This was our first trip to the centre since July 2019, and without the Covid-19 pandemic we would probably have made several visits earlier this year. The weather forecast looked promising so I booked our visit as per the current requirements. I knew numbers were limited, but we felt there were more people around than we expected.
Summer is one of my favourite times to visit. It lacks the hustle and bustle of the winter migrants, and instead has a peaceful tranquil feeling. There are still one or two chicks running around, a few dragonflies patrolling or soaking up the sunshine on the wooden benches and railings. On a sunny day with a light breeze it is warm and pleasant in contrast to the cold winter winds!
I was keen to test my new camera (Olympus E-M1 mark III) and during lockdown I also added a 2 times teleconverter to my bag. The extra magnification of this over the 1.4 times converter was quite noticeable and the extra zoom was useful. With the 40-150 mm pro lens it gives me a 35mm equivalent of an 80-300 mm lens without the weight and bulk.
The swans and eider ducks were fairly quiet, but there were quite a few geese flying around, and the odd skirmish between swans, ducks and coots.
I had hoped to be able to test my settings for photographing birds in flight (and motion). I was using pro-capture on low speed (18 fps) which enables focusing for each shot. I was also using continual autofocus with tracking, and cluster focus active. All of these shots were taken as or just after the movement started, and with panning. The geese in flight and the swan taking off were a good 25m away, maybe more. I was very impressed at how well the camera picked the birds up, focused on them and kept them in focus. I liked the symmetrical way the geese were flying.
I’m not sure what upset this coot, and again I was able to focus on him when he was already on the move, and capture him walking on water.
The vibrant colours of flamingos always catch my eye and this one was having a good preen.
I love dragonflies and found a nice warm spot where a few hawkers were patrolling and the common darters were soaking up the sunshine on the wooden railing. It wasn’t chilly enough for them to climb onto my hand to warm up, but I managed to get a handful of shots of this male coming in to land. They are very fast and I needed a shutter speed of about 1/5,000th of a second, and even then didn’t quite get the focus as perfect as I would have liked. I was able to get a couple of macro shots while he was enjoying the nice, warm sunshine.
I also took the opportunity to capture some video clips as practice for video editing using DaVinci Resolve. This is a free program and has more than enough for what I need. It is quite amazing that so much is included in a free program. I made a very short video from the clips I took. As the purpose was to learn the software I didn’t spend much time planning and making a shot list, and recorded the clips on my Olympus TG6. I am slowly starting to get the hang of the editing process.
Link to video here: Slimbridge
This was our first visit to Slimbridge since the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased and I was disappointed at the measures in place. There were a few signs outside buildings about the requirements to wear face coverings, but no where was there any signage that there are exemptions. As an asthmatic I am exempt but keep my mask on as much as I can. I do feel it should be made clear that masks are compulsory unless you are exempt.
I felt there could have been more reminders of the need for social distancing, for example, my husband was sat on a bench while I was photographing the dragonflies when another elderly lady sat next to him. I would argue that both should have known better (it isn’t just the “youngsters” causing problems) but they sat and chatted, and he told me she was on a coach trip from Cornwall. When I reminded him they shouldn’t have been sitting on the same bench he said he had forgotten. I think some signage and taping off of benches would have helped with this.
The one way system to access the toilet was confusing for me. My husband is severely sight impaired and where he can recall a layout before his eyesight deteriorated he is often able to navigate it. For him this would have been a problem. There were multiple tripping hazards and the detour route was uneven. It wasn’t well signposted and he would not have been able to read it. No one was on hand to provide any assistance.
As long standing members of the WWT and knowing they have a desire to be fully accessible to everyone I found this visit very disappointing, and one does question the value of remaining a member at this point in time. I love visiting Slimbridge but on this occasion I left feeling unhappy, and concerned that it wasn’t as safe as it could have been.
Labels: Covid-19, E-M1 mark III, Macro, Olympus, Slimbridge, Wildlife, WWT