Photography at Essex Nature Reserve
I had a great evenings photography at Fingringhoe Wick nature reserve a few days ago. Along with a small group of photographers I was lucky enough to be given access to the reserve after it had officially closed. This meant we had great late evening golden light.
Wildlife photography is a bit like fishing. You have to wait patiently in the hope that something is going to happen. I was sitting in a hide with a good friend looking out over a “scrape”, which is a fairly shallow body of water, waiting for some wildlife action. We saw quite a few different species such as oyster catchers, little egrits, black headed gulls, mallards; and then all of a sudden a common tern came in to fish. It was a very good spectacle and I got some fairly decent pictures. A few minutes later though I got my shot of the night. A kestrel came flying past really quickly. I only had a chance to get two shots of it before it disappeared off to the right of the hide. The first one was completely blurred (an occupational hazard with wildlife photography) but the second shot was sharp. Not only that but the kestral looked round when it heard my shutter fire so in the second shot it was actually looking right down the lens. What a poser! and what a great way to finish the evening.
Fingringhoe Wick is an Essex wildlife trust nature reserve near Colchester. I think it’s well worth a visit. It has woodland, open heath, a large lake, river estuary, reed beds and of course the scrape. Because of this variety of habit there is a good range of diverse wildlife on offer.
