Rodley In The Rain

A local nature reserve to me, Rodley Nature reserve is a wetland habitat on the outskirts of Leeds. I spent a couple of hours there with my camera despite the rain showing that photography can still be achieved despite the weather!

It’s been a few years since my last visit here despite only being around 20 minutes away from my house! These days I tend to plan my free time to take in a bigger reserve or a target species and we make a day or a trip out of it. This was just a couple of hours and was very enjoyable to be back! We started at the “Managers Garden”, a lovely garden area in front of a hide where some usual garden birds were seen such as various tits and finches. Also notable here were the Reed Buntings which are not usual visitors to bird feeders!

The main reason I wanted to visit here was to capture the recently reported Little Owls that call Rodley their home. Various posts on Facebook had shown that these Owls were showing well from this particular area. Alas we did not see one and after around half an hour we continued around the reserve.

The good thing about Rodley when the weather is not so great is there are a few different hides to shelter in, and much of the wetland wildlife is still active despite the rain! There were some ducks and geese about and the odd swan but we had some great close up action from a Grey Heron who landed close by and proceeded to hunt right in front of us. I enjoyed trying to capture the moment of his strikes into the water and of course trying to get the image of the fish in his beak as he manoeuvred it for a quick dispatch!

After a good few strikes and a few snacks devoured, the heron left us but before we moved on we were treated to a close pass by a lovely Little Grebe! A bit more of the same in the next couple of hides, mostly Geese and ducks displaying some tension as they start pairing up for the breeding season. The Geese especially were very vocal with each other, the males warding other males away from their ladies!

The last hide on one of the lakes also gave us a couple of resting Cormorants. I was hopeful of a Kingfisher at one of these lake side hides but it was not to be on this visit - it was only a short visit however! I have seen Kingfisher here before so they are there if you wait long enough!

Before heading back to the car I decided to try again at the managers garden to see if the Little Owl had appeared. After a few minutes another photographer in the hide had actually spotted the Owl and pointed him out to us, sitting there on a post behind the trees. Eventually he hopped onto the wall and then onto the main tree where some shots could be obtained. Amazing! So pleased we went back to this hide!

An enjoyable visit overall! These types of nature reserve with hides to shelter in mean photography is not only possible in bad weather but the conditions offer a different style of image. I liked the shots with all the rain visible and the droplets on the water. The behaviour of some animals may change due to the weather but this is also interesting to photograph. Indeed, some very atmospheric images can also be had when shooting in poor weather. I should remember this more often to be honest and not be so quick to write off a day due to weather. Just adapt!

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