The Wolseley Centre
A wildlife photography blog by Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire based landscape photographer Rob Thorley Photography.
Mid October I found myself on the way to the Wolseley Centre, which is a Staffordshire Wildlife Trust reserve on the outskirts of Rugeley. The centre itself is quite a popular location for photographers. It has a number of pools, platforms, walkways, and a hide. The reserve also backs onto the River Trent, which can provide more photographic opportunities. From a wildlife perspective there’s the usual waterfowl, and seasonal wildlife to photograph. From pictures shared on social media I’d also seen that there was a resident Kingfisher.
Trying to get some images of the Kingfisher was the main reason of todays visit. Even though I’m not a fan of cows there was an added bonus of an opportunity to photograph a couple of Highland Cows that had been released for grazing along the River Trent side of the reserve.
I arrived mid-morning and parked up. There’s were plenty of spaces this morning, but the reserve can get busy at the weekends, and during school holidays. The other thing to be aware of if planning a visit is that during periods of heavy rainfall the River Trent can flood the reserve, and some of the paths and platforms can be closed.
My first port of call was to go and have a look for the Highland Cows. I forked off left and followed the trail that takes you to the river. I hadn’t gone far before I bumped into the cows.
The cows seemed to be youngsters, and didn’t seem to be at all fazed by people, so I grabbed a few shots. The light wasn’t the best as it was a drab mid-morning. It didn’t help that the backgrounds were cluttered, and foreground was messy. I’d also only got the 200-500mm lens with me and I could have done with a wider focal length on this particular occasion. That said it was nice to get a couple of snaps of the cows.
After photographing the cows I continued on the path which brings you around to the main hide. I spent a little bit of time in there, but on this particular morning it was very quiet.
When I left the hide I had a wander along the boardwalks and ended up overlooking the River Trent. I was pleased to come across a Grey Heron wading along the river bank, and it looked like it was on the hunt. Sure enough a few minutes later I was lucky enough to be there as it caught a fish, and devoured it.
After it’s first catch the Grey Heron continued to hunt, but unfortunately it was in the opposite direction to where I was standing. I’d had a look at the images on the back of the camera, and whilst I’m never 100% when I do that it looked like I’d managed to get the fish going down the hatch.
Pleased with the little action sequence of the Grey Heron feeding I moved on hoping to find the Kingfisher. I spent another hour or so exploring the places where I believed the Kingfisher frequented. Sadly I didn’t get a showing, so headed back to the car, and home.
You can view more images from my gallery of other wildlife.
