-22T09:00:00.010+01:002023-03-07T06:42:23.430+00:00Don't Mention the Pandemic<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it. In these Unprecedented Times™, I may not be permitted to travel far, due to government orders, which must be obeyed at all times, but there is plenty of beauty in local nature reserves, parks and tree-lined streets. I'm not afraid to go out, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/can-you-catch-coronavirus-twice-you-ll-probably-be-immune-n1171976">for now</a>, at least. We've all been compulsively thinking about you know what. Forgoing hours of sleep. Drinking too much Chablis Premier Cru. Virtue-signaling for carers on a Thursday at 8pm. But let's be frank here — there's only so much time you can spend refreshing news websites, before you want to put a revolver in your mouth and shoot the Dominic Raab out of your amygdala. So, if you haven't seen a tree in leaf since last summer or you simply cannot go outside to enjoy the spring, come on in and enjoy my pictures, taken during my "one form of daily exercise". </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49886057911/" title="Downland Path"><img alt="Downland Path" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49886057911_502c79f506_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49947971126/in/dateposted-public/" title="The Sun and the Rainfall"><img alt="The Sun and the Rainfall" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49947971126_d05c75983c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49824235703/in/dateposted/" title="Chestnut Leaves"><img alt="Chestnut Leaves" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49824235703_4453612dc7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/UD6XHz" title="Elm Leaves"><img alt="Elm Leaves" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49789483988_f9751d5145_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/77624x" title="Elm Leaves in Spring"><img alt="Elm Leaves in Spring" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49790132812_600039934a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/PuG1t5" title="Beech Tree Coming into Leaf"><img alt="Beech Tree Coming into Leaf" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49782114896_3d646ea665_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/A45b0h" title="Apple Blossoms"><img alt="Apple Blossoms" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49769000327_6426c9ae28_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/50187604851/in/dateposted-public/" title="Young Badger"><img alt="Young Badger" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50187604851_043348b2b9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/62VBx6" title="Red Admiral, Stanmer Park"><img alt="Red Admiral, Stanmer Park" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49801788137_4a153c406c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5MW88j" title="Wee Boy in the Woods"><img alt="Wee Boy in the Woods" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49799060821_0fe2b117f5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6o1r2E" title="Friends at Palmeira Square"><img alt="Friends at Palmeira Square" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49768674121_c51add73e3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/6d4k5J" title="Couple embracing during lockdown"><img alt="Couple embracing during lockdown" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49770090373_492c3ee723_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2uq6k0" title="Theresa May School of Dance"><img alt="Theresa May School of Dance" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49763311818_710339cc33_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Theresa May School of Dance convulsed on an upper-middle class street made from bungaroosh, during the lockdown, it has been revealed. The former Prime Minister was seen with residents behaving like a tasered crab for several minutes, before crossing the Hove border without reasonable excuse to moonbathe on a bench near Brunswick Square. Sussex Police said, "This is the one thing we didn't want to happen".</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"My neighbours are such lovely people, I'm sure of it", remarked a social care worker, who earns £10.97 an hour. "They even clap for me on a Thursday evening. Funny, I've lived here for 5 years and don't recall any of them ever saying hello before. Maybe I'm just here to clean someone's house. And play some decent music next Saturday. I'll dust off my <a href="https://youtu.be/xtjeeHHkwC0" target="_blank">London Boys</a> vinyl from the attic." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Neighbourhood entrepreneur Julian Directory runs a startup in the mango chutney industry. "In this post-Covid world, I was horrified at the idea of lathering used chutney from other tables onto my poppadoms, so I had to act. After borrowing 3.7 bitcoins, I opened the Langley Green Chutney Centre and soon plan to borrow further cryptocurrency in preparation for an aggressive takeover of the Southwick Chutney Boutique". Julian assured us that his business model makes as much sense as his surname: "Our revolutionary ChutOnce™ technology promises to end chutney fraud with a timed-release natural dye resembling gangrene to ensure that our restaurant chutney is only served once."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We chinwagged next with feral fuckchops, Saad <strike>Saud</strike> Loud, who claps for carers, despite keeping three keyworkers awake every night by behaving like a demented shitfunnel. "I really don't know why I clap. Everybody else does and it's marginally less effort than urinating in the communal hallway or locating a household object I haven't managed to destroy through mindless shitfuckery. I might be getting kicked out soon, but when you're the Saudi equivalent of the Bullingdon Club, you can always fall back on mum and dad to quietly settle the bill every time your elevated score on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist clashes with accepted social norms."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A random boomer in a silver VW Golf offered her reflection on the situation: "Rather! I read a book about life for ordinary people once! It must be jolly good fun living next door to riff raff. What-ho! The insurance will cover it! Time for Boris to reopen the economy, I say! Digging mass graves will provide much needed work for the unemployed. The woke generation needed a good war and it got one with all these people dying, left, right and centre! Nice meeting you!"</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5z212e" title="Saad Loud"><img alt="Saad Loud" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49900219768_0a3c2d22ec_c.jpg" width="778" /></a></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/xkbm6h" title="Come away from the cat"><img alt="Come away from the cat" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49768998892_c41faef95f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We can reveal tonight, the predictable and total indifference of cats. "Whatever. At least it hasn't rained for three weeks and I don't have to step on wet grass during my afternoon venture to poo on next door's bluebells. The only thing I dislike right now is people trying to stroke me with latex gloves, but I am prepared to make an exception with doctors. I don't mind associating with the right kind of key worker. But, when it comes to animal doctors.... I might look like butter wouldn't melt in my mouth, but try taking me to the vet and be prepared for a visit to A&E."</span><br />
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Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-2376153520697745602020-04-18T16:28:00.002+01:002021-01-12T09:58:54.823+00:00The Decade in Pictures: Favourites from 2010 - 2019<br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Welcome to my tribute for the decade 2010 <span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">—</span> 2019. If you're stuck indoors for the foreseeable future, I hope my photos give you a window on the better times, when things we once took for granted weren't fraught with danger. I can't include every photograph, but if there's any images you feel I have omitted, there's plenty more over on my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/" target="_blank">Flickr page</a>.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>2010</b> - Friston Forest, Seven Sisters, Chattri in Snow, Christmas in Brighton, Frank and Magnus Agugu.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/5069607418/in/dateposted-public/" title="Friston Forest in Autumn"><img alt="Friston Forest in Autumn" height="1000" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4145/5069607418_48633b8bed_h.jpg" width="1500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/4970781173/in/dateposted-public/" title="Seven Sisters"><img alt="Seven Sisters" height="862" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4106/4970781173_54007116d4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/5229713779/in/dateposted-public/" title="Night picture of the Chattri in December Snow"><img alt="Night picture of the Chattri in December Snow" height="1001" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5129/5229713779_48794e65da_h.jpg" width="1500" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/5224275806/in/dateposted-public/" title="Frank"><img alt="Frank" height="1052" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5050/5224275806_805a0836e4_h.jpg" width="1500" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/5225350620/in/dateposted-public/" title="Magnus Agugu"><img alt="Magnus Agugu" height="1215" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5004/5225350620_69b41e0d42_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">2011</b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> - Brighton Beach in Fog, Herring Gulls on Brighton Beach and Adder in Friston Forest.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/6190717720/in/dateposted-public/" title="Brighton Beach - Low Tide and Sea Fog"><img alt="Brighton Beach - Low Tide and Sea Fog" height="1094" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/6174/6190717720_5c8a6bd279_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><img alt="Feeding Frenzy on Brighton Beach - BEST VIEWED LARGE" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/6047/6330438138_ba4c74e137_h.jpg" width="1600" /></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/5601191643/in/dateposted-public/" title="Adder in Friston Forest"><img alt="Adder in Friston Forest" height="1113" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5104/5601191643_70103a32c8_h.jpg" width="1500" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>2012</b> - Stanmer Down, Roe Deer in Poppies, Hove Beach, Brighton Starlings and the Moon Crescent.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/6808064405/in/dateposted-public/" title="Golden Hour - Stanmer Down, South Downs"><img alt="Golden Hour - Stanmer Down, South Downs" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7160/6808064405_869b4fb3d3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/8281718622/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe deer"><img alt="Roe deer" height="1157" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8344/8281718622_d32e86073d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/6970310093/in/dateposted-public/" title="Brighton Beach, Spring Tide"><img alt="Brighton Beach, Spring Tide" height="1178" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7210/6970310093_76054a8392_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/8167401814/in/dateposted-public/" title="Starlings"><img alt="Starlings" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8206/8167401814_d5e7f379c8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/8181903359/in/dateposted-public/" title="Star-ti-ling Sunset"><img alt="Star-ti-ling Sunset" height="1056" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8350/8181903359_04ebeeace0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/6875912318/in/dateposted-public/" title="Fly me to the moon"><img alt="Fly me to the moon" height="786" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/6035/6875912318_7c9d0223fc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">2013</b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> - Uncoiling Ferns, Falmer Poppies, Roe Deer in Buttercups and Large White Butterfly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/15004167991/in/dateposted-public/" nbsp="" title="Uncoiling Ferns"><img alt="Uncoiling Ferns" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5596/15004167991_4467c6f433_h.jpg" width="1119" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/14495468916/in/dateposted-public/" title="Poppies in the Red Zone"><img alt="Poppies in the Red Zone" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5535/14495468916_335a282d8b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/11306421504/in/dateposted-public/" title="Wanna Make Something Of It?"><img alt="Wanna Make Something Of It?" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2838/11306421504_68de1516f5_h.jpg" width="1596" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/9321079886/in/dateposted-public/" title="Cabbage White Butterfly"><img alt="Cabbage White Butterfly" height="1136" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3711/9321079886_40aa070627_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">2014</b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> - Beachy Head, Starlings and West Pier, Guillemot Rescue, South Downs, Leaping Roe Deer, Fallow Deer and Marbled Whites.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/12008930104/in/dateposted-public/" title="The Landscape is Changing"><img alt="The Landscape is Changing" height="1072" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7445/12008930104_b33e5c91b9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/12790208773/in/dateposted-public/" title="Starling Murmuration and West Pier, in a Hail Storm"><img alt="Starling Murmuration and West Pier, in a Hail Storm" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7328/12790208773_dd708b4c9c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/12715340413/in/dateposted-public/" title="The Bird and the Bystanders"><img alt="The Bird and the Bystanders" height="1052" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7449/12715340413_998d576363_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/15131996538/in/dateposted-public/" title="Y-Front"><img alt="Y-Front" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5586/15131996538_295300da1d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/13773851615/in/dateposted-public/" title="Leaping Roe Deer"><img alt="Leaping Roe Deer" height="1065" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3704/13773851615_0db237b6e0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/15709581911/in/dateposted-public/" title="Rush"><img alt="Rush" height="1080" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7477/15709581911_11dd415235_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/14574485711/in/dateposted-public/" title="Marbled White, female and male"><img alt="Marbled White, female and male" height="1121" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3844/14574485711_c1b751194d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">2015</b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">Roe Deer, Beech Forest, South Downs, High Weald, Autumn Woodland, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">Brighton Beach and Brighton Starlings.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/19768495909/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe Deer Buck in Ancient Woodland"><img alt="Roe Deer Buck in Ancient Woodland" height="1151" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/333/19768495909_3bb3b84ef0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/19181994755/in/dateposted-public/" title="Vermouth and Lime"><img alt="Vermouth and Lime" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/346/19181994755_8bab21af3f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/18415164329/in/dateposted-public/" title="South Downs National Park"><img alt="South Downs National Park" height="1080" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8872/18415164329_0366d366a3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/22016240921/in/dateposted-public/" title="Wealdenglow"><img alt="Wealdenglow" height="1020" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/670/22016240921_2025fc5290_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/22421698089/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn Forest Glade"><img alt="Autumn Forest Glade" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5660/22421698089_06754d67b1_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/16018207359/in/dateposted-public/" title="Parallel Lines"><img alt="Parallel Lines" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7525/16018207359_9c9ec639de_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/16290368780/in/dateposted-public/" title="Starling Murmuration and Sunset"><img alt="Starling Murmuration and Sunset" height="1068" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7343/16290368780_325e8eab5c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/16676825325/in/dateposted-public/" title="Blurmuration"><img alt="Blurmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8611/16676825325_8bf87728e6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">2016</b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"> - High Weald, South Downs, West Sussex Bluebells, Abbot's Wood Bluebells, High Weald Forest, Roe Deer and Marbled White.