A Year in the Life of an English Country Garden - 2016 - The End

jennyb

jennyb

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Jenny
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In 2010, I took on a project to record everything I saw in my garden during a whole year - flowers, trees, animals, insects, birds and even fungi. With the help of TP, I completed the year and produced a book containing 240 images. If anyone is interested, the book can be viewed online at http://www.blurb.com/books/2204905-a-year-in-the-life-of-an-english-country-garden.

It was a tough thing to commit to but with encouragement from TP members and some very useful feedback about my photos, I managed to keep going. It was an interesting year and during that time my photography definitely improved. So, I have decided to try it again. I will commit to taking photos every week (when I am at home) during 2016 and post them on this thread along with a commentary of what seems to be happening in the garden.

Constructive criticism will be very welcome. The idea is to practise my photography (hopefully trying out some different techniques) and to have an interesting record of 2016 at the end of it.

I will try very hard to reciprocate by commenting on other people's projects - as much as time allows, and I hope that some of you may be interested in following my project.

Watch this space!
 
Had a quick skim, it looks like you have some really good photos, I'll try to have another look when I get chance
 
Good luck with your project Jenny, I remember your 2010 project, such variety within it, I'm sure 2016 will be equally good.
 
Subscribed!

Thought your initial attempt at this was great. Will be following!
 
Here we go for 2016 ...

It may seem a strange way to start the year but I am posting some photos of flowers taken in the garden this week. Last month was the warmest December for about 100 years and the garden is really confused. Some daffodils were blooming during the first week of December and there are lots of other plants flowering that shouldn't be. The weather has now turned cooler and last weekend it was very stormy giving everything in the garden a good battering, so sadly the daffodils were too bedraggled to photograph. However we have hundreds of primroses blooming among other things. Here are a few.

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Finally, I regularly find jelly fungi on dead branches and twigs (usually oak). I find them fascinating with amazing textures and colours. Here is one I found this week - the colours are natural!

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I have been at the mercy of the weather this week and the light may not have been the best, but any constructive criticism would be very welcome.
 
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Wow. Surprised you got anything out of this first week of Jan. Our garden is mud with a few puddles and bedraggled chickens sprinkled in.

I like the Flowering Heather because I don't get to see any out and about where I am (my beekeeper friend would love to be close to some of this). Also the lighting on this is interesting. Totally black background yet the light is coming from the left-rear and giving the subject separation from the black whilst also lighting the flower heads really nicely.

Really like the jelly fungus too. Choice of composition (on an angle) and that lovely oof background implying a misty foggy day (to me) work well to compliment the subject. I've spent many a damp autumn day tramping round the woods foraging for fungus and this encapsulates that feeling. I like the lighting on this one too. Not bright, no harsh shadows, and plenty of detail to pick out.

The primroses suffer for the lighting for me. Composition is good, with the leaves in the background providing a nice symmetrical contrast to the flowers. However the caste to the light seems yellowish to me which detracts from the image in my opinion. Maybe that's because the lighting in the other three images are all crispy white so the primrose shot stands out, or maybe it's just because the flowers are composed of so much white, that the yellow caste is more noticeable (compare the whites on the heather shot to the primroses)

Off to a good start Jenny!
 
Just to echo what Ian has said above Jenny, you've got your project off to a fantastic start, especially some flowers putting in an appearance to add a splash of colour.

Stand out image for me is the heather. Lovely lighting on the plant, I particularly like the backlighting, shows the flowers at their best.
 
Thanks, @Harlequin565 and @blakester for your comments. Yes, our garden is also very, very muddy at the moment but things are still flowering.

Regarding the primroses - I struggled to choose the best white balance. I also bounced some light from a reflector both white and gold. The gold reflector overdid the yellow colour and the photo I posted used the white reflector. I thought that this shot was the nearest match to the actual colour of the primroses which were a fairly pale yellow.

Many thanks for the feedback.
 
Many lovely pictures in the 2010 book Jenny. I look forward to following your progress through the course of this year.
 
Cloudforest said:
Many lovely pictures in the 2010 book Jenny. I look forward to following your progress through the course of this year.
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Thanks, Pete. There is quite a lot of luck involved in finding interesting things to photograph. I hope this years goes as well as 2010.
 
