I set off for Trench Wood this afternoon in brilliant sunshine, but the further west I drove the heavier the sky became, and about half way there I gave up on the plan, turned the car, and went to Grove Hill instead. I managed to arrive in advance of the rain storm, but it wasn’t long in arriving, at which point I almost gave up and went back home; but in the event I was glad that I decided to sit it out, because after it went over the late afternoon turned glorious, and I spent a very enjoyable hour walking the reserve.
I took this just as the rain was starting. I’d been standing by the pond, looking for dragons, and hadn’t noticed the kestrel in neighbouring field, but a corvid swooped down and chased it up into the oak tree, where it stayed for several minutes. Every now and then the corvid would swoop in again and try to startle it away, but the kestrel sat tight. It had a perfectly good view of me as I edged along the fence trying to get a good sight line, but wasn’t impressed by me either, and in the end it was the rain that moved both of us, me to the car, and the kestrel into the woods, presumably also in search of shelter. Although I was a seriously long way away from the tree, and therefore this is heavily cropped, I like it for the composition and and the autumnal palette.