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/24928842856/in/dateposted-public/" title="Wealdenblur"><img alt="Wealdenblur" height="1041" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1544/24928842856_9107f408b4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/27497921235/in/dateposted-public/" title="Shimmer"><img alt="Shimmer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7374/27497921235_7519ab9c62_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/26302026280/in/dateposted-public/" title="Return to the Fold"><img alt="Return to the Fold" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1451/26302026280_f8a1436af3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/26863371261/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebell Woodland, West Sussex"><img alt="Bluebell Woodland, West Sussex" height="1064" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7343/26863371261_3301af0bf2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/26141017794/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebells, Abbots Wood"><img alt="Bluebells, Abbots Wood" height="1060" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1679/26141017794_d9fc1a376f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/27623212063/in/dateposted-public/" title="High Weald Mist"><img alt="High Weald Mist" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7450/27623212063_942bc0adae_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/39504934545/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe deer in Forest Glade"><img alt="Roe deer in Forest Glade" height="1065" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4607/39504934545_bfe3cc82c8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/28186303020/in/dateposted-public/" title="Marbled White on Red Clover"><img alt="Marbled White on Red Clover" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8538/28186303020_1b24e282d0_h.jpg" width="1120" /></a></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">2017 </b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">- Valle de Tena, Spain and High Weald in Autumn.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/35231415055/in/dateposted-public/" title="Valle de Tena"><img alt="Valle de Tena" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4274/35231415055_4da1182f47_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/37983666781/in/dateposted-public/" title="Sunset in an Autumn Woodland"><img alt="Sunset in an Autumn Woodland" height="1031" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4456/37983666781_8b742c4307_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>2018</b> - South Downs Gate, Roe Deer, Common Spotted Orchids, Marbled White, Six-spot Burnet Moths, Fly Agaric and High Weald Rocks.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/42033905515/in/dateposted-public/" title="Gate on the South Downs"><img alt="Gate on the South Downs" height="1046" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1805/42033905515_d8020ea5cb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/28918288388/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bambi in the Buttercups"><img alt="Bambi in the Buttercups" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1731/28918288388_259e5df984_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48084753378/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe Buck Side Portrait"><img alt="Roe Buck Side Portrait" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48084753378_c4af1d8ce7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/44392575504/in/dateposted-public/" title="The Long Stare"><img alt="The Long Stare" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1980/44392575504_efcb8a12a8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/43638679125/in/dateposted-public/" title="Curious baby Roe deer"><img alt="Curious baby Roe deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1868/43638679125_8e08757bc5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/41929640325/in/dateposted-public/" title="Common Spotted Orchids"><img alt="Common Spotted Orchids" height="790" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1735/41929640325_08b5ec1256_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/42166402910/in/dateposted-public/" title="Marbled White"><img alt="Marbled White" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1819/42166402910_3e40a7e838_h.jpg" width="1572" /></a></span>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/42134667210/in/dateposted-public/" title="Six-spot Burnet Moths"><img alt="Six-spot Burnet Moths" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1799/42134667210_a2da9fc58b_h.jpg" width="1077" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/45778810271/in/dateposted-public/" title="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)"><img alt="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1978/45778810271_c1fb088b85_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/43945697870/in/dateposted-public/" title="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)"><img alt="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1959/43945697870_b2527c58a8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48748176898/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn Cliff Edge"><img alt="Autumn Cliff Edge" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48748176898_fc638870b3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>2019</b> - Roe Deer, Micheldever Bluebells, West Sussex Bluebells, Wild Campion Meadow, Roe Deer Couple, Doe, Chalkhill Blues, Peacock Butterfly and High Weald in Autumn.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47771677682/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe Deer in Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="Roe Deer in Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47771677682_18b8faee87_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49690120562/in/dateposted-public/" title="Micheldever Bluebells"><img alt="Micheldever Bluebells" height="863" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49690120562_06bef03dad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49755397963/in/dateposted-public/" title="West Sussex Bluebell Wood and Stream"><img alt="West Sussex Bluebell Wood and Stream" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49755397963_b9e0ed7d83_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/40850522103/in/dateposted-public/" title="High Weald Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="High Weald Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40850522103_593af01538_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47941961061/in/dateposted-public/" title="Wild Campion Meadow"><img alt="Wild Campion Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47941961061_1a8e78678d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48042501772/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe deer buck and doe"><img alt="Roe deer buck and doe" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48042501772_1938e0a180_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48028949546/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe Deer Doe"><img alt="Roe Deer Doe" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48028949546_0b35e2a325_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48437470042/in/dateposted-public/" title="Chalkhill Blues"><img alt="Chalkhill Blues" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48437470042_9016b09e39_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48420719136/in/dateposted-public/" title="Peacock butterfly on buddleia"><img alt="Peacock butterfly on buddleia" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48420719136_3ac1acfed0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49033136742/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn Woodland in November"><img alt="Autumn Woodland in November" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49033136742_c4f74767ad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49027592693/in/photostream/" title="Autumn Woodland, East Sussex"><img alt="Autumn Woodland, East Sussex" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49027592693_a281838686_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Follow me on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/alanmackenziephotography" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/alanmackenziephotography</a></span></div>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-11282146357050401882020-01-16T11:43:00.004+00:002021-01-19T21:46:42.855+00:00Brighton Starling Murmurations - Winter 2019 / 2020<b>Update:</b> When you've finished this gallery, <a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2020/11/brighton-starling-murmurations-2020-2021.html" target="_blank">move onto my project for 2020/21</a>.<div><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Welcome to my winter starling murmuration project. The photo essay is a dying art, so please encourage me to produce more like this, by leaving a comment at the bottom. You don't even have to login. Your name or an alias is better than posting as Anonymous.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Starling murmurations are one of the most mesmerising sights in the natural world. Every winter, starlings escaping sub-zero temperatures in Scandinavia migrate to more temperate European latitudes. The south coast of England is mild throughout the winter, although the weather can be very wet and windy at times. The birds spend daylight hours in parks, gardens and farmland. Every afternoon, they gather in their thousands to form shape-shifting, fluid murmurations, before roosting for the night, underneath Brighton Pier. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Anyone in the city centre at around 07:30 in December will be startled by huge flocks of starlings making their way back to their daytime feeding areas. One can almost feel the air being disturbed by the thousands of birds overhead. When they are ready to leave Brghton Pier, the starlings waste little time departing en masse.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">After an interval of three years, I returned to photograph the murmurations, getting ready with my telephoto lens 20 minutes before sunset between November and January. I particularly enjoyed using slow shutter speeds to capture abstract images of the birds. Many of my past murmuration shots were taken during golden sunsets, but in the UK, we don't often see direct, low angle sunlight. Dim lighting necessitates the creative use of motion blur techniques. I am limited, only by my imagination.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/rmb217" title="Starling Blur"><img alt="Starling Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49358316072_7af41483ab_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/qR9G02" title="November Blurmuration"><img alt="November Blurmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49080107393_2c236c0be6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4a6406" title="Starling Blurmuration November 2019"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration November 2019" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49084640536_4ffe0867f5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/B80081" title="Blurmuration Abstract"><img alt="Blurmuration Abstract" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49080108273_6feec15009_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/135An4" title="Brighton Starling Blurmuration"><img alt="Brighton Starling Blurmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49025843827_a9d03014c5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2UavHa" title="Starling Blurmuration over Blue Sea"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration over Blue Sea" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49178977778_1b08a141b5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49433540487/stats" title="Starlings over Stormy Seas"><img alt="Starlings over Stormy Seas" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49433540487_5448e57290_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Starling numbers at Brighton Pier were down in December 2019, although more arrivals in January boosted murmuration sizes. This could be due to mild weather in Scandinavian countries, which recently recorded record high winter temperatures, but the overall population is in decline. Dry summers and the use of pesticides is killing their invertebrate food sources. We already know that insect numbers are dropping at an alarming rate. The future of starlings depends on our willingness to recover insect populations by eliminating pesticide use. Birds and predatory insects are of course, an effective natural form of pest control. Should insect populations collapse, many species, including us, would be at risk of mass extinction.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">No-one really knows why starlings form murmurations, but the best explanation is safety in numbers, sharing information about prime feeding sites and to keep warm over long winter nights. Each starling shadows seven of its neighbours by constantly monitoring its position relative to them. The result is a fluid movement. Should a bird of prey attempt to intercept and capture a starling, the predator will simply pass straight through the murmuration. Sometimes, sections of the murmuration break away. The detachment occurs when a random bird moves slightly out of formation and a number of birds already shadowing each other moves with the divergent flow. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/94bc1j" title="Starlings and Rampion Wind Farm"><img alt="Starlings and Rampion Wind Farm" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49259211593_52c4784f2b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/V5ES80" title="West Pier Blur"><img alt="West Pier Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49264859251_49f990dbea_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/e32HU2" title="Wave Blur"><img alt="Wave Blur" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49179736997_872cf8096e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1g5771" title="Brighton Starlings and Rough Sea"><img alt="Brighton Starlings and Rough Sea" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49219608357_85bcde9dd7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/tEo23W" title="Starling Blurmuration over Silver Sea"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration over Silver Sea" height="1007" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49164641576_eabc0e1018_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/994caS" title="Starling Blurmuration and sea"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration and sea" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49164081303_abf9850efa_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/e035b6" title="Blurmuration at Sunset"><img alt="Blurmuration at Sunset" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49169773406_e525332930_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Evoxy7" title="Starling Blurmuration at Sunset"><img alt="Starling Blurmuration at Sunset" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49169296738_bb2c348b54_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4q243k" title="Brighton Starling Blurmuration at Sunset"><img alt="Brighton Starling Blurmuration at Sunset" height="1048" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49178992661_6aae5cc8d4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/24jWh4" title="Long starling murmuration"><img alt="Long starling murmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49169299263_5eb50f54c6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/737642" title="Blurmuration over the sea"><img alt="Blurmuration over the sea" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49160180932_0232b0aecc_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/78mm61" title="Blurmuration and Helter Skelter"><img alt="Blurmuration and Helter Skelter" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49143616667_890d494c6d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Fo5GQ0" title="Sunset over the Channel"><img alt="Sunset over the Channel" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49170475687_4264f715d2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We enjoyed a spectacular sunset on December 3rd, but if the weather is fine, starlings tend to arrive at the pier later, meaning I seldom get the chance to use the sunset as a background. If the weather is cloudy or rainy, the murmurations gather 20 minutes before sunset. My theory is that starlings maximise feeding time in good weather, staying out later. It may also be easier for starlings to tell the time of day, if the sun visible. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">January 9th and 10th produced two rare opportunities this winter to photograph the murmurations in sunshine. Heavy contrast meant having to exclude the solar disk from images. I found pointing the lens slightly away from the sun worked well, capturing the iridescence on feathers as birds passed through direct sunlight.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/A49Kp3" title="Iridescent Starling Murmuration and Rampion Wind Farm"><img alt="Iridescent Starling Murmuration and Rampion Wind Farm" height="997" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49362714798_c54026def7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/jDv97H" title="Iridescent Starling Murmuration"><img alt="Iridescent Starling Murmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49362712533_54b94a5240_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/M6JL0f" title="Iridescent Starling Murmuration at Sunset"><img alt="Iridescent Starling Murmuration at Sunset" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49363386372_ba4f6547c7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/98Sfdn" title="Iridescent Starlings"><img alt="Iridescent Starlings" height="969" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49363880532_6b7d2e001f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/CMf0dh" title="Brighton Starling Murmuration November 2019"><img alt="Brighton Starling Murmuration November 2019" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49019177228_f96bee7a0f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/q2X30E" title="Starling Murmuration and Rampion Wind Farm"><img alt="Starling Murmuration and Rampion Wind Farm" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49159736422_dee56a6740_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/65410Z" title="Murmuration Sunset"><img alt="Murmuration Sunset" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49159953891_d31da5b04a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/U3h37A" title="Starlings and Brighton Seafront"><img alt="Starlings and Brighton Seafront" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49362742803_091f9b6e1a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Visiting Brighton Pier at the end of very short winter days over the last few months has certainly kept me occupied. It has lifted my spirits and kept me from giving up, particularly in these dark political times. I won't pretend that the general election result on 13th December wasn't a severe shock. Thanks to the <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/01/13/the-center-blows-itself-up-care-and-spite-in-the-brexit-election/" target="_blank">brilliant analysis of LSE anthropologist David Graeber</a>, I can begin to understand what actually happened and why.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">The days are getting longer, and it is time to focus on getting physically fit, ready for the spring. I am already enjoying cycle rides in the sunshine along to Saltdean and back. And I can't wait for the bluebells to appear. </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">Our time will come. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">Take care.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Follow me on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/alanmackenziephotography" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/alanmackenziephotography</a></span></span></div>
