Kestrel

We are back in Martignac staying with Gill and David.  Yesterday afternoon there was a great flapping of wings in a bush and there was a juvenile kestrel looking a little confused.  At first we were worried that it was injured, but I think that it was recently fledged and had not mastered the art of landing yet.  It remained in the immediate vicinity for about 40 minutes, then plucked up the courage to try flying again and we next saw it crash landing in a tree about 150 metres away.

Corporate Golf near Rotterdam

This week I have been photographing a corporate conference at the World Trade Centre in Rotterdam.  On day -1 there was a Golf tournament which I was asked to cover - I've never photographed golf before but was happy to have a go - they even provided me with a buggy so that I could whizz around between the groups. Clearly, some were better golfer than others and it was also clear to me at the prize-giving afterwards that it was the competent players who made the best photos!

I also tried a few "arty" shots of people putting

Finally, I discovered a corollary to Wilson's law of Bird Identification (there are only two species - ducks which have webbed feet and are found near water and sparrows which don't and don't); on golf courses there are three species - the birdie, the eagle and the albatross.  I got very lucky and was able to photograph one of each:

Bank holiday at Wimpole Hall

We paid a visit to Wimpole on Monday; despite living within 15 miles or so for the past 40+ years, I must confess to never having visited until now.  I shall be returning - particularly with a wider lens to better capture the lantern and its "gasolier"