ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Sunday 8 September 2013

SEALED. (08/09/13)

I’ve had another busy day. It’s Sunday so I had fried bread, two fried eggs, a slice of black pudding three thinnish sausages, a few mushrooms and a fried tomato. I could hardly move and I didn’t eat all the sausages. I shared the last one between the dogs.

I then waddled and rolled my way down hill to look at the seals. I don’t like carrying lots of equipment in normal circumstances but here on the borders of Stockton and Middlesbrough there are some very dubious characters….Footpads is a polite word for them. Eighteen months ago I had a run in with four of them who were intent on relieving an older gentleman of a Nikon camera and a big telephoto lens. I ambled round the corner just in time and fortunately the threat of a damn good clout from my monopod dissuaded them and they went off on their sad way to annoy some other unfortunate. They need flogging not prison. These little scroats were only mid teens or a bit older but they start young here.

The seals posed today.

_MG_1538

_MG_1534

_MG_1524   I love mammals no matter what the species and though it took over an hour to catch them this close it was a happy hour. Two caught Salmon or Sea Trout but they were too far away for a shot. In any event they only seem to surface briefly with the fish give it a good shake then dive and presumably eat it under water.

I have been promising a fellow blogger a proper sky shot for ages, Today looked like being the day. No, it wasn’t a clear blue sky with not a cloud, then the odd cloud arrived and so did my lunch date. She is posh but a bit of a funny beggar. She noticed the spherical tripod head, cable release, tripod and camera.

“If you think I'm standing about for an hour whilst you F’about with that lot you can think again”….What happened to Ladylike? What happened to change her in doors so bolshie?

I’m just too easy going. We had to rush lunch as she was playing golf. That’s alright then, I’ll just take the dogs another walk. Halfway through my roast lamb I got up for another pint. When I returned to the table she said what the hell have you got in your trousers. I thought my luck had changed. Not at all. She was referring to all the pockets jammed packed full of all the gear that would fit. Cargo pants are brilliant….you can hide a couple of lenses and a few filters in cargo pants.

I’m glad, with reservations I did, I found a wasp nest. Popped the teleconverter on the 135mm lens, stacked on about 55mm of extension tubes. I didn’t get a decent shot but did get stung twice. It could have been worse, the little devils went mad.

_MG_1548 This is the best of four before they attacked. I really don’t want to go down this route but I can’t resist. Look up the French for sting….then look up the same word in a French slang dictionary…..At least in French I achieved my objective for today. I found the seals, I had two good meals, I missed the sky shot but what the hell.

On the way back to the nineteenth hole I found three or four of these.

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_MG_1552 I first thought as they fluttered past they were the rare Scotch Argus but no. When this one deigned to settle she is a Speckled Brown. There was a male in the mix but he wouldn’t pose.

That’s all for today…Tomorrow I’m off to Sheriff Hutton just outside York for more socialising.

Have a good week.

33 comments:

  1. Nice set of images Adrian, monopods are really useful items I have one but as yet it has not been christened, if you know what I mean.

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    1. Good to see you back. I've rejoined your blog as a follower. I look forward to more posts from you.

      There was never any danger they are just big daft kids really. I do wonder what they are like now though..

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  2. The seals are charming. I've never seen one in the wild (only at the zoo).

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    1. Monica, these seals swim by the fish ladder. The river here is only a few hundred meters wide so apart from all the peat discoloration in the water it is like a zoo.

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  3. It's a good job those yobs weren't harassing you today Adrian, after stuffing yourself with all that food you would have found it difficult to have chased them off! Even the seals had to come close to check out that you weren't one of their blubbery friends!! Great pics btw.
    I don't think I would have tackled that wasp nest, they're the one thing that I'm wary of, you can never be sure what they're going to do next!

    You're half way there with the butterfly ID it's a Speckled Wood...[;o)

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    1. Trevor, I did think that the reason for their cooperation was that they'd found a fellow seal. I think these are Atlantic Seals not Grey Seals. They are a big unit. I just love their faces though they can be a bit funny if they are on dry land and you get too close. They can move fast on dry land as I found out.

      Ta for the ID. I knew it was Mrs Speckled Wood. That was a typo. I had to look back to check I'd written more rubbish than usual.

      I never would have thought a shutter click at a foot away would have caused such consternation. Little buggers!

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  4. The last two were a Speckled Wood, sorry. The first is the best of them, I love the Seal, pleasant.

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    1. Thanks Bob, neither are very good I should have had the macro lens.
      The Seals are beautiful.

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  5. Not the best time of year for wasp nest hunting Adrian. Males are out of a job and have too much time on their wings.

    Lovely to see some awww shots from you.

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  6. Wasps are worse than Hornets John. I'd tied the dogs up ten yards away. I had the presence of mind to run the other way when they swarmed. There were dozens swarming round me, a good job I know not to swipe at them. I have three stings. Two on my bald head and one on my thumb. All I wanted was a snap of the flying in and out of their nest...I'll have to learn to speak wasp.

    The Seals are cute looking butt not to a fish they aren't.

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  7. Hi Adrian I love the seal and you were either brave or full hardly tackling the wasps nest. it could have been 33 stings!!! I see Trevor has corrected you on the Butterfly. I got that one, still learning!