</div>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-69277101338555466742019-10-31T16:34:00.002+00:002020-08-06T09:44:18.427+01:00Autumn Adventures on the High Weald<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've been visiting a wonderful forest and sandstone rock formation in East Sussex since late August. As I already pay for unlimited bus travel, getting here doesn't cost me any extra. I would love to visit this site during June and July, but the days are so long, I would have to camp overnight, which is of course an option next year! Climate change is causing the UK to experience the same weather patterns for weeks or months. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We enjoyed fine, settled weather until late September.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Spells of heavy rain, strong winds and overcast skies blighted the period from late September to 11th November, when the project finished. You will see an abrupt transition between seasons, due to a long gap. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I spent half of my annual leave watching torrential rain cascading down my street, leaving just five fine days in which to capture the fall before everything shuts down for the winter.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9X0p13" title="Late Summer on the Rocks"><img alt="Late Summer on the Rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48644337133_eee5efc070_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/aD989a" title="Late Summer on the Rocks"><img alt="Late Summer on the Rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48644830702_ae0fab949d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/20qS4w" title="Rocks, September Evening"><img alt="Rocks, September Evening" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48729007617_7f292639ad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48792817122/in/dateposted-public/" title="Evening on the Rocks"><img alt="Evening on the Rocks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48792817122_8b7517a03b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48951844641/in/dateposted-public/" title="Ferns in autumn decay"><img alt="Ferns in autumn decay" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48951844641_4a37a83292_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48946087868/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn Ferns"><img alt="Autumn Ferns" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48946087868_6daec58114_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/iJ5X80" title="Parasol Mushroom"><img alt="Parasol Mushroom" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48982395687_d7e74787d8_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1PD8G7" title="Fly Agaric in Woodland"><img alt="Fly Agaric in Woodland" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48976549426_2377027773_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/tSc601" title="Fly Agaric in Woodland"><img alt="Fly Agaric in Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48970977642_b63e219b65_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The wet, damp conditions during October 2019 provided great stimulus for wild mushrooms. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The actual organism is an </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">extensive network of roots and filaments beneath the surface. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They serve an important purpose, decomposing and recycling biological matter, thereby supplying trees and plants with vital nutrients. The organism produces fungi </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">above ground to disperse spores for reproductive purposes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above Fly Agaric specimen looked promising for a series of images, showing the fruit opening up over time. Unfortunately, this was not to be, despite my best efforts to usher away two over-bred dogs, the third and daftest of the trio toppled the delicate fungi over. As the squeaking owner hid herself in a face palm, I allowed my silence and body language to convey a moderately high degree of personal displeasure. Fortunately, I was able to reinstate the mushroom, but partially disconnected from the underlying roots, any further development will be uncertain. I sometimes find myself taking on the unwanted role of temporary dog guardian, as owners are often overindulgent of their pet's behaviour. I had to stop a dog attacking a pigeon on Rottingdean beach, as three females squeaked and flapped their hands ineffectually. Another stood by and excused as a sign of friendliness, her dog's urination on my bag. I like whippets and lurchers. They are clean, sleek and dignified animals. I've fallen in love with quite a few. I've yet to see them chase deer, disturb butterflies or topple mushrooms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was sad to find that the aforementioned slobbering, mouth-breathing gut on legs had destroyed the Blusher mushroom further along the path (see below). I had photographed it on Sunday afternoon and felt relieved to see the specimen survive another 24 hours of footfall. The only consolation is that I did manage to take four very beautiful photos of the mushrooms and they don't last long anyway. The tall, wide Parasol mushroom (top fungi image) is away from paths and will release its spores without being destroyed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49058752131/in/dateposted-public/" title="Blusher Mushroom (Amanita rubescens)"><img alt="Blusher Mushroom (Amanita rubescens)" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49058752131_180c348d2c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49022599818/stats" title="Clifftop beech trees in autumn"><img alt="Clifftop beech trees in autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49022599818_2ad4b6a522_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49017628956/in/dateposted-public/" title="East Sussex Woodland in Autumn"><img alt="East Sussex Woodland in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49017628956_bb64c4e95f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49027592693/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn Woodland, East Sussex"><img alt="Autumn Woodland, East Sussex" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49027592693_a281838686_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/49033136742/" title="Autumn Woodland in November"><img alt="Autumn Woodland in November" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49033136742_c4f74767ad_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" title="Beech Tree in November Colour"><img alt="Beech Tree in November Colour" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49052969938_de13e83fae_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was delighted to feature in issue 3 of <a href="https://www.bumblemagazine.co.uk/">Bumble Magazine</a>. Earlier in September, magazine editor Rachael Nellist contacted me to ask if she could feature my starling murmuration photos in the upcoming October publication. Rachael very kindly sent me a copy of the lovely magazine last week. I was so busy on my autumn photography project, that I only just got time on Thursday to collect it from the sorting office! Thank you so much to Rachael and Josef for putting it together!</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">You can purchase Bumble Magazine from the </span><a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/turbine-hall-shop" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Tate Modern Turbine Hall Shop</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> or from a </span><a href="https://www.bumblemagazine.co.uk/stockists" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">variety of stockists</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> across England. It can also be </span><a href="https://www.bumblemagazine.co.uk/shop" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">ordered online</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2QwyE1" title="Bumble_Magazine_Murmuration"><img alt="Bumble_Magazine_Murmuration" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48991653577_68dca63d5c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/14cF8P" title="Bumble_Magazine_Murmuration_2"><img alt="Bumble_Magazine_Murmuration_2" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48991656377_556a005968_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/qr1d2h" title="Bumble_Magazine_Murmuration_3"><img alt="Bumble_Magazine_Murmuration_3" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48990908433_299fb3be3f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/M46u4T" title="Bumble_Magazine_Thanks"><img alt="Bumble_Magazine_Thanks" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48991262383_d8c7584f0e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It may be late in the day, but I was interviewed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust and American photo journal Glaszart earlier in the year. I've been so busy with photography in 2019, I was somehow remiss in mentioning it. Read <i>Behind the Lens with Alan Mackenzie</i> <a href="https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/behind-the-lens-with-alan-mackenzie" target="_blank">here</a>. And enjoy <i>Getting to Know Wildlife & Landscape Photographer Alan Mackenzie</i> <a href="https://glaszart.com/getting-to-know-wildlife-landscape-photographer-alan-mackenzie/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/70XCaX" title="Trees in Autumn"><img alt="Trees in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48982213671_215a2ee6e8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The poor weather meant I didn't enjoy as many opportunities to visit the forest as I would have liked, but I can't say I didn't make the most of the sunny days. Or at least the days when it didn't pour with rain. It's now time to chill a bottle of Riesling, order a takeaway and not think about Brexit Party dogs for a while. And read Bumble Magazine over a glass or six of wine!</span></div>
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Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-1965745214149386432019-09-20T15:06:00.009+01:002020-11-13T21:22:06.965+00:00Brighton - Global Climate Strike - September 20th 2019<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48769052197/" title="Brighton Global Climate Strike September 2019"><img alt="Brighton Global Climate Strike September 2019" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48769052197_eb476f5bfe_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Bright perky young people, far more intelligent than adults, gathered in their thousands on Hove Lawns and across the globe today, to demand action from world leaders over the climate emergency. Business-as-usual greenhouse emissions will mean these young people will reach old age in a world on average between 4</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">°C</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> - 5<span style="background-color: white;">°C hotter than 1850 levels. Since this is a projected average, many landmasses away from coastlines will be experience higher temperatures</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. Parts of Africa will become uninhabitable. The climate of southern Europe will be more like north Africa today. The Amazon rainforest is expected become a dusty savannah. Rising sea levels will inundate Pacific islands. Scientists expect the arctic to be ice free in summer between 2030 and 2050, while droughts, wildfires and floods are set to ravage North America, Europe and Australia. It is feared that methane gas from melting tundra will drive positive feedback loops, hindering our ability to control dangerous global heating. These disasters will in turn lead to mass migration of people to more habitable regions. The world will struggle to feed and water its people, animals and crops. Wars will decide who, if any of us, get to control dwindling and unreliable resources.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In the last few years, the world has witnessed the mildest effects of global heating. 2018 was the hottest English summer on record. To our children, it is likely to be one of the coolest summers of their lifetimes. Hurricane Dorian wreaked devastation across the Bahamas, reportedly killing thousands, as the decreasing circulation of global winds slows the forward progression of tropical storms to a crawl. Parts of Siberia and Alaska became so dry in summer 2019, that massive forest fires are likely to burn until autumn, while already drought-riven south Australia is entering spring with the prospect of yet another scorched earth killer summer. Don't be fooled by the pleasant side-effects of global heating. Award-winning English Pinot noir and disingenuous newspaper reports of beach-goers 'having fun' in the sweltering heat are actually signs that all is not well.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48769052912/in/photostream/" nbsp="" title="Brighton Global Climate Strike September 2019"><img alt="Brighton Global Climate Strike September 2019" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48769052912_50732cbe24_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/jYVJP9" title="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Newsround"><img alt="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Newsround" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48764675672_d3598b6f0b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></i></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48768520863/in/photostream/" nbsp="" title="Brighton Global Climate Strike September 2019"><img alt="Brighton Global Climate Strike September 2019" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48768520863_43f8a89a52_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/wGC1S4" title="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Young_Woman"><img alt="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Young_Woman" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48764672187_ebed752af8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/U763S5" title="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Girl_Placards"><img alt="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Girl_Placards" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48764163128_82779a62e6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/E91B85" title="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Placard_PlanetB"><img alt="Brighton_Global_Climate_Strike_September_2019_Placard_PlanetB" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48764488636_afce8c8d22_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: white;">youth strike 4 climate brighton youthstrike4climatebrighton youthstrike4climate</span></span></div>
Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-33760500853309849162019-07-30T10:29:00.001+01:002020-08-06T09:45:10.791+01:00The Sussex Butterfly Safari<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>For my 2020 butterfly safari, <a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2020/07/the-sussex-butterfly-safari-2020.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Welcome to my summer butterfly project for 2019. I've spent two months visiting sites in East and West Sussex, often travelling via train and my electric bike, without which some sites would be out of reach. The Knepp Estate rewilding project is a good seven miles along narrow country lanes from the railway station, but I am there in just 25 minutes. Poor weather over weeks 2 - 3 in June killed many Purple Emperors at the chrysalis stage, while dry July weather meant few visited the ground. I spent 3 days waiting and waiting, when my time could have been spent on less elusive species. Should I try the Purple Emperor again, I will pitch my tent somewhere on a wet night and search for grounded Emperors feeding on the moist surface. The challenge is that summer rainfall in the UK now falls in torrential downpours, killing numbers of the prone, tree-top dwelling Emperors.<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Both visitors and locals in the area surrounding the Knepp Estate are friendly. There are always people who don't want to speak (just like most people in Brighton), but it's possible to have several conversations with complete strangers in the course of one afternoon. The area is rich in wildlife, very beautiful and has a pleasant climate. I wouldn't mind living here at some point, but employment and personal responsibilities do not allow it at the moment. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Silver Washed Fritillary</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The emerging evening sun prompted several of these large, woodland butterflies to come down from the tree canopy to feed on thistles and find mates. The unmated females invited male attention by posing upside down, presenting their reproductive apertures for inspection by suitors. This proved highly exciting for the males, who circled around the females, each vying to land on the thistles to court with her. Once mated, females will lay their eggs in tree bark and hatched caterpillars go straight into hibernation until the following spring. As the thistles wilted at the end of July, the fritillaries found alternative sources of nectar in the form of yellow daisies, which had seeded themselves from a nearby landscaped garden.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/WevC76" title="Silver Washed Fritillary in Flight"><img alt="Silver Washed Fritillary in Flight" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48235321737_db20d0a2c9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/A6vqn3" title="Courting Silver Washed Fritillaries"><img alt="Courting Silver Washed Fritillaries" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48235250621_de560e600d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3mu87P" title="Courting Silver Washed Fritillaries"><img alt="Courting Silver Washed Fritillaries" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48235325527_4e5450e534_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48412604132/in/photostream/" title="Silver Washed Fritillary (male) taking off"><img alt="Silver Washed Fritillary (male) taking off" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48412604132_d55a65b65e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I ended my time with the Silver Washed Fritillaries, just as another heatwave began in the UK. My home city of Brighton is normally kept cooler by sea breezes and the South Downs. Just 5 years ago, typical heatwaves topped out at 29<span class="st">°C (inland Sussex a few degrees higher). In July 2018 and 2019 easterly winds elevated temperatures at nearby Shoreham Airport to 31</span><span class="st">°C and I would estimate the urban heat island of Brighton would be slightly higher. Even the August 2003 heatwave didn't beat this summer's figures at Shoreham Airport. Summer 2019 hasn't been particularly hot, either. While global heating produces pleasant short term side effects </span><span class="st">— sunbathing in February, English Pinot noir and warmer summers </span><span class="st">— caterpillars face threats during milder winters from diseases and pests and dry summers reduce available food. Butterflies and other animals will suffer for thousands of years because of our choices. Although the majority of CO2 from burning one tonne of coal or oil will be absorbed by oceans and vegetation after a few hundred years, 25% will still be present in 1000 years. Even 10,000 years later, 10% could still be present in the atmosphere.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">White Admiral</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This butterfly is a woodland species, with shade tolerance. I saw several White Admirals in Abbots Wood beating their wings, before gliding through air along a shaded path towards Honeysuckle and brambles. Nearby, is an open glade, where they settle on leaves to feed on honeydew. The topside of their wings doesn't wear well and I was much more pleased with this underside shot of the White Admiral feeding with its proboscis.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5097tv" title="White Admiral Butterfly"><img alt="White Admiral Butterfly" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48163866921_e4992e7de5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Painted Lady</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This migrant butterfly is a heatwave escapee from the dangerous temperatures in France during late June 2019. Its ancestors around six generations ago began a migratory loop starting in Morocco, which will end, when this particular brood reproduces and the successive generations make their way back down to North Africa for the winter. It's thought that migration occurs because high temperatures kill off sources of nectar. As the butterfly set off from the French coast earlier in the day, it undertook an amazing high altitude journey at speeds of up to 30mph, using the distant Beachy Head and Seven Sisters cliffs as a navigational aid. The butterfly spent an hour intensely feeding on nectar, before a period of extended rest. The Painted Lady subsequently departed, to continue its migratory journey northwards, where it will reproduce somewhere in the UK. As global heating increases the frequency of heatwaves, the UK is likely to see more mass migrations of Painted Lady's in the future.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3Q127i" title="Painted Lady in Abbots Wood"><img alt="Painted Lady in Abbots Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48147236391_e2a79751c2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Red Admiral</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Once exclusively a migrant, global heating has enabled the Red Admiral to over-winter in southern England. I observed several Red Admirals become active during the warm weather in February 2019. Unlike the Brimstone, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell, the Red Admiral does not hibernate, but finds somewhere sheltered to rest until mild weather wakens it up. Although prematurely awoken butterflies could struggle to find sources of nectar, garden flowers in winter are becoming a more common sight on the southern English coast. Concerned householders who find butterflies awoken by central heating or mild weather should relocate them in places, where they can escape in spring.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Male Red Admirals are an excellent starter species for any photographer wishing to get into butterflies, as their behaviour in sunny weather is quite predictable. Locate a sunny woodland glade, where males are likely to be defending their territory. If the male is disturbed, it will often return to the same spot to bask. Males like the camouflage covering on my 500mm lens. They also land on my forehead or hands, to drink the sweat.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/549kD6" title="Red Admiral Butterfly"><img alt="Red Admiral Butterfly" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48140505868_10dc8f3eaa_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/E13YqV" title="Red Admiral, Knepp Estate"><img alt="Red Admiral, Knepp Estate" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48195648402_6a4a12931d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Small Tortoiseshell</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I realised that the reason I hadn't seen a Small Tortoiseshell for years is that they have become less common. I was therefore delighted when two appeared at Ditchling Common car park. The moderate breeze caused my hit rate to drop, but high speed shooting gave me three good quality shots.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/D4f12v" title="Small Tortoiseshell, Ditchling Common"><img alt="Small Tortoiseshell, Ditchling Common" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48259915211_8082f214d6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/WA6G84" title="Small Tortoiseshell, Ditchling Common"><img alt="Small Tortoiseshell, Ditchling Common" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48215803691_bd15071e42_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/R7Y2ik" title="Small Tortoiseshell underside, Ditchling Common"><img alt="Small Tortoiseshell underside, Ditchling Common" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48215850672_f1039d1010_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Peacock</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My year long search for a reliable Peacock site came to an end when I discovered a large group of buddleias growing on a hillside in East Sussex. The site receives uninterrupted sunlight from late morning until dusk. At least ten Peacocks were at the site when I visited. The buddleias are densely grouped over a small area and there are no competitor food plants nearby, which means the butterflies remain in situ.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I returned to the site on 25th July to observe how the Peacock behaves in high temperatures. As predicted, they were lethargic and protected their bodies from over-heating by not opening their wings. The afternoon was around 60% humidity, intermittently cloudy with temperatures in the low thirties. I heard thunder in the distance and rain fell briefly. </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Direct sun, still air, 35</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i class="icon" data-c="32.1" data-type="temp" data-unit="C" data-value="32">°</i>C and 18% humidity in Madrid is easier to bear than the same conditions and 50% humidity in East Sussex, due to a Humidex of 45</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i class="icon" data-c="32.1" data-type="temp" data-unit="C" data-value="32">°</i>C</span></span></span>.</span> No wonder I began feeling nauseous, cold and clammy. When the sky cleared at 5pm, temperatures soared to 35</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i class="icon" data-c="32.1" data-type="temp" data-unit="C" data-value="32">°</i>C and all resting Peacocks immediately left for the shade and refused to re-emerge. Cambridge University Botanic Garden broke the UK record, with 38.7</span><i class="icon" data-c="32.1" data-type="temp" data-unit="C" data-value="32" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">°</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">C and the temperature could have reached 40</span><i class="icon" data-c="32.1" data-type="temp" data-unit="C" data-value="32" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">°</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">C, but cloud cover later in the day prevented it. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Should heatwaves become more frequent, butterfly broods will occur earlier in the summer, although broods may run into problems due the inherent unpredictability of our climate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48420719136/in/dateposted-public/" title="Peacock butterfly on buddleia"><img alt="Peacock butterfly on buddleia" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48420719136_3ac1acfed0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Comma</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Comma is one of our longest-living butterflies, overwintering in hibernation by disguising itself among leaves. It is one of the first butterflies to be seen on mild winter days, basking in sunshine, much as it does in the summer months. The species was in decline, but has staged a dramatic recovery. I photographed this specimen and others at the Knepp Estate, once I had given up with the Purple Emperor and its tree-top camaraderie.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/qTz605" title="Comma Butterfly on Brambles"><img alt="Comma Butterfly on Brambles" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48196064967_12e2779ea8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Gatekeeper</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This species is similar to the Meadow Brown, but unlike the latter, it basks on the ground with open wings for long periods. The Gatekeeper is the opposite of the Purple Emperor, which is the only UK butterfly with a pronounced Judy Garland Complex. This Tragedy Queen of a butterfly stubbornly refuses to come to the ground unless there is dog faeces, instead preferring to squabble with one another, launch Kamikaze attacks on Crows or assist females out of the chrysalis so they can mate them with immediately. No wonder they are all dead within weeks. The Gatekeeper is a quiet, gentle soul and I caught this fresh specimen basking in the Sallows at Knepp. The second shot was taken at a very popular brambles on the path down to Cuckmere Haven.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/063G1g" title="Gatekeeper"><img alt="Gatekeeper" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48195650312_55b9f609ba_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/295iv7" title="Gatekeeper on Brambles"><img alt="Gatekeeper on Brambles" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48226422746_cd3b106aef_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Small Copper</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Small Copper is another gentle soul. The species is widespread, but occurs at fairly low densities. This specimen is feeding on the same brambles as the Gatekeeper, which additionally attracted Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites, Red Admirals and the Painted Lady. The site featured the second most number of trite comments from passers-by about the size of my camera/lens. After an old buffoon scared off a resting Purple Hairstreak in West Sussex, I've started telling people that it's the smallest camera I could afford, while mentally admitting them into the nearest A&E.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/302s42" title="Small Copper on Brambles"><img alt="Small Copper on Brambles" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48226424366_1276283188_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Meadow Brown</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The 'boring' Meadow Brown is one of our hardest species to photograph. The slightest noise, even from a good distance, will send all nearby Meadow Browns, which numbered in the hundreds at this site, into a flurry of wings. They become completely preoccupied when nectaring. I was lucky to find this fresh specimen in a West Sussex wood. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/DPv59n" title="Meadow Brown on Thistle"><img alt="Meadow Brown on Thistle" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48239344422_421c860a33_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Chalk Hill Blue</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In sunny weather, the Chalk Hill Blue likes to bask open-winged. It can be difficult to get an extreme close-up of this species, as the shadow created by the photographer makes the butterfly dart off. The only suitable opportunity for extreme close-ups comes during hot weather, when the sun disappears for a few minutes. The butterfly will still have its wings open, but the lack of sun means the photographer will not cast an alarming shadow. Since hot, interchangeably sunny and sunless weather is not (yet) common in the UK, I find it best to photograph open-winged Chalk Hill Blues using a 500mm lens and three stacked extension tubes. Using a high resolution DSLR, I can still get crops of between 11 and 18 megapixels, while maintaining a 2 metre distance.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/01g0V0" title="Chalk Hill Blue on background of Horseshoe Vetch"><img alt="Chalk Hill Blue on background of Horseshoe Vetch" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48287869931_d0cf5c1ced_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/B1ege0" title="Chalkhill Blue Open Wings"><img alt="Chalkhill Blue Open Wings" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48290368346_a896196b6f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48429685417/in/dateposted/" title="Chalkhill Blue Butterflies"><img alt="Chalkhill Blue Butterflies" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48429685417_20ebb8ca7d_h.jpg" width="1067" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48437470042/in/photostream/" title="Chalkhill Blues"><img alt="Chalkhill Blues" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48437470042_9016b09e39_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/HEFi1H" title="Chalkhill Blue on Meadow Grass"><img alt="Chalkhill Blue on Meadow Grass" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48302659621_a2ed9bd3fe_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/e8Cu4Z" title="Chalk Hill Blue on Wild Carrot"><img alt="Chalk Hill Blue on Wild Carrot" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48302657856_1ee3032046_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/469J3J" title="Mating Chalk Hill Blue Butterflies"><img alt="Mating Chalk Hill Blue Butterflies" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48322347447_52e86e30f1_h.jpg" width="1139" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Wildlife</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My butterfly sites are healthy, thriving ecosystems, which support diverse lifeforms from soil bacteria and underground fungi to numerous mammal and bird species. I was delighted to spend time with a Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly, observe three Red deer cavorting in mud and chasing each other around a lake. Knepp is a good place to watch grey squirrels, especially when the estate is drenched in golden crepuscular sunbeams. One of my other sites, discovered last year, is a reliable site for butterflies and Roe deer. Just don't ask where it is or attempt to find it. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/drH218" title="Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly"><img alt="Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48195786181_5737b505e1_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Um3BF7" title="Red Deer, Knepp Estate"><img alt="Red Deer, Knepp Estate" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48196047072_f4add9d994_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/a6tLC1" title="Grey Squirrel, Knepp Estate"><img alt="Grey Squirrel, Knepp Estate" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48195652202_13f0220dd3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48137056898/in/photostream/" title="The Roemainer"><img alt="The Roemainer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48137056898_68e31656e6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tips for photographing butterflies well:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>1. Find a location where food plants are densely grouped over a small area and lit by the sun for at least a few hours.</b>
