Final Images For Bill

Sunday 25 April
Weather forecast for our arranged afternoon trip to Calke Abbey in Derbyshire was 'unpredictable with the chance of showers', and I don't think Sue has a degree in meteorology but she seemed to be much more accurate than that. Would it be more helpful if our TV presenters said, 'And now over to the weather guess' rather than forecast.

As ever Bill Cove is a mine of accurate information and observation, drawing our attention to green wood peckers, little (microscopic?) owls and antlers. Incidentally, Bill also knows all the names of Santa's reindeers, so his love of wildlife was apparent from a very early age. His enthusiasm is contagious. It's a special moment to unlock the chained entrance gates to the 50 acre deer park and be led into the ancient pastureland, collectively we felt we were starting one of those 'money can't buy' experiences.

Waiting for the crew to turn up I took some shots around the car park area.

The smaller Fallow deer are an entirely different species and keep themselves to themselves, there is very little interaction between the two herds, Fallow are wilder and much less 'farmable'.

Calke is well known for its 'untidy' parkland. Standing dead wood is left untouched where ever possible, felled timber is left to rot all of which creates habitat for a wide range of insects which form the start of the food chain for many  other larger species. This diversity is often lost in managed timber plantations and woodland.

Red deer are much bigger beasts and are to some extent farmed, the meat being used in the restaurant and sold to local suppliers.

It is a source of constant amazement to me that they shed their antlers annually and grow a completely new set from scratch each year. The stag's antlers are a mark of its breeding potential akin to Rolex watches and Porches in the human world, although research has shown that many female deer happily prefer a nice smile and a sense of humour though.

As predicted by Sue, the rain came and the deer enjoyed our panicked unwrapping of waterproof jackets, bright red umbrellas and a rather lovely black one which Steve refused to share with me.

This lone hawthorn caught my eye when others were spotting elusive green wood peckers on distant horizons. I seem to be taken over by photography even in my sleeping hours. The sky was bright in places, the distant woods comparatively dark as was the base and trunk of the hawthorn, the foreground was also bright.  I took 3 bracketed shots and merged to give a first go at HDR after listening to the lecture given by Peter Clark at the camera club.

We are going to give Bill some of our shots in return for the guided visit. If we all chip in £2 we could buy a memory stick to upload onto and then present to him. I'm thinking he might do a return visit later in the year if we make a good job of it and I've got some other thoughts for us to discuss on Sat with regard to Rebecca's Burton Hospital idea.