This week the weather has been wet and windy and significantly colder than before Christmas. The animals have been a bit thin on the ground but I saw 3 hares leaping around in the field on the other side of the fence (a bit early to do their mad March hare thing). I took some photos but they were a bit too far away so they are not good enough to include here. There was also a Siskin on the bird feeder but sadly I did not have my camera handy.

So, I continued to shoot flowers instead. Because of the wind (and the fact that everything is ankle deep in mud), I decided to take all the shots indoors. They all seem very similar so apart from the first one, which I like, I am not particularly happy with them.

I like the lighting on this one and the colour is really cheerful. This is a winter-flowering variety so it should be flowering.

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I wish the bud was a bit more in focus on the next one. This shrub usually flowers in the spring.

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The Ceanothus should flower in June and July.

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FInally, the winter-flowering Jasmine is flowering at the correct time.

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The flowers are an example of what a weird winter we are having. I hope to have some more interesting/different topics next week! As usual constructive criticism is very welcome.
 
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The weather has turned much colder. We have had some very hard frosts. The animals are coming closer to the house and the birds are swarming round the bird feeders. The first photos are of a hare that was sitting nibbling on our back lawn.

I have recently bought a 1.4 extender to use with my long lens. It takes a bit of getting used to and I am still experimenting so these photos are not fantastic. The hares mostly come out as the light starts to fade and this causes problems because an additional stop is lost by the extender. The first photo has come out not too badly but the second is a bit noisy and not so sharp. I love hares. They are really beautiful creatures.

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Next are a couple of grab shots. We have had some beautiful sunsets but we never actually see the sun go down because it is behind the trees. I have noticed that some of the trees really light up with a red glow and I was out the other day trying to capture this. Unfortunately, the shots did not really work but as I was out there with my landscape lens, I saw 9 red kites flying around over the trees I was trying to capture. Really annoyed that I had the wrong lens on, I just tried to capture as many as I could with the landscape lens. I only managed 3 but this shot shows how red the trees were in the fading light. The red kites are a real success story after having been reintroduced into the wild. We see kites here every day, but not normally as many as 9.

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The next is another grab shot. There was a beautifully moody sky which I felt I had to include here. Again, not a fantastic shot but illustrates the sort of weather we have been having.

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Finally, a shot which I took for another project and I thought I should include it here. It was taken from my patio and I nearly froze to death in the process. Although we live between 2 towns, we are far enough away to not suffer too much light pollution.

I am very pleased with this shot although it is a fairly heavy crop.

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As usual, constructive criticism is very welcome.
 
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Hi Jenny, I recall your 2010 52 with some envy. You had some very beautiful images there and this project is already off to a cracking start. I will follow this with some interest and hopefully grab some inspiration. Good luck for the rest of the year.
 
dlh said:
Hi Jenny, I recall your 2010 52 with some envy. You had some very beautiful images there and this project is already off to a cracking start. I will follow this with some interest and hopefully grab some inspiration. Good luck for the rest of the year.
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Hi Darren @dlh :wave: I remember you commenting on my 2010 attempt. It's quite hard going keeping it up for a whole year, so your comments are very welcome.
 
I like the first picture of the hare and for a 'grab' shot, the one of the kites really highlights their typical behaviour.
 
Lovely idea for a project. I've had a quick look through the book for 2010 and you have some lovely photos in there. Looks like you have your hands full looking after your garden but must be worthwhile with all the plants and animals you have.

We moved from a village house where we had lots of wild birds coming to where we are now with a tiny back garden and a shared open space for the front so don't see much in the way of birds or wildlife. Will be nice to follow this and see what happens over the year. You already have some nice pictures and some unusual plants. I liked seeing the yellow brain fungus particularly. Also liked the winter jasmine shot as we had one of them at our last house.
 
Cloudforest said:
I like the first picture of the hare and for a 'grab' shot, the one of the kites really highlights their typical behaviour.
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Hi Pete @Cloudforest, thanks for your comments. I hope to get some better shots of the kites sometime during the year (with the correct lens). However, I am not very good at photographing birds in flight. I really need to get some practise in.
 
SteveSc said:
Lovely idea for a project. I've had a quick look through the book for 2010 and you have some lovely photos in there. Looks like you have your hands full looking after your garden but must be worthwhile with all the plants and animals you have.