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    1. Margaret, I was bored full of a big roast dinner. I also had consumed two pints of falling down water. I'm not allergic to a wasp sting though it does sting a bit.
      This is one of the many beauties of blogging...I knew when I saw them they were Speckled Wood. I just wrote something different, the images are not good.

      After three days I like the Seal shots. They look cuddly. In real life they stink and are cold and wet.

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  8. You were a busy guy today. Seals? You bring back so many memories. Again back in the arctic. Round heads bobbing in the water. Seals basking on the ice. Seal skins. Seal meat. So many memories. Funny how when you're on the water there isn't much to photograph of a seal...just a little round head!

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    1. Red, I was beginning to think I wouldn't get close enough to them. It turned out alright in the end.

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  9. Hi Adrian...Oh are they ever cute, I love there faces!! Always seem to look like they are smiling !! Great shot's of the cuties!!

    Your lunch date tail is just comical, you have terrible luck !!

    I stay clear if possible of anything that buzzes, I am allergic to there sting!! No great for a person like myself who loves the great outdoors!!
    Four hours in the cardiac unit at the hospital hooked up to tons of wires and things that beep and go ding is not my idea of fun!

    Grace

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    1. Grace they do have lovely faces.
      I had lunch with a lass I've known for years. It's not a problem, we are still friends...I think.
      It is a little inconvenient being allergic to anything. Can't you carry something to lessen the effects.

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    2. Ya I could carry and EpiPen to inject,but the last time I was at the hospital the doctor said I shouldn't use one, because the older you get, it can cause a quick spike in blood pressure which is not to great!!
      I am supposed to take a antihistamine pill, and get my butt to the hospital!! Joy's of getting older!!

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    3. Grace, three years ago I got bitten by an adder twice in a week. The first time my thigh just swelled up and so no worries. The second time I got palpitations so went to the hospital. I was fine, They have a thing that just blasts the antidote through the skin. It was a bit expensive. I decided to live with the effects. I'm lucky a quick rub with vinegar sorts my wasp stings and Bicarbonate of soda sorts bee stings but they rarely sting anyway.

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  10. I'm sure you know this but ladies are like bankers. They don't have to be nice, they have something we want. I think the French word for sting is "piquer." I couldn't find the slang but I can imagine some uses for the word.

    I love the pictures of the seals. It is good I don't have one for a pet. It would be petted more than Leo if that is possible. So glad you could get the pictures. I'm not crazy about the color of the water. It is not your fault. I want water to be clear or blue or white if it's foamy. Mother Nature does not oblige. The butterflies are ugly but you can't help that either. The wasp is pretty but has a bad piquer. There is a lesson there.

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    1. David, the water is full of peat and mud after the heavy rain a couple of days ago.
      You are a linguist, the French unlike the Brits and Spanish don't blaspheme to any great extent. The Irish are the best swearers in our corner of the world.

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  11. Were the seals in fresh water or saltwater?

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    1. Carol, it is about half and half here. At lw water it is mostly fresh. It looks murkier than usual as this is storm water from a few days ago. Saltburn at the river mouth was quite badly flooded.

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    2. Carol, it is about half and half here. At lw water it is mostly fresh. It looks murkier than usual as this is storm water from a few days ago. Saltburn at the river mouth was quite badly flooded.

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    3. Carol, it is about half and half here. At lw water it is mostly fresh. It looks murkier than usual as this is storm water from a few days ago. Saltburn at the river mouth was quite badly flooded.

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    4. Carol, it is about half and half here. At lw water it is mostly fresh. It looks murkier than usual as this is storm water from a few days ago. Saltburn at the river mouth was quite badly flooded.

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  12. een heerlijk verhaal met mooie foto,s van de zeehonden,nou een wespennest dat hoeft van mij niet zo zeer.

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    1. Dit zijn wespen, Hornets zijn groter, maar minder agressief.

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  13. When the Thatcher-like lunch-date lady asked what you had in your trousers you should have said "Something that resembles one of my thinnish breakfast sausages. Fancy a hot dog honey?"

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    1. YP, no I shouldn't. Perhaps I should but I'm not that brave.

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    2. Even honey would have warranted a slap. Pet would be okay here in the North East.

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  14. As soon as you mentioned the wasps and I saw the blurry photo I instinctively knew all was not well. I've always found that wasps can'r see me when I'm behind the camera but then I only photograph blind wasps. Then I became interested in finding out what my Dictionary of Modern Colloquial French said about 'piquer'. The answer left me wondering whether you really had managed to acquire a dose of the clap or whether you had just had become prey to the falling down water. I'll play safe and assume the latter. All this made me forget the splendid seal close-ups.

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  15. PS Please remind me to proof read my comments before, not after, I have posted them.

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    1. Graham, I too have to edit comments, it's a pity that I don't edit my posts. Piquer is indeed an STD or to steal or nick something I was thinking of niquer.
      I'll have to stop thinking, there is a grand play on French words maybe even a poem lurking here. I have always wanted to introduce 'Croque Mort.' It's not a cheese toastie but sounds like one. It's an undertaker or better still a Hells Angel. I can definitely feel a rather dubious post brewing.

      The wasps weren't very nice. I tied the dogs up well away. I moved very slowly, crouched down and they went mad.

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