This will ensure that local species will congregate within photographic
distance and not stray, allowing multiple opportunities to get high
quality shots. The Knepp Estate has food plants scattered over a very
wide area, meaning a particular food source may not be visited often due
to the huge choice of nectaring sites. Abbots Wood, in contrast, has a
glade attracting White Admirals, Silver Washed Fritillaries and Painted
Lady's to the Honeysuckle and Brambles, because the surrounding flora is
simply dense woodland.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>2. When a butterfly lands and opens its wings, wait for the proboscis to begin feeding nectar or salts before approaching.</b>
Butterflies provide the best opportunities for photography when they
are preoccupied with food sources. Approach too soon and the butterfly
will depart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>3. Use a telephoto lens, extension tubes and a high resolution DSLR.</b>
Unless they are immobilised by cool temperatures, butterflies really
don't like it when someone tries to photograph them using a 100mm lens
from 30cm. 'Silent' autofocus startles them, as does mirror return and
clicking. My hit rate increased when I started pairing my 500mm lens
with three extension tubes, allowing sharp focus at 2 metres. The confidence of a high success rate allows me to become choosy, photographing only the most pristine
butterflies and not settling for worn specimens because that's all I
can get. If the butterfly is moving about, I will shoot at 7
frames-per-second and AI Servo, stopping down between f/5.6 - f/9.0 and
setting the ISO speed between 400 - 800. I always use a gimbal head and
tripod. I've seen people hand-holding short macro lenses and shooting at
ISO 2000, which is fine if all you want is distant 2.3 megapixel record
shots, but my technique gives me sharp, high quality images with a
beautiful bokeh at crop resolutions of 12 - 21 megapixels. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>4. Time visits to photograph fresh wings.</b> The condition of butterflies will affect the final quality of your images, so it's important to become familiar with how weather can influence the emergence of adults. As
a rule, warm temperatures will bring them out early in the season, but a cool start
to the summer can delay some species for a few weeks. It is also worth
noting that a sunny morning, which turns cloudy can bring down the
Purple Hairstreak and keep them inactive on ferns, while they wait for
the sun to come out again. The Purple Emperor, which seldom comes to the
ground, may do so on the morning after rain, as moisture releases salts
from the surface. During a warm, dry month, such as July 2019, it may
not be worth waiting to see grounded Purple Emperors at all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">big butterfly count</span></div>
Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-68130558111957975112019-06-07T10:00:00.003+01:002021-06-19T15:03:25.312+01:00Early Summer Roe Deer Project 2019<div style="text-align: justify;">Don't miss my roe deer projects from <a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2020/06/early-summer-roe-deer-project-2020.html" target="_blank">2020</a> and <a href="https://www.alanmackenziephotography.com/2021/06/return-to-deer-meadow-june-2021.html" target="_blank">2021</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>23rd May 2019:</b> I was so pleased with the images from my first visit, that I could easily have finished the project in one evening. Temperatures were a good seven degrees warmer inland, reaching 23<span class="st">°C and the Roe deer were just shedding the last of their thick winter coats. Grass height was still short enough to allow the easy observation of these small deer. The three babies from last year survived the winter; two bucks and one doe. The young buck was quite tolerant of me. When people wandered through the field, the buck went and hovered about the perimeter until they disappeared before returning to grazing on buttercups. Two adult does were present, but neither were pregnant. An adult buck accompanied one of the does. Possibly mistaking her availability, the buck chased the doe around the field in an unusually early display of courtship. My theory is that the doe is infertile, as she was not pregnant in 2018 either. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="st">To avoid being bitten by pest insects, particularly ticks, I brought along a 95% Deet spray, which lasted the entire visit without reapplication. To further minimise contact with the ground, provide comfort and keep a low profile, I used a foldable camping stool for the first time. It took just 12 minutes to reach the meadow from the mainline railway station on my electric bike, avoiding the need to waste time at poorly served stops. I used to walk all the way back to the station and would routinely get home at midnight or later. Biking saves me about 2 hours.</span></span></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/36juXR" title="Yearling Roe Deer Grazing"><img alt="Yearling Roe Deer Grazing" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47923241576_a414c82e88_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/71117h" title="Roe Deer Yearling"><img alt="Roe Deer Yearling" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47923232617_37de9a1626_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48017925648/in/photostream/" title="Yearling Roe Deer"><img alt="Yearling Roe Deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48017925648_85d6c02c04_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/E7fiF0" title="Roe Buck Yearling"><img alt="Roe Buck Yearling" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47923324382_b3eb53242f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/x7tqR4" title="Roe deer male and female"><img alt="Roe deer male and female" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47923226613_651de7be5d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/G1y9cs" title="Roe buck chasing Doe"><img alt="Roe buck chasing Doe" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47929483838_67f2e1e121_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/oC253q" title="Roe buck chasing Doe"><img alt="Roe buck chasing Doe" height="947" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47923817171_2a67f4a33f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48028949546/" title="Roe Deer Doe"><img alt="Roe Deer Doe" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48028949546_0b35e2a325_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47923472687/in/dateposted/" title="Roe Buck Grazing-1"><img alt="Roe Buck Grazing-1" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47923472687_dc7068103e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">27th May 2019: </span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Two visits to this site are never the same and as expected, opportunities were far more limited than last week. The yearling buck has a brother accompanying him, but curiously, he is still in his winter coat and velvet. Yearlings can sometimes be late to shed, due to lower testosterone levels, but the phenomenon can occur in all ages from testicular injury. The young buck seemed energetic enough, but he is much more skittish and watchful than his more laid-back sibling. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was lovely to spot a pregnant Roe deer in the fields and I look forward to seeing her kids when they are born. She is a very gentle and tolerant doe, who I first saw in 2015, but her absence last year led me to believe she had died. If you look back at my collection on Flickr, you'll see her at various points. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was not so lovely having a punctured rear tyre, but fortunately this incident happened close to the railway station, so I could get back to Brighton and push my bike home. This was my second puncture in 6 months and I can see myself at some point being stranded in the dark several miles from the railway station. Decathlon helped me find new tyres with a very high puncture resistance (</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="concuPourBloc concuPourBlocExpressBuy">Vittoria Randonneur</span>), as the extra weight of the e-bike and my camera equipment increases the chance of objects piercing the tread area. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Z674F9" title="Yearling Roe Buck in Winter Coat"><img alt="Yearling Roe Buck in Winter Coat" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47946614091_1a4f7d438a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1vpej4" title="Pregant Roe Deer"><img alt="Pregant Roe Deer" height="939" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47949821832_ea7dd9a64e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">30th May 2019: </span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I was delighted to find the doe I photographed last year had survived the winter. Like many does in the meadow, she is apparently not pregnant this year, but her twin kids born in June 2018 are alive and well (the yearling buck with a single antler and his brother still in velvet). </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">There are two older bucks occupying the meadow. One can be seen leaping through the air. The second was initially nervous and vocal, but he is gradually getting used to my presence, has ceased barking and will graze without bolting. There is no sign, as yet, of the two bucks from 2018 </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="st">— I'm hoping that the 'Paul Newman' of the meadow and a second buck with huge antlers are alive and well. Their well-developed antlers may, however, have attracted the unwelcome attention of trophy hunters from the death industry.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/0E045G" title="Non-pregnant Roe Deer"><img alt="Non-pregnant Roe Deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47968984652_56fb4cd2a7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/sv54S4" title="Leaping Roe Deer Buck"><img alt="Leaping Roe Deer Buck" height="955" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47968869592_65f91d251e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>31st May 2019:</b> What initially felt like a piece of wood underfoot turned out to be three-pointed antler dropped by a Roe buck last autumn — my first antler find in eight years of photographing Roe deer. Decreasing levels of testosterone in October cause antlers to drop from the pedicles. A scab forms within a few hours and over the coming days, a network of blood vessels begin providing nutrients to newly forming antlers under a covering of velvet. Increasing levels of testosterone cut off the blood supply in April, causing the velvet to dry out and shed, revealing fully developed antlers. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Roe deer antlers are available to purchase online, but they are usually sawn off culled bucks and therefore I would discourage anyone from financially supporting the death industry. The UK rural death industry divides the animal kingdom into two categories: game and vermin. The process of killing animals and birds is further divided along class lines. The upper and upper-middle classes pay to kill game, while the working classes are paid by the ruling classes to eradicate vermin. Any person who participates in the torture and/or killing of birds and animals for enjoyment (in the absence of any survival need) is by definition not psychologically normal. I would include within this definition, anyone who can view a healthy Roe through rifle sights and calmly pull the trigger with the same emotional detachment as someone stirring a pan of beans. There is ample video evidence of hunters and their supporters demonstrating their lack of empathy and predisposition to violence by assaulting, intimidating and bullying those who challenge their behaviour. Since much of the UK is owned by a small number of people, the issue is less about the often cited 'urban versus rural' and more about the inability of the ruling classes to abide any serious challenge to their power. The recent bullying and harassment of TV presenter Chris Packham is a good example of why people are afraid to speak out.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I had a lovely session with the now tolerant mature Roe deer buck in a more wooded part of the meadow, where there is plenty of cover to observe deer, without making them feel too exposed. I often wonder what the deer make of me. They have no idea that the tall, two-legged animal appearing in evening wants to show the world what wonderful animals they are. I'm sure there are quite a few pictures in this buck before my project is finished.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Earlier this year, I replaced my ageing 21 megapixel Canon EOS-1Ds MKIII with the 30.4 megapixel Canon EOS 5D MKIV. The resolution improvement is not lost on me. Most Roe deer images from the old camera were cropped to 10 - 12 megapixels. The average resolution on this current project is 15.2 megapixels, with six at 17 - 23 megapixels. Even crops from fairly distant animals come in at a healthy 10 megapixel resolution. The quieter shutter does not alert the deer, allowing them to approach within a working distance before they hear the clicking. Finally, better high ISO performance allows shooting in low light with minimal sacrifice of image quality.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/D843R8" title="Roe Deer Antler"><img alt="Roe Deer Antler" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47975275417_4e0315b1a3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/40o854" title="Mature Roe Deer Buck in Meadow"><img alt="Mature Roe Deer Buck in Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47975271687_7f60ea9dc0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1C115p" title="Mature Roe Deer Buck in Meadow"><img alt="Mature Roe Deer Buck in Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47975282253_17f685bc52_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/kU6Mt7" title="Mature Roe Deer Buck Observing People"><img alt="Mature Roe Deer Buck Observing People" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47975329006_52f9b6b2d7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>3rd/4th June 2019: </b>The only way for me to see the deer in early morning is to stay there overnight. Despite having a tent, pillow and inflatable mattress, I found the night uncomfortable, due to heavy condensation and a general inability to sleep on anything other than a very soft bed. I watched bats gliding about as I ate my breakfast. I've never seen a person walking their dog at 04:50 before, but that person has probably never seen a photographer at that time either.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I am so used to seeing the meadows in evening sunshine, that the misty, dewy landscape came over as eerie and almost unrecognisable in very early morning. Every area has its own unique ambient sounds and the most distinctive were the Muslim call to prayer and Cockerels crowing. Here is how I captured the mature buck at 05:26, pausing to look back at the camera. I think it's a very pleasing shot of this once very vocal and melodramatic buck. </span></div>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/mS133D" nbsp="" title="Mature Roe Buck in Early Morning"><img alt="Mature Roe Buck in Early Morning" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47999136818_809b29ca2e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
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<b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">6th June 2019: </span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">My final visit to the meadows ended with the once vocal and skittish yearling buck looking much more relaxed, as he ate buttercups with me standing in open view just 30 metres away. When a Roe deer turns his back on you, take it as a compliment! The intuitive approach of sneaking up on Roe using cover only puts them on high alert for predatory behaviour. A much more effective stalking technique is to allow the deer to get used to my presence in open space. They won't waste energy bolting, when all they see is a figure standing/sitting still, making clicking noises. Notice that he is finally shedding his winter coat. I would expect the velvet around his antlers to shed next month. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">His brother, who is in better condition, has disappeared, possibly seeking mating territory elsewhere. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I've been very privileged to observe and photograph these wild animals, who have accepted me after initial wariness. They live in a rare viable habitat, that hasn't been eradicated in the name of agriculture and profit. But, despite my experience of carefully observing Roe, I am a source of interference and their needs must always come first. Although deer are not visible in daylight hours, they are always close by, watching the activities of regular visitors. It's now time to leave them alone. I'm sorry not to have seen any kids. There may have been pregnant does, but if there were, they did a very good job of hiding their babies in the long grass, out of harm's way.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I
