Golden hours

‘Golden Days’ is one of my favourite David Bowie tracks, but it isn’t the topic of this blog as that would be a little out of keeping with the overall theme. However, maybe it can be the background track to a short piece about The Golden Hour, at least that’s my excuse for the reference.

The Golden Hour is a phrase used by photographers to describe the short window of time just after sunrise and again just before sunset, when the air is filled with a flattering golden hue that’s perfect for photographing everything from landscapes to portraits.

As the sun is low in the sky, its light is more diffuse (and redder) than normal thanks to having to be filtered for a greater distance through the atmosphere. It also means you don’t get the kind of harsh shadows you might see at high noon.

Well, this week I got to the lake before sunset and after a night of rain the sky was clear so all was set for a glorious winter Golden Hour. Whether or not I got the most of it you’ll have to decide for yourself.

The blue sky however did provide a wonderful background for some of the BIF – birds in flight.

The pictures of the white gulls were particularly striking as were the Egyptian Geese.

The shot of the three geese in flight does remind me of those (in)famous 3 flying ducks which thousands of people had in their homes in the 1950s and 60s and appeared in many soap operas including Coronation Street.

The history of those flying ducks began in the potteries, at the Beswick Factory, Stoke-on-Trent to be precise. In 1938 they started producing wall mounted Mallard ducks in five sizes as well as swans, kingfishers, swallows and a variety of other birds.

The Mallards proved to be hugely popular and were made up until the 1970s.

Returning to real life birds, the other interesting difference this week was, despite a fair number of water birds, I saw a number of ‘garden’ birds. These included the more common sparrows and blackbirds

As well as what I believe is a dunnock and a flycatcher.

And given that this week I seem to be focused on strange related, and unrelated facts, did you know that the unassuming looking dunnock has an unexpected promiscuous sex life?

Dunnocks don’t follow a standard mating strategy but adopt a whole mix of them. More than one male can be paired with the same female, or a male can be paired with more than one female. In other instances two or more males may be with two or more females at the same time. There are even some who adopt the more ‘normal’ approach of monogamy.

Things get even stranger yet. In the case of one female and two males, the hen dunnock plays it smart. She will mate with one male, but when the other male comes along she allows herself to be pecked on her rear which causes her to eject the sperm from her first suitor. She will then mate with the second male.

Why is this so clever? Well the net result is that the two males both think they are the fathers and so will both therefore help to feed the young in the nest, a move that dramatically increases the chances of the brood being successfully raised.

But that is not all. At the peak of the courting season dunnocks may mate up to 100 times a day.

And no, I’m not that well-informed – my information comes courtesy of Keith Bloomfield and his blog. https://keithbroomfield.com/racy-sex-life-dunnock/

As for the flycatcher which eats not just flies but all sorts of insects, how does it cope with insects that sting? Amazingly they seem to know all about the dangers and, having caught an insect that might sting them, they will rub the part of the insect that carries the sting on their perch removing it thereby making the insect safe to eat.

While it is known as the Golden Hour, it doesn’t always and everywhere last sixty minutes. How long it lasts is dependent on latitude and season, it can be as short as 20 minutes.

Needless to say that I was out for a lot longer than an hour and the change in light didn't stop me taking even more pictures - a selection of which follow