Brightening Up

Earlier on today the sun threatened to appear a few times and it was generally a bit brighter outside than it has been. It was also a degree or so warmer than it has been, so it wasn't quite so bitterly cold outside. The bird activity in the garden hasn't been quite as busy as a result, but I did see a Goldcrest flitting through the apricot tree earlier which was good to see. 

Below are a few pictures I took whilst I was outside with my camera earlier. Two long-tailed tits have been seen visiting the garden frequently, and as they are quite tame, getting close to them to photograph them is quite easy. The fact that there's only two of them says to me that a few of them may have died over the winter. It's really quite unusual to only see two of them, and in previous years, seeing 10 in a group wasn't unusual.  Hopefully they have a successful breeding year this year to boost numbers back up again.

Chaffinch numbers seem to be particularly high in the garden at the moment, and this chap was happy to have his photo taken whilst I was outside...

That's all for now folks, thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your day :) 

Back Home

The last couple of weeks of my university term have been very hectic to say the least, hence the lack of activity on this blog in this time. I've had 4 or 5 deadlines to meet, as well as a couple of other bits and pieces to do. I have to say that I'm more than relieved to finally be at home for the Easter break. I've been back for a couple of days now and I'm settled back into the ways of living at home where I'll be for the next month.

The weather since I've been back has been bitterly cold- particularly today. The garden has been covered with a layer of snow which hasn't disappeared in many places just because it hasn't been warm enough to thaw it all. Ever since I filled the feeders up yesterday, the garden bird activity has been pretty frantic. Since I've been back, a female Bullfinch and a Siskin have both been seen in the garden. The latter is a bird we've only seen once in the garden previously, and that was about 3 or 4 years ago, so seeing that was quite a surprise, especially as I was in the garden doing a few jobs when it visited. A Coal Tit pair have also been visiting the garden quite a bit over the last couple of days which has been good to see. 

Below are some of the dreadful photos I managed in the short time I spent outside with my camera before my hands were nearly frozen and I decided to head back inside again.

Obviously at uni, as I'm in halls, there's no garden to keep track of, so It's been good to catch up with the garden back home again. Hopefully should be getting back into the swing of things as far as blogging is concerned, and will get round to reading other blogs over the next day or two. Until next time though, wrap up warm and lets hope Spring arrives at all this year. 

Messing About In f/1.8

Last weekend was my 19th birthday, which is kinda scary really. I mean, 19, really?! It just sounds a lot older than 18 to me, but maybe that's just me being stupid. 

Anyway, moving on to avoid me rambling, one of the things I got for my birthday was a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, which is something I've wanted for a while now. To be honest, although I've used the 18-55mm kit lens on my 500D a lot, it's not the best in terms of quality and with it only going down to f/3.5, it's not the best in some circumstances. Of course the results you can get with it are much better than what can be managed with a digital compact camera, and if you stick with it, you can get some nice landscapes and macro shots with it. 

But I've been looking forward to making the most out of the f/1.8 aperture of the 50mm lens for taking portrait shots, but also for things like plant photos and landscapes. Many people say a 50mm lens is something which is a bit of a must-have for photographers and I have to say, I've had a lot of fun with it so far. Most of the time I've been using it with the aperture wide open and enjoying taking photos with a really nice blurry background. 

In between a lecture and a group meeting today I decided to have a quick walk around the Harris Garden with my camera and new lens. Some of the photos I took are below. The daffodils below are mostly in full flower now and brightening up the garden nicely... 

The snowdrops are still out but some of them are now on their last legs, and the short period where both the snowdrops and daffodils are in flower is nearly over. 

These crocuses could also be seen in the surrounding area... 

I have no idea what these flowers are but photographed them anyway..

There were some nice sunny spells for much of today and the temperature was verging on warm when the sun came out from behind the clouds. The photo below was taken as the sun briefly appeared:

So all in all it was good to get used to using my new lens, and I'm sure I'll use it much more in the future. 

I've been pretty busy with various bits of work recently, and so time for blogging has been limited. Sorry for not checking by everyone else's blogs as often as I usually do. I'll drop by over the next couple of days to catch up with what I've missed. 

Thanks for reading and have a nice evening :D