Back on the Downs

I'd been working quite hard this week and apart from a couple of runs out on the Meadow I hadn't really been out of the house much (I work from home). Therefore on Friday evening I negotiated with my VLW some time off to go out to stretch my legs. I decided to head back to the downs but to go to a different spot this time. I wasn't expecting a great deal but it would be nice to get out in the fresh air and try and take some photos.

The weather wasn't too bad and the strong winds that had been present during the week had eased off somewhat. However it was rather cloudy so when I arrived some time after 8pm the light wasn't brilliant for photography. I took the obligatory corn bunting and yellow hammer photos though the latter weren't even worth posting here which shows how bad they were given the mediocrity of the bunting shot! I also found a family of yellow wagtails which was nice to see.

The bunting shot

A wagtail in the wheat taken with my P&S camera

I experimented with taking some downland skyscapes with my P&S camera including shooting into the sun. One has no control over the camera settings so it's pot luck how they come out but the effects were rather interesting.

Skyscapes progressing towards sunset

To round off a pleasant evening there was a quail calling in one of the fields. The previous one that I'd heard on my recent downland trip had been rather distant and I couldn't have sworn that it wasn't in Berkshire instead so it was nice to get a definite Oxon quail in what has been a rather poor year for them in the county.