Oct 11th Strumpshaw Fen

Cattle in the meadows at Strumpshaw Fen

Today, I have some bad news. My camera may have given up on me! I was at Strumpshaw like I'm always am on a Wednesday morning and it was refusing to function properly. I did manage to get it to work for a little while and I took these photos of the wildlife outside Fen Hide, but then it just gave up on me completely. So what you see here could possibly be the last photos from this camera.








Coot

Chinese Water Deer

Whenever I press the on/off button (which also happens to be stuck within the camera somehow), the lens moves in and outwards for a little bit and very slowly with the focus on the screen going haywire before the camera turns itself off. Before it turns off, the screen goes black and a message shows up saying "Lens Error. Will shut down automatically. Restart camera". It has been doing this since the end of August, when moisture managed to seep into the inside of the camera. I did leave it in the airing cupboard for a few days like I did back in January, when a similar incident happened. But unlike that incident, it did not get back to normal. It continued to have these malfunctions, but after a few tries it would stop its little tantrum and work normally again. Recently though, it has gotten worse and today seems like it has given up completely.

Black Swan

Pheasant

I don't know what to do. I will first see if it can be repaired even though the guarantee has long since expired. If that fails, then I may have to buy a new one, something I'm not sure I could really afford. If I can't afford a new camera, then I really don't know what to do. It would be a shame if I can't as my camera means everything to me. It won't be the same without taking photos of my adventures with wildlife to show you guys on here. I know I'm not the greatest photographer in the world, but I loved documenting about the things I see every day or so. But don't worry though, I will continue writing this blog, just it will probably be without photos. I may try add  a drawing or two in now and then if your lucky.

Snipe

My camera issues basically dominated my morning at Strumpshaw today, not that it was an eventful one outside of it anyway. At Fen Hide, I did manage to see a kingfisher briefly, about 4 snipe hidden in the recently strimmed reed stubble, a Chinese water deer with it's fawn, a couple of marsh harriers, a flying grey heron and a quick view of a few bearded tits. This may sound like I saw plenty of exciting things, but it was hard to enjoy them with the camera acting up like it did. At Reception Hide, it was even more unenjoyable as there was hardly anything around apart from a few mallards, coots, the odd gadwall and teal, marsh harriers and a fleeting glimpse of a couple of bearded tits. It was pretty quiet otherwise and the hide was empty of visitors half the time. It was a day I would like to forget.