As a side note, I took these photos sat on the bed near the window of the guest bedroom.
I had a very cold bed that night… oops? :D
Well! Monday, Jun 16 2008
Chelmsford and Sunsets 9:37 pm
I think I neglected to mention previously that my picture-taking goes through phases. And there might be loooong quiet periods.
Oh well.
I do have some nice photos – one from when the canal lock was being repaired and maintained, flowers from my grandmother’s garden when I was house sitting for three weeks, a few from the lake… today will start off a four-picture series of a sunset there, and after that… well, lets see.
Snow Monday, Mar 24 2008
Chelmsford and Sky 9:59 pm
We had it today! :D
This is the very nice cloud I saw afterwards.
Hi duck arse. Tuesday, Mar 18 2008
Chelmsford and Tufted Duck 3:00 am
I was in conniptions of joy when I noticed two ducks on the lake – a stunning black and white and a browny – weren’t just being very unnoticeable, they were diving. Then I was in conniptions of anger as they wouldn’t stop.
I don’t have many photos of them, and the male will certainly have to wait, but this is a female Tufted Duck.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/tuftedduck/index.asp
What that doesn’t tell you is that the male is visually stunning. He is a very distinctive bird, and the one on the lake is quite shy; the female will come closer to humans (and other waterfowl). She’s rather nice, she is.
This is his gorgeousness.
They’re both very quiet, though, and easily startled. And if you’ve never tried to catch a diving duck coming back up… well… you have never been so frustrated. ><
It’s also not the most common of birds, either.
A view… Sunday, Mar 16 2008
Chelmsford and Sky 3:00 am
… into eternity.
This is from one side of the “lake” in the park in town. What you can see at the bottom is trees, a few houses from across the river directly in front, and to the rght is the aquaduct that the trains run on. Above that is an awful lot of pretty blue sky.
The lake is not exactly a lake. It’s not big enough, and it’s manmade. It doesn’t even have a name – it’s just the lake in central park. It’s stocked with fish, I know, since people fish there, but I don’t know when or how it was made. Mother said, once, that she heard german bombers were trying to hit the viaduct, missed barely, and the bombs made a big hole that filled with water (and since the park already has a river running through it and is in actuality a flood plain, it would fill very quickly).
The shape of it befits that story, although I doubt its truth. It’s an odd triangular tear shape that would vaguely corroborate with a few dropped bombs.
And it is extremely close to the viaduct. Se’rous’leh.
After a factfinding mission that brings me close to annoyance, the only fact I can find is that Central Park itself was opened in 1894. I must find out more! … hm…
Macro. Saturday, Mar 15 2008
Chelmsford and Crocus 3:00 am
I have it, and it is wonderful. It seems to take a bit of practise, as I’m doing better at it than mother, and mother had her camera about a week after mine.
These are crocus at the park. See, the only reason you’re getting loads of birds is that it was winter in January, and in winter the only thing to photograph are birds; in February, early spring, there’s birds and treebuds. But now it’s the middle of spring…
I have a toy. *pats camera* Pretty macro.
Yay! Friday, Mar 14 2008
Chelmsford and Moorhens 3:15 pm
I’ve realised that was the fiftieth post. Fifty days – I didn’t realise I could keep this up for so long. O.O Of course, posting one a day will inevitably run out, as it is difficult to maintain in terms of photographs and your interest (which I may have lost god knows how long ago), but lets see how long I can keep it up, huh?
Onwards and upwards!
More moorhens; this is a pair in the park near the market. One of several pairs in the park, at that. But I went in on a morning and figured that, because it was darn bright for a february morning and I had my camera on me, why not?
Behind them is the river… *thinks* Chelmer. The river Chelmer. The Can is on the other side of town, and runs through the Bunny Walks. In front is a random piece of dried grass. Oh, and the green stuff is normal grass. ;)
“I’m coming, dear!” Sunday, Mar 2 2008
Chelmsford and Moorhens 3:00 am
This is a moorhen. They’re literally everwhere around here – just walking down the park at the right time of day, you can spot at least six wandering around near the river. They’re small – about half the length of the mallards – but extremely loud. If there is only one moorhen in an area, their very distinctive chirp will have you looking around for a phantom bird.
That’s because they’re very good at hiding. Significantly shier than mallards, pigeons, starlings, etc, they’re usually tucked in amongst the reeds or whatever plants are on the other side of the river to you. You have to wait, watch, and look very carefully until you see that blob of black-with-a-little-white in the shadows moves, and then you can see the dratted bird clearly.
Although this does depend upon their exposure. The ones on the Can, near the Odeon, tend to be daring for moorhens.
The RSPB website profile – http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/moorhen/index.asp
February sky. Saturday, Mar 1 2008
Hylands House and Park 3:00 am
Not so grey as imagined. Well, not always.
I think I’m going to end up with pictures of Hylands in all weathers and all months, just for the sake of it. I won’t show them all – but this is particularly stunningly blue.
First Post, Huh? Thursday, Jan 24 2008
Hylands House and Park Hylands House and Park 6:32 pm
Hi! Welcome to my newly declared photoblog.
I’ve always loved taking photos – I’ll say I’m not half bad, especially with my nice new camera. And I’ve always loved being lost, too. :D
To start this thing off, a picture of Hylands House, Chelmsford, Essex. It was taken July, 2007, on my gorgeous, reliable, but aging FinePixA405. It’s become zoom error prone and, whilst a good whack fixes that, sometimes you just have to give up on your favourite camera and find something new.
Hylands House is a three hundred year old, grade three listed, building that’s been through a lot. Once, when the property went into the hands of the County Council, they were going to leave it to rot and then sell off the land – and then it got named a grade three listed building, which meant that they HAD to look after it. A few million pounds, one floor less, and lovingly restored (and with extra land, taking it from four hundred something to five hundred acres) house.
Hylands has been used as a look-alike White House. The Park is open to the public all year ’round, and is the place where people take their children and walk their dogs as it is, in fact, the largest area of accessable green space for a bit of a way. It is also host to the V festival every year, and has recently been host to the scout’s Jamboree.
