Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

[Ann1e]

This wonderful spell of weather continues and we are making the most of it by being out and about for most of the day.

Having had a successful Saturday with my E-30, suddenly late on Sunday, when we had an hour or two to spare, I looked through the viewfinder to see a lopsided image - Barrie (probably thinking what has she done now ) took off the lens to reveal the mirror had become unglued, so my poorly camera is now at Luton Cameras awaiting repair and I am using an E-3 body.

Having not seen as many herons recently, we spent some time observing this one formulating a strategy and carefully planning a catch for his dinner.

Having thought about it for a while, he was in -

1.



I've got it! -

2.



Think I'll take it somewhere safe! -

3.



Can't talk - it's stuck in my throat! -

4.



Just a little further along from here we spotted a mink eyeing up the local duck population without success while we were there, fortunately -

5.



Today we were lucky enough to drive down a country lane just as twin lambs were born, one strong and seemingly healthy and the other most definitely weaker and barely able to stand. The ewe seemed to ignore the 'runt' and tenderly looked after the twin. We took our pix from way back through a fence not to upset the ewe -

6.



7.



and, finally, back on the canalside, a cheeky canine peeking out the back of a narrowboat unbeknown to her master -

8.



All taken (this time) with the E-3, 70-300mm lens.

Regards,
Ann1e

[Rocknroll59]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Lovely shots Ann1e...the Mink is an interesting one, must be one of the few wild ones left...most have been caught I thought..love the dog shot..

Peter

[Ian]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Actually I was listening on the radio earlier about water voles and how their numbers in the UK have been slashed by mink. Apparently it will be very difficult to get rid of the mink nationally but there are very active projects to trap mink where water voles are thriving in order to preserve them.

Ian

[ardvorlich]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Fantastic series Ann1e love the 1st but especially the last one.caught the character of the dog beautifully
Iain

[timmypreston]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

The heron sequence is fantastic!

It is law that if you capture a Mink it has to be killed as far as I am aware. Does that include capturing it in a picture?

[ringneck]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

There was a recurring noise as I scrolled down......it went like this..........



WOW

WOW

WOW

WOW

WOW

WOW

WOW

WOW

...and what a great one to finish with...a great shadowy expression.

That replacement kit did you proud.

[Phill D]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Yep seconded from me lovely series. How do you feel the E3 compares to your E30?

[Grumpy Hec]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Nice set Ann1e

My favourite is the last one. That dog has "I probably shouldn't be doing this" written all over it.

cheers

Hec

[Melaka]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Lovely shots Ann1e...the Mink is an interesting one, must be one of the few wild ones left...most have been caught I thought..love the dog shot..

Peter

Mink have never been wild in this country. They're feral escapees and it's been unlawful to release them into the wild for over thirty years. That, of course has not previously stopped 'do-gooders' from letting them out of mink farms. Unlike the otter they're small enough to get into a water rat's lair.

Sadly by no means all of the feral mink have been caught and it's doubtful they ever will be. Trapping them can be a time consuming business and is best done with a mink raft. When otter hunting ceased many of the packs switched to mink hunting but unfortunately that's now illegal. There have been suggestions that where there is a large otter population the mink decline but I'm not sure how true that is.

Despite being an attractive looking beast it's a real pain to native birds and animals.

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Actually I was listening on the radio earlier about water voles and how their numbers in the UK have been slashed by mink. Apparently it will be very difficult to get rid of the mink nationally but there are very active projects to trap mink where water voles are thriving in order to preserve them.

Ian

Ann1e great shots - and the PRECISE LOCATION OF THE MINK IS ? I could start a Mink Project - full length coat for next winter

I love the dog shot ... what an expression and those Heron shots are AWESOME catching then eating lunch

[Guest]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

I tried, but can't decide which of your heron shots I like best, Annie - all excellent ... as they are part of a sequence then I suppose it should be looked at that way.

[stevednp3]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Nice shots, I really like the last one with the dog peaking out, nice capture

[Ann1e]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Very many thanks all - Peter, Ian, Iain, Tim, Keith, Hec, David, Chevvy, Mark and Steve - for looking at my pix and for your kind comments.

The mink - David is right - they are escapees and we have a number in this area. Cute they may look and most animals have to kill to survive but unfortunately mink love the thrill of the kill and will hunt for sport, killing far more than they consume.

Regards,
Ann1e

[Ann1e]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Yep seconded from me lovely series. How do you feel the E3 compares to your E30?

When Barrie and I took up photography again in retirement, we had an E-510 apiece, although I always reckoned his functioned better than mine on identical settings!

Barrie then upgraded to an E-3 and not too long after than I bought my E-30 - mainly because at that time I didn't think I could handle the extra weight of the E-3 but weighty it was as Barrie added the battery grip which for me made a tremendous difference. He then upgraded again to the E-5, which, with the battery grip is definitely a non-starter for me, weight wise, although it's a superb camera. The E-3 body then became our spare, although to date we haven't needed to use it.

When Barrie suggested I use it while the E-30 was being repaired, I at first declined, saying it would be too heavy for me (I'm not suggesting I'm a complete wimp - it's just that I have a long term back problem!), but I was forgetting that I did not need to have the battery pack added and to be quite honest, I haven't been aware of a great difference in the handling of the two cameras.

I have only been using the E-3 since Monday evening but it is an easy transition and I have been very pleased with the results. The image quality is improved and there is definitely less noise. Hope I'm not disappointed when I get my E-30 back!

Regards,
Ann1e

[Barr1e]

Re: Lambs, a Heron's dinner, a Mink and a Dog!

Mink have never been wild in this country. They're feral escapees and it's been unlawful to release them into the wild for over thirty years. That, of course has not previously stopped 'do-gooders' from letting them out of mink farms. Unlike the otter they're small enough to get into a water rat's lair.

Sadly by no means all of the feral mink have been caught and it's doubtful they ever will be. Trapping them can be a time consuming business and is best done with a mink raft. When otter hunting ceased many of the packs switched to mink hunting but unfortunately that's now illegal. There have been suggestions that where there is a large otter population the mink decline but I'm not sure how true that is.

Despite being an attractive looking beast it's a real pain to native birds and animals.

Your comments reminded me of a few weeks ago when the Grand Union Canal was frozen over, in almost the identical location Anne took hers, I photographed this of another mink feasting on its kill.

http://fourthirds-user.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10507

Regards. Barr1e