UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

With a theme of "LIGHT" for UWOL29 I have tried to capture the effects LIGHT has on our fauna and flora as the daylight hours increase after the winter the solstice. In order to do this I have used clips that illustrate behaviour, like migratory birds getting ready to return north, or residents marking out territories or starting to prepare nests, flowers starting to appear etc. The opening clip was from my stock footage, but falls within the 10% rule! It has not been used in previous rounds
I had to quickly adapt the edit to fit what I had recorded and upload early due to unexpectedly being away a week before the closing date.
Please enjoy and thank you for watching

Mick

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Mick. Nice collection of bird shot you got. The shots on the ocean I feel should have had the audio on them all instead of just in the middle shot. Nice job.

Gordon

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

I really enjoyed your entry Mick. The opening shot is simply amazing!

I find it quite intriguing that both you and Geir had the same idea for this theme - showing how length of daylight hours initiate seasonal changes.

Some lovely shots of birds and animals– that snake yawning is quite something!!

If I really nit-pick then I would say the pace is a little slow and the volume of the V.O. dips during your concluding sentence making it a bit difficult to hear compared with the rest which I could hear quite clearly.

So glad you managed to do a film this round – your films are a treat to watch.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the comments and quite agree with you. Had to put together in a hurry due to a late last minute trip taking me away from home and didn't have a long enough time to match the original sound tracks to the footage.
I now record sound tracks separately from the camera as I nearly always overcrank these days. The Glaucous Gull clip was an exception.

Hi Marge, Pleased you enjoyed watching. You are quite right the VO could have been snappier, I slowed it down to fit what I had on the timeline when I was called away. I uploaded a good week or so early and was therefore unable to film the last item which would have been a nuthatch reducing the entrance size the of an old woodpeckers nest. Luckily I have since filmed this when I returned home the start of this week. I agree the end sentence is a tad hard to hear.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Stock footage, Mick? You mean that lovely sunset wasn’t filmed on December 21? :) Isn’t it great that with editing we get to set the time and place? You have a really good concept for the theme this time. I always enjoy your bird shots. I know how hard you work for them. I think you folks must be enjoying an early spring this year. The previous three years everything ran a few weeks early here but this year we are a couple of weeks later than average. Luck of the draw…

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

I really liked the variety of shots Mick, and the inclusion of things like the snake yawning (the last time I went looking for a 'resident' snake it wasn't happy - though I did walk really close before it was pointed out to me). Highlighted well the transition into the longer days and warmer months; the biospheric clock is ticking.
And I can relate to rushing things to get it finished - all these extra ideas but no time make it happen.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Mike, It was recorded 13th Jan 2012 so only 23 days late!!!! I'm sure there must have been be a solstice somewhere in the universe on the 13th Jan that year lol We have had a very wet winter over here, not particularly cold, but many towns and villages cut off by the floods, luckily spring arrived on time. Last winter was cold and snowy. Take care

Mick

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the comments. I'm sure you would be in a lot more danger if one of your resident snakes was to give you nip. A bite from our adder would be painful, but unless you were very unlucky not fatal.

Mick

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Mick,

I'm glad you were able to submit, even though your plans had to be changed in a hurry.
The moon shot and not to forget the yawning snake are impressive shots!

A few unsteady shots of the flying birds, but that's just details. I know how hard it is to get those shots steady.

Well done!

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Mick,

I read your comments about limited time, and the sound mix, so will pass over that - I enjoyed the mix of images - really excellent shot of the snake - and the fox! I'd love to know how long it took to get those shots!
I always seem to wait hours, and the beasties never appear until I'm packing up!
The subject matter was well handled, nicely done!

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Paul. Thanks for the comments. Yes, we are very lucky being sort of retired, my wife and I are out filming most days, if not filming then looking (research!) so we are spending a lot of time in the field. The gulls, birds I would not normally film did not take long as they had been around for a few weeks and their location well documented by local bird groups. I did in fact film them close to the pier you see in the opening clip. Although retired we still occasionally get the odd urgent request to film a specific item which happened a couple of weeks ago, hence the rushed entry.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

You are so lucky to have dog violets already! Why did we ever leave England for New England?

Oh, that's right: you kicked us out. And after that, you, like, taxed us or whatever.

I was especially impressed at the variety of wildlife that you were able to pull together for this, and your proximity! Such a treat to see that red fox.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Thanks for commenting Finn. Dog violets have two flowering seasons over here March-May and July-September, although I have seen them out the end of February in recent years, global warming!!. The red foxes are very common and we now seem to have a distinction between rural and urban families. The urban foxes are very brave and often have dens under sheds in gardens etc. This one is rural and I often see it making its way to a car park/beauty spot to raid the bins.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Mick.
I really enjoyed your film Mick.
So funny we both have the same idea for the theme :)
That snake yawning was super and so was your shots of birds too.
I loved to watch your film and I'm glad you manage toy share it with us.

All the best.

Re: UWOL 29 As the day Lengthens
 

Hi Geir,

Pleased you enjoyed watching it. We have had a really wet winter here with lots of flooding, but the bonus was it was not particularly cold. When the theme was announced I was thinking along the lines of reflections on the water in the flooded meadows etc. But when I started looking I realised spring was starting early. Also had the bonus of some late staying gulls, the kumliens is still with us! So that is how I came to chose a theme similiar yours.

Mick