I longed to get a photo of a woodpecker and was high on my wish list. While in Marten Mere in the UK another visitor seeing me with my camera mentioned that a woodpecker had been about at another hide. Unfortunately the hide was a distance away and it was close to closing time - but it was worth 'legging' it down just in case. Not long in the hide I noticed an adult woodpecker getting food from a feeder and snapped a few shots. I hoped I might be able to get a more natural shot. Then I spotted a juvenile perched on a cross branch so I snapped a few shots. Then I was rewarded with both adult and juvenile perching more naturally on a tree and the adult started to feed the juvenile! Light was failing so settings proved a challenge. I had a reach of 560mm thanks to the 1.4 extender but this meant an open aperture of f8. I dropped the shutter speed to 1/400 sec and tried to hold the camera as steady as I could, I hadn't brough the tripod as I walked in excess of 18,000 steps and wanted less weight on my back. Auto ISO resulted in an ISO of 10,000 but Topaz DeNoise helped with the noise.
WWT Martin Mere is a fantastic place for a nature photographer or wildlife enthusiast to visit as well as families. There is good variety with a large area with captive birds allowing you to experience some eye-catching water birds from around the world along with otters! There are also large natural areas with public hides to allow you to observe local birds without imposing on their habitat. In walking from one hide area to another I was lucky enough to catch a wild stoat out of the corner of my eye but not lucky enough to catch it on camera!
Comments
Post a Comment