We moved from a village house where we had lots of wild birds coming to where we are now with a tiny back garden and a shared open space for the front so don't see much in the way of birds or wildlife. Will be nice to follow this and see what happens over the year. You already have some nice pictures and some unusual plants. I liked seeing the yellow brain fungus particularly. Also liked the winter jasmine shot as we had one of them at our last house.
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Thanks Steve, @SteveSc. Glad you like some of the shots. Yes, the garden takes a lot of looking after but at the minute we have a bit of respite from the grass cutting! We are lucky to live in the countryside with fields at the front and woodland on the other 3 sides so we get a wide variety of wildlife. I especially like finding fungi. Many of them have such wonderful colours and textures like the yellow brain fungus.
 
Thanks, Walter @wallyboy. As with all wildlife photography, there is an element of luck. The other day there were 4 roe deer in the garden - the males with their velvet antlers. But, I did not have the camera handy :(. Ditto when the Siskins came to visit the feeder. Keep your fingers crossed for me this year.
 
I did not post last week because I was away but I have a couple of birds shots taken before I went and a few from today.

The cold snap that we had did not last long and the garden is still confused. I noticed today that my peony is in bud which does not bode well if we have more hard frosts. There are also a lot more daffodils out and I will post pictures of those next week.

Firstly, a couple of bird pictures which are not particularly good but the bird feeder and the grass below it are particularly busy at this time of year so I think I should include photos. There are always pheasants hanging around under the feeder catching what the little birds have dropped. Here is one of the them. I don't particularly like the way the beak disappears into the background on this one.
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Another of the regulars is the Great Spotted Woodpecker.

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Today I noticed some catkins on the Alder trees. Alder is monoecious, which means that both male and female flowers are found on the same tree. The males are long and narrow and the female are an oval shape. The first photo shows male catkins which were a strange purple colour. They have not opened yet.

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Next are some female catkins from last year which have opened to release their seeds.

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I will have a look around to try to find some new female catkins for comparison.

Finally, after being away for a week the bird feeders were fairly empty so I refilled them today and all the little birds immediately flocked back. Within an hour I spotted this guy who was also after a meal but not peanuts! Sadly the only camera I had handy was my point and shoot which I don't normally use for bird photography! I cropped this somewhat, but deliberately left the bird feeder in the photo to give it context.

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I know that Sparrowhawks also have to eat but I really don't like them preying on the little birds on my feeder. So, I have a strategically placed bush very close to the feeder where all the little ones can hide when Mr Sprawk comes along. He regularly thrashes around trying to get inside the bush after them with little success. Very annoyed that I did not have my decent camera handy for this shot.

As usual comments are very welcome.
 
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nice images,
I know what you mean about the Sparrowhawks, we were doing the RSPB birdwatch sunday,
A Bluetit flew into a net in the garden next thing the Sparrowhawk was on the poor little bird and was gone.

We also have a woody that feeds on our feeders, hoping to have a change around in the garden this year to attract more wildlife,

Enjoying your thread full of lovely nature:)
 
Thanks for your comments, Walter @wallyboy . Glad you are enjoying the thread. Sad about your blue tit. I was devastated the first time I saw a Sparrowhawk swoop down and take one of my little birds, but that's nature. Sparrowhawks also have to eat. Somehow I don't feel so bad when it gets a pigeon!
 
This is in danger of becoming boring with so many flowers images but they are surprisingly a big feature of the garden at the moment. It has been terribly windy most of the week and there has been no opportunity to take photos outside so more indoor shots, I'm afraid. Firstly, we have dozens of these little miniature daffodils flowering.

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Next, there are lots of snowdrops. I hope at some stage the weather will be good enough to shoot them en masse.

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Somehow we have no luck with crocuses. Any that we plant are usually eaten very quickly but the other day I found a little clump that I did not plant and the animals have not noticed. Different colour background, just for a change.

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I was just going to include these shots this week because the animals have been a bit thin on the ground. The hares are still in the field but too far away for decent shots. The squirrels have been leaping through the trees but have not been attacking the bird feeders as they usually do in winter. The deer have been fairly scarce. I think that with the mild winter there is plenty of food in the woods. Also, some people have been chopping down trees in the woods next door and the deer have probably been keeping well clear. Sadly, the badger sett that I regularly visit in summer has been destroyed with all the logging in the woods. I hope the badger family have set up a new home close by.