hope you've enjoyed looking at my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. The photo essay is a dying art, so please leave a comment to encourage more projects like this. Next up are the butterflies, when I hope to capture the rare Purple Emperor, so keep your eyes peeled. It's now time for me to open a few beers, relax and attend to other things.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1ZwG44" title="Roe deer turning his back"><img alt="Roe deer turning his back" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48015808266_a1f588d079_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/DT14Bg" title="Yearling Roe Buck Eating Buttercups"><img alt="Yearling Roe Buck Eating Buttercups" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48016047443_b92371811a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/9oB08L" title="Female Roe Deer Grazing"><img alt="Female Roe Deer Grazing" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48015895307_9a5be5b9ec_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>20th - 23rd June 2019:</b> I had not planned to visit the meadow again this summer, but I wanted to make up for the disappointing June weather. The days go on forever at this time of year and we should be spending most of our time enjoying the outdoors. Temperatures on my visits were in the mid-20s, with high humidity and overcast skies.<br /><br />A mature Roe buck entered the meadow to claim territory during my two week absence, which also saw days of heavy rain, thunderstorms and local flooding. The rock hard soil became boggy, with pools of water forcing deer to find alternative spots to hide away. The field always attracts mature bucks, as it contains nutritious wildflowers and low hanging oak leaves, along with plenty of cover. The field is less prone to flooding due to an incline and better drainage. <br /><br />The buck is in his prime, with huge antlers. I saw him once before, on May 30th 2016. Dominant bucks like to bark continually, while grazing and rubbing antlers on tall thistles and this deer was no exception. The other mature buck has much smaller antlers and would do well not to get into a physical fight with him. He does, however, chase smaller, younger bucks for territorial purposes, including one of the yearlings from 2018 (who is now in his summer coat). Within 20 minutes of being chased, the yearling comes straight back to the spot where he was pursued, as the wildflowers are worth the risk of being on the wrong side of the older buck's aggression. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The doe seen paired with a buck on 23rd May now resides in a neighbouring field. I have not managed to spot any of her kids and as such, she may not have even given birth this year. The buck had a habit of chasing her around the field for sexual purposes and since this occurred outside of the rutting season, the unwanted sexual behaviour perhaps explains why she has moved. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48131146917/in/dateposted-public/" title="Mature Roe Buck"><img alt="Mature Roe Buck" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48131146917_0be8c1fabb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/yodt7R" title="Roe Deer Scenting"><img alt="Roe Deer Scenting" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48121953663_b02cf1ae23_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Q3nhWx" title="Roe buck rubbing antlers on thistles"><img alt="Roe buck rubbing antlers on thistles" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48121956128_ccfdaeb9a9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/cB9WH2" title="Dominant buck chasing yearling buck"><img alt="Dominant buck chasing yearling buck" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48128941331_38f2a95d46_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/UKTqr0" title="Watchful Doe"><img alt="Watchful Doe" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48121925551_d81f589746_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>26th June 2019:</b> I spent the afternoon photographing butterflies at another site in West Sussex, before switching to Roe deer at 19:45, just at the time one would expect to begin seeing them in late June. Two sets of small and large hoof prints along a known route led to me a doe and her kid at the entrance to a field. At first, I puzzled at why the doe remained in situ, but the presence of her kid (sadly the tiny deer was obscured by grass) meant she could not bolt. The deer at this site are fairly tolerant and she is possibly not one for bolting. I've coined the term <i>roemainer</i> for any Roe deer that remains to be photographed, while showing little or no alarm towards the observer. I encountered another roemainer in a neighbouring field, a young buck with no antlers, despite having two pedicles.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/48137056898/in/dateposted-public/" title="The Roemainer"><img alt="The Roemainer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48137056898_68e31656e6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/7j3G38" title="Watchful Mother Roe Deer"><img alt="Watchful Mother Roe Deer" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48135045811_a1931cdfc0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="color: white;">Keywords: wildlifephotography deer naturephotography canon 500mm brighton sussex wildlife climateemergency globalwarming globalheating extinction extinctionrebellion </span></span>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-1734678781186127062019-05-23T11:12:00.001+01:002020-08-06T09:47:47.162+01:00Old Lewes Racecourse and The Wild Campion Meadow<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The former racecourse just outside of Lewes is a picturesque vantage point for Kingston Ride and Ashcombe Windmill. Pretty hedgerows and cowslips line the gallops all the way down to the Y-shaped junction by Ashcombe Bottom. The gallops is now used to train horses. I enjoyed going up there several times earlier in May, when we enjoyed the uncommon presence of settled weather, clear visibility and low angle sunlight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wild Campions grow every spring in two small enclosures on the South Downs, near Brighton, which have been given over to wildlife by the farmer. A roe deer unexpectedly jumped out when I arrived and I decided let him move away, before continuing with any photography. It would have been lovely, had the deer been tolerant enough to remain, but it wasn't to be. I will be enjoying plenty of encounters with Roe deer over the next few weeks, as I begin my early summer project in West Sussex. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy my latest work and please leave a comment, if you wish.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47802468242/in/dateposted/" title="Late Evening on Old Lewes Racecourse"><img alt="Late Evening on Old Lewes Racecourse" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47802468242_a638c73e95_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47847501611/in/photostream/" title="Sundown at Old Lewes Racecourse"><img alt="Sundown at Old Lewes Racecourse" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47847501611_c5993e30ae_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/GeBwpH" title="Red and White Campions, South Downs"><img alt="Red and White Campions, South Downs" height="1019" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46982071945_42abfd53ed_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/83Ux2s" title="Oak Tree and Campion Meadow"><img alt="Oak Tree and Campion Meadow" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47907593171_fa93fdcbaa_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/1R1yJ0" title="Wild Campion Meadow"><img alt="Wild Campion Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46990736285_9c83c2453a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One
doesn't often see meadows like this Sussex, but it gives us an idea of
what fields could look like, if they weren't sprayed with chemicals and degraded by improper use. Raindrops are visible on the first image, taken after a band of slow-moving showers passed over the area. On my second visit, the low sun created a beautiful violet-burgundy hue over the
meadow. Notice in the final two images, how changes in lighting over a few minutes created a
softer, cooler hue over the scene. The Canon EF 500mm f/4 lens is a wonderful tool for creating dreamy shots of wild flowers and plants.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5yQ06u" title="Red and White Campion Meadow"><img alt="Red and White Campion Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47855028682_8df492d865_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/oe4519" title="Wild Campion Meadow"><img alt="Wild Campion Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46987319935_a38c8f5f22_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/kUz500" title="Wild Campion Meadow"><img alt="Wild Campion Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47903430441_239fce5c3b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/N7rgf5" title="Red and White Campion Meadow"><img alt="Red and White Campion Meadow" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47855030212_eba559d0a7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-66013286768788317732019-05-08T09:53:00.001+01:002020-08-06T09:49:09.748+01:00Bluebell Woodland Project 2019<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Welcome to my bluebell woodland project for 2019. I hope you enjoy looking at my photos as much as I enjoyed visiting beautiful bluebell woodlands in Hampshire and West Sussex over the last two weeks. Please leave a comment, if you like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Bluebell woodlands are easy to photograph, but very challenging to photograph well. It is tempting to get carried away, without giving much thought to composition, exposure, focal length, viewing angle and lighting. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I
am all too aware of the many difficulties photographing bluebells,
which is why I enter bluebell woods, looking for distinctive subjects,
many hours before I intend to begin any photography. I am always looking
for groupings of tall flower heads, uncoiling ferns, white bluebells,
deer and any other elements, which will help me produce something truly
memorable. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am also very tempered about positive feedback </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st">—</span> once again this spring, I have seen quite talented photographers lauding bluebell images that I would have immediately deleted due to the serious technical flaws of softness, underexposure and amateurish execution. Why photographers who are good judges of their own work can be such poor judges of others is something I cannot figure out. While my word on quality isn't the last, I do know a thing or two about photography and I find it much more useful to trust my own judgement, rather than the often spurious opinions of people who ought to know better. Sadly, those receiving specious praise will come away thinking they've taken something quite special and feel encouraged to repeat their substandard efforts in future, which is another reason why I distance myself emotionally from feedback. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's best to keep things simple and uncluttered, with no more than three visual elements in the frame. Carpets of bluebells look best when debris, such as fallen branches are absent. Bluebells have quite delicate colouring and their appearance is strongly affected by lighting conditions. For best results in the early morning or late evening sun, choose a bluebell site close to the edge of the woods, where sunlight can reach through gaps between trees. Bright, but sunless weather is also good, especially when the bluebells are situated away from the edge of a woodland and direct sunlight is not an option. For detail shots, I use a 300mm or 500mm lens and an extension tube for close focussing. When taking landscape shots, I prefer focal lengths 40mm - 70mm to slightly compress the perspective and make the bluebells appear close together. The use of a polarising filter cuts out reflections on foliage and improves the colour green. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/46923599715/in/dateposted-public/" title="Bluebells in Abbots Wood"><img alt="Bluebells in Abbots Wood" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46923599715_58691f933a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/33953636038/" title="Fern and Bluebells, Abbots Wood"><img alt="Fern and Bluebells, Abbots Wood" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/33953636038_f6fbd4c8f5_h.jpg" width="1088" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Another mild winter caused the early emergence of bluebells, so I began my time off just as the flowers were beginning to wilt. It was hard at times to find pristine flowers. The exceptionally dry weather was also a factor in early wilting. While bluebells in beech forests wilt early, this isn't the case at one of my privately owned sites in West Sussex, where the flowers take much longer to grow and last until mid-May.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/4w79p8" title="Abbots Wood Bluebells"><img alt="Abbots Wood Bluebells" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47655339032_fb42351e3d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's not easy being a wildlife and landscape without a car, but out of personal commitment to tackling the climate emergency, I purchased an electric bicycle last summer. Trains can take me within several miles of a site, but carrying very heavy equipment over this distance is too much, even on a conventional bike. The e-bike has opened up new opportunities for me and I wasted no time in visiting Micheldever Wood in Hampshire. After stopping at Micheldever Station, I breezed through picturesque country lanes towards the beautiful chocolate box village of Micheldever itself. I continued to the A33, where I reached 40 mph downslope and arrived at Itchen Wood just 14 minutes after setting off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The photos paint a tranquil picture of Micheldever and Itchen Woods, but I found the workload relentless, as my unfamiliarity with the sites meant extensive scouting. I can only carry so much food and drink, but I used a nearby service station for an evening meal and to buy extra water/gin and tonic. I had not yet sourced a tent and inflatable mattress small enough to carry on my panniers, which unfortunately meant a hellishly cold, damp, uncomfortable and sleepless night in the open. Cold and exhausted, I made my way up to the north end of Micheldever Wood for the sunrise, achieving my long-standing ambition to photograph the famous bluebell wood at dawn, before walking all the way back to the southern tip of Itchen Wood to catch the deer. I still had to cycle to the railway station, but just 3 hours after leaving Itchen Wood, I was at home, looking at the images on my computer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I return to Micheldever in spring 2020, I will pack the ultra light trekking tent and inflatable mattress I have just purchased from Decathlon to ensure a good night's sleep, which in turn will help me maximise the time spent at this wonderful location. Camping will help me to photograph other subjects in early morning, such as deer and resting butterflies. So keep your eyes peeled for my dawn adventures this summer and for the avoidance of any doubt, I promise to behave when loitering within tent, protecting the environment and maintaining the tolerance of landowners.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/40836408693/in/dateposted-public/" title="Micheldever Bluebells at Dawn"><img alt="Micheldever Bluebells at Dawn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40836408693_67e0793d5b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/s01Y66" title="Micheldever Bluebells at Dawn"><img alt="Micheldever Bluebells at Dawn" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46946993605_9d493aa42a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/58f32R" title="Itchen Wood Bluebells at Sunset"><img alt="Itchen Wood Bluebells at Sunset" height="902" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47760368671_906600f69d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Beech forests are an ideal growing environment for bluebells. The relatively late emergence of leaves allows bluebells plenty of light when they start growing in late winter, while the dense leaf canopy over the summer restricts growth of competing plants. The relative lack of nutrients from fallen, decaying beech leaves further restricts growth of other plant species. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/47771677682/in/photostream/" title="Roe Deer in Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="Roe Deer in Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47771677682_18b8faee87_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When this Roe deer wandered into a carpet of bluebells, she unwittingly helped me achieve a photographic milestone. Roe deer shed their winter coat at this time of year, making them look very scruffy. Bucks looks particularly slovenly, shedding velvet, revealing bloodstains on their newly-formed antlers. Shedding does not cause them any suffering, but it's not a good look. I was glad that a sleeker female Roe deer turned up in the woods. She displayed no signs of alarm. One thing I wanted to avoid was a bad photo of a Roe deer in bluebells and there are many disorganised images out there being praised simply because they tick a couple of boxes. There is room for improvement in my shot; I would have preferred softer, warmer lighting earlier or later in the day, but it's nonetheless an image which just about meets my standards. Had I been in the woods during the golden hour, the presence of other photographers would have disturbed the deer, so mid-afternoon is a compromise I may have to live with.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/40850522103/in/dateposted-public/" title="High Weald Bluebell Woodland"><img alt="High Weald Bluebell Woodland" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40850522103_593af01538_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Most Bluebells begin wilting in early May, but happily, I have access to a privately-owned West Sussex bluebell wood, which is always at least one week behind everywhere else. The valley location receives less light and bluebells have to compete with other plants. These factors slow down their growth. I never really want my bluebell projects to end, but this woodland allows the fun to continue for a little while longer. The woodland is a highly complex network of paths, streams and undulating hills, making the site harder to photograph than Micheldever. The stream seen here is fed by a spring emerging out of High Weald sandstone further east in the forest. Lack of rainfall this season has left the stream very low on water. The normally squelchy ground is rock hard. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/b8yp0K" title="High Weald Bluebell Woodland Path"><img alt="High Weald Bluebell Woodland Path" height="1058" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47015719914_407272dbb3_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3010mD" title="West Sussex Bluebell Wood and Stream"><img alt="West Sussex Bluebell Wood and Stream" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/33906368028_b66067feea_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It would be easy to take our annual bluebell displays for granted. Bluebells are a wild woodland flower of temperate climates. But all of this may change as <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2017/bluebells-may-fail-to-flourish-as-climates-warm" target="_blank">increasing global average temperatures threaten the future of English bluebells</a>. An increase of 5</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st">°</span>C by 2100 above 1850 figures would put the UK into either a humid subtropical or Mediterranean climate category, depending on rainfall distribution. As spring 2019 has already shown, bluebells are beginning to slip out of sync with seasons, with flowers appearing in mid-March. It's thought that bluebells lack the flexibility to adapt quickly enough to flourish in rising temperatures. Wild flowers are also threatened by illegal bulb harvesting by criminals for sale on the black market, which is why it's always best to source garden bulbs from legitimate sources.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/278Trm" title="Roe deer eating oak leaves in bluebell wood"><img alt="Roe deer eating oak leaves in bluebell wood" height="1600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/32861559687_e80ed16eac_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I hadn't seen Roe deer in this privately owned forest for three years, but two turned up in one minute. This buck was the most tolerant of the pair. There is often something quite child-like about Roe deer; the pretty eyes, dinky legs and everything in miniature. He looked back at me, before reaching down to pick up and eat a fallen clump of oak leaves. His antlers were so long, I had trouble framing the picture. His younger companion had already fully shed his winter coat, but his will be gone in another two weeks. It was fitting that the last photo of my project was of my favourite wild animal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As my bluebell photography project comes to an end, I can look back and wish I had spent longer at Micheldever and Itchen Woods. There are many possible vantage points for landscape photography and the site is rich in wildlife. I didn't get the time to photograph any Brimstone and Orange Tip butterflies or the Stoats, Fallow and Muntjac deer either. Next year, I will be staying for two nights, in greater comfort and warmth, of course. The bluebell season is over so quickly and there is only so much I can fit in, without falling asleep on the job. I did my best. I hope you've enjoyed yourself.</span></span>
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Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-13475754919234608762019-02-01T02:21:00.002+00:002020-08-06T09:50:41.053+01:00Snowy January Night in Brighton<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although heavy snow was forecast on the evening of January 31st 2019, it seemed that Brighton was once again going to miss out. Having seen the rainfall radar, I was on the verge of giving up my planned walk around the city, but large snowflakes began falling at 8pm, so I put on my down jacket and headed for an area of urban parkland called The Level. The UK has mild winters for its high latitude and therefore snow and ice is a novelty for most people. The mercury dropped to -6<span class="st">°C this morning, but s</span>pare a thought for the residents of Fargo, North Dakota, who suffered a brutal -37<span class="st">°C on Wednesday. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st">I spent four hours outside, but the wet snowflakes eventually caused my down jacket to lose its loft. The jacket and my camera are now being warmed and dried by my dehumidifier and two bottles of Citra beer are currently working their way through my central nervous system. I hope this isn't the last snowfall of the winter. We still have February. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/46956874571/" title="Snowy January Night, The Level"><img alt="Snowy January Night, The Level" height="1067" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4839/46956874571_0a57b72d05_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/CQe7V9" title="Snowy January Night, The Level"><img alt="Snowy January Night, The Level" height="1067" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4809/32002718727_180430795a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/33071145658/in/dateposted-public/" title="Snowy January Night, Brighton"><img alt="Snowy January Night, Brighton" height="1067" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7887/33071145658_13f941e75d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/V26sHC" title="Bicycle-shaped objects in the snow"><img alt="Bicycle-shaped objects in the snow" height="1067" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4845/32003025917_8b0a8e0d1d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/89A3oC" title="Blizzard caught in floodlights"><img alt="Blizzard caught in floodlights" height="1067" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7879/33068562948_dce80c1040_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/N4SGm2" title="Snowy January Night Grand Parade, Brighton"><img alt="Snowy January Night Grand Parade, Brighton" height="1024" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7818/33068192338_2dfdd7a62d_b.jpg" width="1009" /></a></span></div>
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Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-1971196027599898752018-10-30T07:54:00.000+00:002019-05-19T20:19:13.410+01:00Make like a tree and leave<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I never look forward to autumn, until it's too late. As the days shorten and the nights get colder, nature puts on a dazzling display of colour, but I'm all too aware of what happens next. Autumn is my last chance to enjoy good weather and the outdoors before it gets dark at 4 pm and the C-word starts being mentioned more often than the B-word currently saturating news headlines. Society will soon become preoccupied with cutting down small conifers and buying useless junk, briefly pausing on 25th December, before ordering more junk the following day in the sales.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've just spent one month photographing two richly diverse and beautiful locations, but I cannot show you my imagery without repeating that the natural world and organised civilisation is under grave threat from climate change. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Scientists are nearly unanimously predicting that average global temperatures will rise 4</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, if society doesn't become carbon-neutral in the next two decades. That means governments using legislation to rapidly phase out fossil fuels, switching to renewable energy, planting forests to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and ending their love affair with unlimited economic growth. It means individuals driving electric cars, cycling to work, eating less meat and demanding that all products are low carbon. The benign Holocene climate of the last 15,000 years has allowed civilisation to flourish, but the planet is now seeing the beginning of something much less hospitable. We've missed many chances to curb climate change, but this could be our last.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/G2g0FH" title="Wakehurst Place"><img alt="Wakehurst Place" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1958/44954841041_0cc4736f85_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I
was hoping to photograph mushrooms in the grounds of Wakehurst Place,
but the specimens were in poor condition and I resigned myself to having
wasted a day at the wrong site. It's quite difficult to achieve parity
with the beautiful photos of the house and grounds currently on sale in
the visitor centre. The photographer clearly worked outside of visitor
times and benefited from the kind of golden hour lighting deprived of
everyone else. On September 27th, however, the golden hour began at 5pm
and the angelic little Cordelias and Tabithas were being taken home
for supper. I suddenly had the unexpected pleasure of photographing
empty grounds in warm, beautiful evening sunshine. The hot, dry summer and cold nights of late September transformed many trees into an early display of autumn colour. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wakehurst Place was a precursor to an adventure that would last 32 days. I chose a small woodland in Sussex as my project site. The acidic soil hosts a wide variety of fungi. Outcrops of sandstone support vast oak and beech trees. The ritual of travelling here, the landmarks en route, saying hello to local people, even the walk along a narrow country lane to the woods, became addictive. The musty scent of decaying leaves, Fallow deer calling in the rut, finding something new every time and a sense of freedom. I didn't want any of it to stop. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/45858910061/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn on the Rocks"><img alt="Autumn on the Rocks" height="1066" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/45858910061_ffb370d929_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/2eg7AD" title="Autumn on the Rocks"><img alt="Autumn on the Rocks" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1956/44628352255_1926fa71c2_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br /></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/43945697870/in/dateposted-public/" title="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)"><img alt="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1959/43945697870_b2527c58a8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/45778810271/" title="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)"><img alt="Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1978/45778810271_c1fb088b85_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/30854343057/" title="Fly Agaric Mushrooms"><img alt="Fly Agaric Mushrooms" height="1067" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4895/30854343057_e1c3a299d9_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In late September, dozens of Fly Agaric mushrooms begin appearing in the woodland. Their underground network of roots seem to prefer birch trees and in favourable spots, tens of mushrooms can cover a small area. These attractive fungi are hallucinogenic, but unlike magic mushrooms, not in a good way. The psychoactive chemicals adversely affect the victim's object perception and spatial awareness and therefore anyone </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ingesting them unprepared will be somersaulting over leaves like an acrobat on Mars. You may live, but only with your digestive system in a glass jar.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The previous two fungi images, shot at ground level using a 300mm lens at maximum aperture, creates a dream-like effect. I employed no variation in the viewing angle, but subtle changes in lighting created dramatically different results. For the third fungi image, I spent an hour, mostly on my knees, experimenting with different compositions, focal lengths and camera angles and shot 74 frames. An overhead vantage point made the fungi look like flat discs; low angles included distracting background elements. The scene worked best from an approximate 40 degree angle, using a 38mm focal length. Aching legs made walking uncomfortable for a few days. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/06ao48" title="Ancient Oak in Autumn"><img alt="Ancient Oak in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1947/44044196615_27ab497b03_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/fxd73s" title="Mature Oak in Autumn"><img alt="Mature Oak in Autumn" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1946/44777595934_b6d234b4ce_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/787xs2" title="Autumn Woodland in Transition"><img alt="Autumn Woodland in Transition" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1962/43350553390_c8e74a1596_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/byd75d" title="Autumn Woodland Path"><img alt="Autumn Woodland Path" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1908/43350562780_e404cb52a4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The journey to this woodland lasts nearly 2 hours, but despite the travel, it feels like a home from home. I belong here and feel safe. Being a man means taking certain things for granted. I can walk alone in the countryside, use public transport at night, drink in a pub</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, take lifts from strangers and start-up conversations with anyone I like without fear of harassment or sexual violence. Research shows that 70% of British women take measures in their everyday lives to guard against harassment. It's standard practice to advise women on how to <i>avoid</i> becoming victims of sexual violence, but rarely does anyone tell men stop to making women and girls feel vulnerable. The good news is that many men and boys feel deeply uncomfortable about toxic masculinity and want to break free from societal pressure to act tough, dominate others and avoid having feelings. Feminism is succeeding in helping women fulfil their potential, but the ball is now in our court, as men, to make the great outdoors a safe space for everyone.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/B0X6o1" title="Autumn Colours"><img alt="Autumn Colours" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1975/30038391357_23add37bc7_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/z8L377" title="Red Oak Leaves"><img alt="Red Oak Leaves" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1951/44611879925_a062894a9f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Red Oak is not common in the UK, but it can be seen at this site, alongside the English Oak, European Beech, Silver Birch, Horse Chestnut and Common Holly. I've been visiting the woodland on every day off and booked 11 days leave to come here in late October. It was a privilege to enjoy the surroundings in temperatures ranging from 18 - 22<span class="st">°C, but I had to award myself a pyjama day to recover from fatigue. Each visit, including travel, lasts 8 hours and carrying 15kg of equipment all adds up. </span></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/BV82z7" title="Autumn Ferns"><img alt="Autumn Ferns" height="1600" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1913/43461513820_b8896c1ec1_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/44992919155/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn on the Rocks II"><img alt="Autumn on the Rocks II" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/44992919155_662989388b_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/44905620094/in/photostream/" title="Unsettled Autumn Day on High Weald"><img alt="Unsettled Autumn Day on High Weald" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1907/44905620094_3f697e2678_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/5Ue0b0" title="Autumn Woodland at Sunset"><img alt="Autumn Woodland at Sunset" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1925/31166200028_c7258745f0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It
can be argued that photography objectifies real life
experiences, replacing the here and now with a series of abstractions.
