David Element
Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mammals
40 – Weasels
WEASEL
Mustela nivalis,
FIELD VOLE Microtus agrestis
WEASEL
Mustela nivalis,
FIELD VOLE Microtus agrestis
WEASEL
Mustela nivalis,
FIELD VOLE Microtus agrestis
WEASEL
Mustela nivalis,
FIELD VOLE Microtus agrestis
WEASEL
Mustela nivalis,
FIELD VOLE Microtus agrestis
WEASEL
Mustela nivalis,
FIELD VOLE Microtus agrestis
·
The photographer had not had any previous encounters
with a Weasel Mustela nivalis carrying prey that would have
been possible to photograph and the previous failed attempt merely caught a
glimpse of the rear end of one high-tailing it along a path at high speed! The
nearest equivalent to this series would have been some pictures of a Stoat
Mustela erminea stabilis (illustrated on another page on
this site) with a freshly killed Rabbit
Oryctolagus cuniculus taken back in 1985 so this the
opportunity to take these images of a Weasel carrying a Field or Short-tailed
Vole Microtus agestis at Rainham Marshes 34 years
later was gratefully accepted. The photographer had been in pursuit of a Barn
Owl Tyto alba and it was a matter of sheer
good fortune that he noticed the little mustelid standing on the path in front
of him at all. The light was abysmal and the camera was deliberately pre-set to
a -0.7 stop under-exposure to capture a very pale owl against a very dark
background at 2000 ISO. There was no time for any adjustments to be made but
fortunately the lens was (erroneously) already switched for close-focussing and
these settings enabled a slightly faster shutter-speed to be used. Given the
gloomy conditions the photographs came out rather better than had been
anticipated with the aid of auto-adjustment. All of these photographs have been
cropped. A great deal of fortune is required to experience sightings like this
of these tiny but fierce little predators and they don’t happen very often.
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