Anyway, this evening just before dark I spotted 2 roe deer in the garden, one male and one female. Of course, the only camera handy was the P & S again :( Note to self, leave DSLR in the kitchen with the long lens on. So, I apologise for the next 2 photos which are rubbish but shows that this guy has a lovely set of antlers in velvet - and that the lawn desperately needs cutting.

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Yes, I know he has a fence post sticking out of his head so I don't need any critique on these two. But comments and constructive criticism are very welcome on the other images.
 
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It has been a very busy week in the garden. For some reason a lot of roe deer decide to congregate or pass through our garden during the month of February. I have managed to capture some of them plus a few other surprises. Because I have so many images this week I will include them in two separate posts. Firstly, the roe deer.

The first one is a young buck with small antlers.

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Next are two more young bucks with budding antlers. I think these guys are the twins that were born last May. Not particularly happy with this photo but I am including it to show the two together.

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Next is a doe which I think is their mother. These three still seem to hang out together.

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The next, I think, is the same guy as in the first picture.

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Finally, the older buck who seems to have started moulting quite early. I was pleased with the back lighting on some of these shots.

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That is all the roe deer for now but I think I have identified at least five different ones. I will include the other shots in the next post.
 
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One morning last week I spotted a fox in the field out front. Not a very sensible fox because he decided to start chasing a couple of hares that were also in the field. He had no hope at all of catching them, of course. I had to rush off to get my camera so missed any action shots but I did manage one, not very good shot. He was a bit too far away to get a better picture but here it is anyway.

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We currently have two male pheasants hanging round the house all the time. One is on the driveway pecking furiously at his reflection in our car paintwork (must not wash the car for a while to try to deter him). The other hangs around under the bird feeder picking up the scraps that the little birds drop from the feeders. When these two guys meet up they have a big bust up (it's that time of year). The one under the feeder has been getting very agitated that there are not enough scraps coming his way so he decided to take the matter into his own hands!

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He is too big and fat to be on the feeder, but the fat balls are just too tempting. He is really wobbly and uses his tail to try to steady himself. It is really amusing to watch.

Finally, I have seen the female muntjac hanging around in the flowerbeds but the other day I saw that she has a baby. I did not get a good photo but managed to grab this one before it ran off. It is probably about eight week old because its spots have almost faded.

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As usual comments or criticism are very welcome.
 
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I find it quite inspiring the variety of wildlife you find on your doorstep. The baby muntjac is adorable. You really should set up a B&B for photographers :)

And there's nothing boring about your flower shots. Keep them coming.
 
Thanks, Susie @susiejb and Darren @dlh for your comments. Yes, the baby muntjac may look cute but they are a real pain when they start decimating the flowerbeds :( I have a very limited variety of flowers in the garden based on things they don't really like. However, they will eat anything when they are hungry enough.
 
Wow, loving your thread Jenny, looks like we are in for a treat regarding your images and commentary. Not a lot add about critique but I am jealous of your garden visitors.
 
purplepleaser said:
Wow, loving your thread Jenny, looks like we are in for a treat regarding your images and commentary. Not a lot add about critique but I am jealous of your garden visitors.
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Thanks for your comments, Lee @purplepleaser . Glad you like the thread.
 
This week I was in a bit of a panic because not much was going on in the garden. In addition, we are busy decorating so not much time either. However, I decided to have a wander round the garden today with my camera and was a bit surprised by what I found. I did not expect to take pictures of insects in February!

Firstly, the heather which is past its best was buzzing with bees. I would have preferred a bit more DOF with this shot.

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Next, I spotted this fly on one of the daffodils.

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The deer also paid a visit again this evening. I rather like this portrait.

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The next shot shows more how the guy with the big antlers is moulting. You can see how thick his winter coat is.

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Finally, the last one is not very good because the light was very bad, but I am including it anyway because it is quite interesting behaviour. The doe was having a drink out of the bird bath. Sadly, I did not get a shot of her doing so but she had just looked up and you can see the bird bath at the bottom of the shot and water drops on her mouth.

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I am hoping to find time to get more bird shots next week. As usual constructive criticism is very welcome.
 
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I wouldn't normally post again so soon, but I kept an eye open in case the deer came back again this evening and sure enough they did. It is annoying that they always come as it is getting dark but I pushed up the ISO to 6400 and managed some half decent shots. Both the doe and one of the bucks were drinking from the bird bath tonight.

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I wish I could have managed a better DOF but beggars can't be choosers :(
 
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