The invention of smartphones in particular has changed norms around
attending concerts and
sporting events. Instead of simply enjoying the performance, it's the
norm to channel the performance via the intermediary of a smartphone
camera and for friends
to photograph each other and their food, using the event as a backdrop.
When I look
back at my work, it's very easy to allow the impression of my photos and
the "reaction" of social media followers to supplant the memory of my
original experiences. Spending an entire afternoon looking at
mushrooms without a care in the world, while inhaling the musty scent of
decaying leaves is not something that can be "shared" and "live
streamed". The quality of interaction on social media is also highly superficial and it's probably just as well I've accepted that there's always going to be a gulf between my enthusiasm and the attention span of internet users. I am becoming much better at recalling original
experiences, even long after everyone has moved onto something
else. My photos can only convey so much. If you want to live out my
experiences, you must go there yourselves. </span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/n93948" title="Beech Woodland at Sunset"><img alt="Beech Woodland at Sunset" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1952/31733314718_4a9864d4a4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/45696599042/in/dateposted-public/" title="Autumn Sunset"><img alt="Autumn Sunset" height="1067" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/45696599042_cf3e86f46c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st">My final two visits to the woods saw much colder weather and heavy showers. On 26th October, a torrential squall passed overhead shortly after I arrived to reshoot a scene I had rushed on the 24th, due to a combination of late discovery and fading light. It was even colder on Sunday 28th. I stood under the tree canopy, trying to keep warm and dry in temperatures of 5</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="st">°C. The sun came out for 10 minutes before an early sunset, as the clocks had gone back earlier in the day. The 32 day project came to an end, with a beautiful sunset view of beech trees overlooking the valley below. I hope you enjoyed my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them and please leave a comment if you like.</span></span></span></span> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6856551099141296693.post-59465919562426746142018-09-06T12:00:00.001+01:002020-08-06T09:52:05.231+01:00Fairies of the Wood<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I began visiting a Roe deer site in August, just as the rutting season was in full flow. The month began hot and dry, but gave way to cooler conditions, with frequent heavy rain. Parched grass and rock hard ground once again became lush and soft. I had a great deal of trouble adjusting from the Mediterranean weather of June and July, to an unsettled and cool August.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I wouldn't have been able to compile these images without the assistance of my electric bike, which has significantly cut journey times and brought deep rural sites within easy reach. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The
bike is worth every penny, given its light weight, good components, 70
mile range and smooth
assistance thanks to the Bosch torque sensor.</span> I can leave the woods and arrive at the station 11 minutes later to catch an early train. I'm home just 3 minutes after I leave Brighton station. Keeping fit is not compromised by electrical assistance, as I cycle with 18kg of equipment and frequently cruise above the 15.5 mph assisted limit. The 20kg bike and 18kg equipment also has to be carried up steps at railway stations. My ethos is strongly influenced by Dutch culture, where cycling is seen as a safe, green and healthy activity and the climate of fear about helmets is absent. It's a fun and healthy way to get around for any artist, who cares about the environment they love photographing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having discovered a versatile site where the presence of Roe deer in woodlands and meadows can be virtually guaranteed and disruption is unlikely, I now have the opportunity to tell a story about these beautiful animals over four seasons. </span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/s6j551" title="Roe deer buck in forest"><img alt="Roe deer buck in forest" height="1600" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1840/43192779075_d111e01985_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the least tolerant buck on the site. He will stand for long enough to get a few shots, but he doesn't like being photographed. I would say he's five years old. There are about 15 Roe deer on the site at present. Roe bucks are territorial, so it's a simple matter of visiting a particular field or corner of the woodland to find a particular deer. During the rutting season, it's common to see an accompanying doe and her kids nearby. From late September to April, Roe deer live in small groups. They are solitary from April to mid-July, when they court until mid-August.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/43638679125/in/dateposted-public/" title="Curious baby Roe deer"><img alt="Curious baby Roe deer" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1868/43638679125_8e08757bc5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I
spotted twin baby Roe deer grazing at the edge of a field, away from
their mother. They were 3 months old at the time. One of the babies just
couldn't resist coming forward to find out what was causing that
clicking noise. Roe deer are naturally curious, but all too often, their
timidity prevents this side from being observed. This deer shares genes
with other tolerant roe at the site and took an interest in the giant
eye pointing in his/her direction. The mild tolerance of this young deer and relatives would prove insignificant in comparison to a quite unique Roe deer I was to encounter later in August.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/o5690R" title="Roe buck in the forest"><img alt="Roe buck in the forest" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1856/29225875407_e563298c89_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The
appearance of two horses startled this buck into escaping down a
woodland glade. He quickly forgot about the horses and spent about 10
minutes eating juicy blackberries. Roe deer never fully cease observing
their surroundings and the buck eventually spotted a stationary figure
pointing a giant eye in his direction. Instead of bolting, he stared at
me for a couple of minutes, before curiosity got the better of him and
he walked in a spider-like fashion towards a shaft of sunlight. He would
normally expect humans to take only a cursory interest in him, so my
unusual behaviour prompted further investigation. I was glad the
encounter didn't alarm him, as they sometimes bark, but the deer just
wandered off after a couple of minutes.</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/3Z045b" title="The Yawning Roe Deer"><img alt="The Yawning Roe Deer" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1772/44050861542_354b7454db_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This buck sleeps in roughly the same place every day. The first thing I noticed was his unusually small ears, which look like they've been taken from another mammal or even a teddy bear. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I would estimate he is two years old. </span>He is the most tolerant buck on the site and will remain in situ or even go back to sleep if I refrain from any provocative behaviour. In the photo, he is yawning and stretching after getting up. The tolerant behaviour of Roe deer at this site is partly genetic. Most roe deer bolt immediately, but if I spot one tolerant deer, then others nearby will likely be related and their behaviour profile similar. I've noticed that the most tolerant Roe deer tend to live at sites with low numbers of human visitors, where people treat the countryside with love and respect. Local people here are very friendly and I often stop to have a chat about the deer, buzzards and barn owls living nearby. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/p5g1i4" title="Roe Buck Lying Low"><img alt="Roe Buck Lying Low" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1855/29437369917_cc3cc99588_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I
returned in late August and enjoyed a wonderful series of encounters
with the tolerant buck and his attendant doe. The buck allowed me to
photograph him from a distance of about 30 - 40 metres and his behaviour ranged from
indifferent to slightly watchful. Provided I respected his boundaries, he accepted my close presence. When Roe deer are alarmed, the
hairs on their bottom are raised, but it is clear from my images that he doesn't see me as a threat. I look forward to re-visiting this field over the next year, as there is clearly a story to be told about the deer's life. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/390XD3" title="Buck and Doe"><img alt="Buck and Doe" height="1028" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1843/43466876825_9d218c915c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The pair are observing a group of passing horse riders. The doe's rear hairs are raised, indicating a degree of alarm, but she became more relaxed when the riders disappeared. I spent 30 minutes observing the deer and noticed that the doe in particular frequently fixed her gaze at unknown sources of interest. The buck's unwillingness to depart from the field is partly driven by a desire to defend his territory and attract passing does.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/P499hX" title="Young Roe Buck"><img alt="Young Roe Buck" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1862/44324891412_947fd6fcfa_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br a="" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/gM6d28" title="Roe Buck Grooming" />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/s8Wbu6" title="Young Roe Buck"><img alt="Young Roe Buck" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1875/30506403428_c4f5002fa4_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br a="" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/gM6d28" title="Roe Buck Grooming" />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/110eHS" title="Roe Buck Grooming"><img alt="Roe Buck Grooming" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1856/43466861315_e9674f074f_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/v14z8T" nbsp="" title="Roe Buck Licking Lips"><img alt="Roe Buck Licking Lips" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1872/44331990102_d5be613f47_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/vA95bd" title="Roe Buck Grazing"><img alt="Roe Buck Grazing" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1900/44331986272_aa0272e4ed_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/XS3NAW" title="Roe Buck Walking"><img alt="Roe Buck Walking" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1870/29444257507_f907c9fab6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/uEC5fs" title="Roe Buck Portrait"><img alt="Roe Buck Portrait" height="1600" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1873/43664968244_a5afe6469a_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/EDJ8Z7" title="Young Roe Buck"><img alt="Young Roe Buck" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1885/29450169437_71b4fa548e_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/PU6d50" title="Mature Oak in Evening Light"><img alt="Mature Oak in Evening Light" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1867/43534166215_a27db3e547_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">September began warm and mellow. Day length is similar to March, but September is now an extra summer month because of climate change. The rutting season has finished and the deer are gradually returning to the woods. I spotted the tolerant buck along a glade and he observed me for a few moments before making his way back into the fields. The buck has a strong preference for sitting down and it was almost as if he was waiting for me, when I spotted his expressive face staring right back at the field edge. A family came walking through the field, prompting him to move, but just a few minutes later, I spotted him again, sitting down, doing nothing at the opposite end of the field. His idea of fleeing danger is to calmly walk to another spot and sit down in the grass. Most wildlife photographers use concealment methods when stalking deer, but I prefer to build trust in plain sight. Deer would not normally expect a predator to make an approach without even attempting to hide itself, so it's possible that my hiding in plain sight convinced the deer not to worry. I took the head portraits in open view from just 20 metres. The buck was quite comfortable and relaxed.</span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/44392575504/in/photostream/" title="The Long Stare"><img alt="The Long Stare" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1980/44392575504_efcb8a12a8_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/83w50u" title="Roe Buck Walking"><img alt="Roe Buck Walking" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1887/44385121092_f66b23af0c_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/Z20q31" title="Roe Buck Side Portrait"><img alt="Roe Buck Side Portrait" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1875/44385125582_aaf5f31cb5_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/S5F46y" title="Roe Buck Close Portrait"><img alt="Roe Buck Close Portrait" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1864/43749031794_2b28fc2a42_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanmackenzie/42701133400/in/dateposted-public/" title="Roe deer buck"><img alt="Roe deer buck" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1899/42701133400_a8b7e1afb6_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/i16Qot" title="Roe Buck Close Portrait"><img alt="Roe Buck Close Portrait" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1841/30566195888_9168d54e2d_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Wolf and Eurasian Lynx have been hunted to extinction, meaning there are no natural predators to Roe deer</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> left in the British Isles</span></span>. With the forces of natural selection absent, unusually tolerant Roe deer can occasionally be found. I have been told by local people that the landowners don't cull deer and, if he
manages to avoid accidents or disease, the buck could achieve his
natural lifespan of seven years.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/99w777" title="Roe Buck Feeding"><img alt="Roe Buck Feeding" height="1067" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1899/43534301135_8b5f4260cb_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When feeding or resting in sunny weather, the buck follows the edge of shadows cast by trees. My theory is that glare from the sun reduces his vision, rendering him less able to identify either succulent plants or potential danger. Roe are very selective when grazing and won't just eat anything. <span style="color: white;">Photography student work experience.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It became clear on September 3rd, that this would be my last visit for a while. The tolerant buck has left the field and returned to the woods. He will be back, as Roe deer like to revisit the place they were born. It was a beautiful, warm September afternoon and all I could do was reflect on how privileged I was to spend time with such wonderful wild animals over one month. I can't be accused of wasting any opportunities afforded by the brilliant summer of 2018. I've done so much, that the buttercup meadows of June are starting to feel like a distant memory. I'll be reviewing my favourite photos of the summer in due course, but up next is a story about Roe deer as they adapt to life in autumn and early winter. In the meatime, I'll be popping down to the curry house for a much earned Vindaloo and a beer or twelve.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/alanmackenzie/7A7d94" title="Public Footpath"><img alt="Public Footpath" height="1600" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1846/42646909330_37b768f9a0_h.jpg" width="1600" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span> Alan MacKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667377534438807166noreply@blogger.com0