It’s hard work being a lion at Colcester Zoo. You can snooze in the spring sun, get up for a stretch when you feel like it and wait for the next meal to be brought to you. This male coluld be miserable though. Both his mates have died recently. I have been to the zoo twice this spring, both on bright sunny days and captured some marvelous images. One of my favourites is the Elephant walking straight towards me and looking right at the camera. The elphants are so large, yet they seem so gentle and stoic.

The flamingos are a really nice deep pink colour. I captured an image of one with its beak in the water and concentric circles are rippling from the point of entry. A second one shows a flamingo gingerly making its way down the slope to the water using its great webbed feet. This was the first time I have seen the bear close up. Just like in the Jungle Book it was licking the insects off the tree bark. On this day the penguins were near to where we stood and one little fellah stood like a sentinal and let me get a close up. 

The Compass Photogrphy website has more images from my springtime visits to Colchester Zoo. Click here to see them. Click here to go to Colchester Zoo’s website

January Sunrise shows three images from a series captured on the River Crouch in Essex on January 6th 2022. The Crouch is a tidal river that runs from the North Sea at Burnham on Crouch to Battlesbridge. The first image shows that a flock of birds has been disturbed in the distance. The birds are silhouetted against the orange sky in addition to the walkers. The sun continues upwards and now clears the hill to show the whole globe. Next we move the focal length back. The sun becomes diffused in the clouds and it also reflects in the mudflats of the creek. Its low tide and its possible to see the extent of the river as a shallow bowl carved out of the land by the water.

The final image shows fields that lie between the inlet that is Clements Green fen and the River Crouch 400 yards behind it. The mist has also congregated in lines across the landscape here. The fields are low lying land and additionally have water on both sides of them. The image has long fingers of mist across it. The sun gives the mist in both of these images a lovely yellow tint. January sunrise over the Crouch was well worth getting up early for. Click this link to see more of this series of images on the Compass Photography website

Well worth the climb! Earlier this week I was given permission to climb the tower of Holy Trinity Church in Rayleigh, accompanied by people from the church. The view from the top of the church tower was well worth the climb. I was able to capture a number of images from this vantage point. The image below shows the nearby Rayleigh Windmill with its lovely sails and brickwork. Cutting this landscape image to square emphasises the dominant position of the windmill in the image. The windmill is set against the trees of Rayleigh Mount.

Walking around the top of the tower you can see the river Thames and Kent. The water tower at Cold Norton and All Saints Church at Rettendon also clearly stand out as does the Ford water tower and many of the industrial buildings. From here Southend is a collection of high rise buildings, with the airport just being visible. Its also clear that the land north of Rayleigh is in a valley or a bowl, probably due to the River Crouch.

A link to Holy Trinity Church website is here. A link to the Rayleigh Windmill website is here

So, all in all its well worth the climb!

Sunflower reflections shows some small sunflowers in a pot behind a table. The glass topped patio table has a covering of rainwater from the recent shower. This allows the reflections of the sunflowers to appear in the rainwater. Deliberately planted late, in an attempt to bring them in to flower in August, the poor weather delayed flowering until the first week of September. The variety of sunflower is “Little Leo”. These plants normally grow three feet tall and the ones in this pot may just reach that height. Just above the table top!

I first noticed the reflections through the French windows from our lounge. In a break between the showers I set up the tripod in the lounge and played with the location of the flowers to get a decent reflection on the table. The table is covered with a green patterned film and the black edging keeps the rain on the table top.

I had to turn the pot round 180 degrees to face the house. The sunflowers, of course will follow the sun, which is away from the house. Its amazing how clear the sunflower reflections are in the thin layer of water on the table top. For more garden images have a look at our garden galleries

Undoubtedly, the glory of Chartwell was apparent on a warm September day. Chartwell was the home of Sir Winston Churchill for many years. The estate was bought for the nation by friends of Churchill in 1947. A plaque on the side of the building commemorates this purchase. The first image shows the house on the hill from across the lake below it. There are many trees on the far side of the lake and it was necessary to hunt for a gap to capture an image. The trees in the image below frame this the house which is built on the hill above the lake.

The front view of the house suggests a long thin building, whereas the second image tells a different story! The front view of the house in on our website page.

A close up of the house from the side shows that Chartwell has a number of stories. Additionally there is greater depth to the house than is at first apparent. These multi-faceted features are not apparent when you view the building from the front.

To find out more about the glory of Chartwell view the page on our website contains ten images. Alternatively, or visit the National Trust Website.