This morning the weather was so bright and sunny it was one of those days that you just had to be out in. During the night the rain had been so intense it was like being with Noah on his maiden voyage! 

My plan was to sit in a portable hide for an hour or so and wait for the ducks and perhaps waders to come to the pool at the far end of the Marsh, "legally" of course, on the track. I had reasoned that in the flooded conditions there would be hardly, if any, other people out and about. On a walk the day before yesterday I had seen Widgeon, a beautiful duck species in a pool by the track  and I wanted good close photos. Well I still do because it all went terribly wrong. I was amazed that the tracks were as flooded as they were. With waders on, I had no trouble negotiating the deep puddles. Until that is, I slipped and almost totally submerged myself. I was holding the camera at the time and managed to keep it out of the water apart from the 50-500 lens which got a dunking. The lens is  now in the  airing cupboard, hopefully drying out.I am doubtful that this will do the trick but I am praying.  My  waders were full of water and I was wet  up to my chest which was a bit uncomfortable to say the least. I waddled back down the track to the car, about a mile. The water was sloshing around my toes and my wet jeans chaffed my thighs…… ugh! I hardly saw any birds at all apart from Redwing again and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. 

Later on in the afternoon I sat on the lawn in my hide. There was  very little light in the garden by now, the sun was almost setting. We are lucky to have a flock of Collared Doves with us now, sometimes as many as 17, well that's the record, but usually 9 or 10.  Also Goldfinch numbers are starting to build up so I was confident of giving the Pentax 200 a work out. This is good lens for low light conditions because you can open it right up to f2.8 and with an ISO of 800 you can get an almost passable image if you are close enough. 

I really hope you like this Collared Dove image because I have emphasised the contrast between the dark, dim conditions and the brighter bird. I gave the Goldfinch the same treatment and I quite like the results. I know that in the height of the winter  we will be almost over-run with Goldfinch and this picture will not be anywhere near good enough to compete with those to come. But for the time being, it's the first of the winter season and I am pleased to have something to photograph.