You never know what will turn up

While waiting to film blue tits and robins at the RSPB's bird feeding station at the Lodge, I was amazed when a sparrowhawk descended to the pool for a quick bathe. Momentarily paralysed with excitement, I quickly gathered my senses and managed to train my long lens on to the bird. To my disbelief, the bird stayed long enough for me to get several sequences. What a joy! I was also delighted that my new Manfrotto tripod and head managed to keep the shots acceptably steady. It's a pity that I couldn't reposition the camera to remove the intruding small tree trunk on the left of the frame - who says videographers are never happy!
To view the video go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3QY4YYEA_Y

Filming wildlife: a great way to lift the grey Monday lunchtime blues

Ploughing through a week's worth of emails and dealing with queries, my first day back at work after a week's leave was heavygoing. At lunchtime, the weather outside was about as gloomy as my darkening mood, but I knew that I had to escape the desk and the office to find some green therapy or, as others may know it: nature!

Heading for the pond in the grounds where I work at the RSPB's headquarters in Bedfordshire, I felt there may be a chance of filming some wildlife: a damselfly perhaps. To be honest, any of God's creatures would have been suitable subjects - I just needed to film something - anything. At first sight, it wasn't too promising - nothing was moving. Another photographer confirmed my fears: "I've been here for ten minutes and I've not seen a thing", he said. I knew that in sunny weather the pond's lily pads would have been stacked with damselflies: where do insects go in dull weather? And why weren't they here today?

Only first recorded in the UK in 1999, the small red-eyed damselfly has
become increasingly common at some sites, including parts of Bedfordshire.

Feeling that the highlight of my lunchtime would be a canteen sandwich, I waited a few minutes, staring intently at the lily pads, willing them to produce a filmable subject. At last, a damselfly. It was only a blue-tailed damselfly, but it was within reach - just.  And then more and more: small red-eyed, red-eyed and common damselflies gracing the lily pads. I didn't manage to film frame-filling or award-winning shots - the distance and the gloom ended those hopes, but I do have some nice record footage allowing me to confirm the identification of these delicate insects and appreciate their finer features.

A wasp taking a drink completed my lunchtime cast. Again not a fantastic sequence but good enough to enable me to identify the insect, once I've waded through some identification keys. I'm finding that a nice bonus of filming wildlife is that you can spend time identifying your subjects and getting to know their habits better. Filming continues to deepen and broaden my interest in nature. Not bad for a grey, Monday lunchtime.