Tag Archives: mute swan

River Test at a High Level

The River Test really should be considered multiple rivers because it splits and rejoins as it moves across the Hampshire countryside.  You can cross all sorts of minor streams, but you do also get some larger crossings where the river is well defined.  One of these is the road to Longstock.  There is a weir across the river just upstream of the bridge and it seemed to be flowing pretty well when we were there.  We had experienced lovely weather, but I guess quite a bit of rain had preceded our arrival.  There was a single swan on the river, and it seemed to be making some effort to move upstream.

Close Encounter With A Swan

One of the nice aspects of mirrorless cameras is using the tilting screen to see the shot while holding the camera away from you.  I took advantage of this when I was near a swan at Mottisfont.  We were walking alongside the water and the swan was swimming towards us.  I wanted to get a close shot from low down but swans are not always the most friendly beasts.  Getting myself down there didn’t seem like a good plan.  Holding the camera out while looking at the screen seemed a better idea and the swan, while not totally enthusiastic, was less annoyed that way.