Stephen's Wildlife

Half Marathon – 4 weeks to go

Buzzard (Buteo Buteo) watchfully at rest

I am tired. My legs feel like lead. The training is taking a toll on my body. I did a long run yesterday evening: 9 1/2 miles. My mind is also filled with doubts. I will be competing with much younger runners. Those in my own age bracket (I was 65 last birthday) will be serious runners. The years will have weeded out other runners like me. My PB for the half marathon was set in 2010. My last half marathon was seven years ago and was significantly slower. What makes me think I can do this?

Well, its not all about me. Macmillan Cancer Support have contacted me this week. They are sending me one of their green running vests for the race. They have been encouraging. Their fundraising target for Bournemouth is £117,000 which will be used to fund 3,500 hours of specialised Macmillan nursing care; provide 4,600 people living with cancer a session of emotional support with a Macmillan buddy; run the Macmillan Support Line phone service for 10 days, dealing with approximately 2000 calls and web enquiries from people who need their support.

My own fundraising target is far more modest, but combined with others will make a significant impact on people at a very vulnerable stage of their lives.

Finally, I haven’t lost sight of the fact that this is a wildlife blog. On a walk this week I spotted a buzzard perched at the top of a leafless tree. I took a few shots from a reasonable distance before he/she launched into a leisurely paced flight.

Half Marathon – training update

I am training to run the Bournmouth Half Marathon on 8th October. A lot of my training runs are on gravel tracks through woodland. As we move from summer to autumn the colours are muted, but quite stunning.

I have just five weeks remaining until race day. My first three weeks have gone well, although I lost three days to sickness – nothing serious, but just enough to prevent me training. I have lost 1/2 stone, which I am pleased about and my long runs are up to 8 miles. It isn’t pretty and it isn’t fast. Slow and steady wins the day.

Early morning sunlight peeking through the trees

Most of my runs are early morning before the heat of the day. Over the course of a week I train on 5 days and rest on 2. As well as just running, I’ve incorporated one day for weight training and one day for hill repeats – probably my favourite activity.

There are probably 3 weeks of hard training, followed by 2 weeks of tapering. I am quite excited as race day gets closer. I am resisting the temptation to dress up in a superhero costume, but I may mark the occasion with some red or blue hair dye.

I’ve cast my eye over the course. If the weather is clear there will be stunning views over Bournemouth Bay

My hill repeats are helping me prepare for the four hills on the course from sea level to the top of the cliffs. I’ve discovered that quite a few friends and family are also running, so it is building up to be quite a festive event.

The prime motivator for my running is thanksgiving. To give thanks to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, for my wife’s recovery from cancer. So I am running for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Bournemouth Half Marathon 8th Oct 2023

It’s been a while. I used to run but my last half marathon was in 2010. In recent years I have let it go, but a week or so ago my son took me on a walk in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. We walked 8 miles from Corfe Castle to Swanage on the coast and returned on the steam engine that runs between these two towns. About half way along the walk, we dropped off one hill ridge before crossing a road and climbing back up to Ballard Down. The climb was steep. 210 steps cut into the chalk until reaching The Obelisk at the peak. For me this was a wake up call. It should have been easy, but I struggled having to take regular breaks to catch my breath.

I love spreadsheets! When I got home I drafted a training program. Then after my first run, I looked for an event as a target for my fitness efforts. The Bournemouth half marathon was just 8 weeks away – perfect. After my first week I have shed 1/2 kilogram. Its slow and its humbling. My 11 year old son came with me on Wednesday for the hill repeats. He did 4 repeats in the time it took me to do 3.

Nearly a year ago my wife was diagnosed with cancer. It was caught early so it was successfully treated under surgery followed by a course of radiotherapy earlier this year. On the first day of radiotherapy we were sitting in the waiting room in Poole Hospital. She was so anxious. Then a friend who was a radiotherapist popped in to support her when she saw her name on the roster. Immediately my wife’s anxiety dissipated.

She is now clear, although it has been a struggle. Catching a virus immediately after the radiotherapy caused heart failure, but that is now on the mend with the help of a cocktail of medication. The picture above was taken on a recent walk, which would not have been possible just a few weeks ago.

So, I am running for a cause, Macmillan Cancer Support. This is a link to my Just Giving page for anyone who would like to support this worthy cause.

Kestrel in a clear blue sky

I love to visit Badbury Rings. Today was a chill 4 degrees. The sky was cloudless. The sun was low even though it was close to noon, casting long shadows. The kestrel landed in a tree, but I was on the wrong side. The bird was silhouetted against the sun. I carefully changed position, hoping not to spook it. It was a male bird, slightly smaller than the female, but slightly more colourful. I was rewarded with a series of photos with the sun illuminating the glorious colours: chestnut brown, grey, black and yellow.

Suddenly, the kestrel launched itself out of the tree into the open sky.

The low sun lit up the side of the kestrel including parts of the outstreched underparts of the wings. Its ferocious yellow talons were clearly visible. It swept slowly over the farmland, stopping periodicaly to hover over a particular patch.

Perserverance

Earlier this year I bought myself a New Testament in the original Koine Greek language. I was surprised by the order of the books. In my English Bible Paul’s letters follow on from the Gospels and Acts. In the Greek, the catholic or general epistles precede Paul’s. Thus the first letter is James’.

What is the first thing that James says to his readers? “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perserverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.”

I have a bird bath in my garden and have been waiting for weeks to capture a photo of a bird actually using it. This week the waiting finally paid off. First a goldfinch came a drank right in front of me, then, the following day, a green finch did the same thing. On both occassions I was only a few feet away with my camera in hand. My patience and perserverance finally was rewarded with some great close-up shots.

Please excuse my mundane and simple anecdote, to illustrate such profound, biblical and pastoral teaching. I was thrilled to get these photos. I wonder whether James had this feeling in mind when he urged his readers to ‘consider it pure joy’.

Badger Watch Dorset

We arrived at Old Henley Farm at 6.30 pm. About 30 miles from home and halfway between Dorchester 10 miles to the south and Sherborne to the north. We parked and unpacked our gear ready for a short trek over farm land. Our destination was a hide that we had booked for the evening. It overlooked a secluded area of grassland next to a wood and we were promised sightings of a badger family. We were not disappointed.

A single young badger was the first to appear. He shuffled around the grassland in front of the hide, but got spooked when someone dropped something inside the hide. We thought that maybe it, but later four badgers gingerly reappeared, attracted by the food. The natural light was all but gone and we were reliant on the floodlights that the badgers were quite used to.

Despite low light and slow shutter speeds we were rewarded with reasonably sharp images

Dancing damselflies

The UK is enjoying a bit of a heatwave this week. The reed banks of the river Stour are full of Demoiselle damselflies.

Kimmeridge Bay

Dorset’s Jurassic Coast is a 40 minute drive away. Wildlife photography is my first love, but I have been inspired to try some landscape photography, particularly long exposure seascapes. Kimmeridge Bay is just along the coast from the more famous Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove.

This is my first serious attempt. I used a 10 stop ND filter on a 20 mm lens, a tripod and remote shutter release. I held the shutter open for 104 seconds. It wasn’t windy so the vegetation in the foreground hardly moved. The sea state was calm, but what movement there was has been smoothed and a line of rock just breaking the surface in the bay is clearly visible.

River Allen

The River Allen is just 13 miles long. It is a tributary that flows in to the River Stour in Wimborne Minster. I first got to know the river and the valley in which it flows in the 1970s when I lived in a small village, Witchampton, just north of Wimborne. The last few weeks I have enjoyed reacquainting myself with parts of the river and surrounding countryside. These are some of the images.