Author: Diana Marshall-Kay

Red Breasted Mergansers and Ubiquitous Mallards

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Legally allowed back to Coniston Water after the relaxation of further Coronavirus lockdown rules imposed in early 2021, it is evident that the local fauna have been happy to have been left in relative peace and quiet.

Four pairs of Red Breasted Mergansers dive in a quiet area of water and Mr and Mrs Jemima Puddleduck appear to have been busy too!

The Grey Heron still patrols his patch and the Kingfisher was even spotted (but sadly not photographed} in its usual haunts at the water’s edge fishing for minnows.

**It’s good to be allowed back.**

           

 

 

   

 

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LAKELAND 2020

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As the world takes on a more virtual reality in 2020, I made this film for my Mum who missed going to her favourite place due to extended shielding during the global coronavirus pandemic.

I thought if Mum couldn’t go to Lakeland, then a little piece of it could come to her!

Lakeland 2020 was filmed entirely on location in Coniston and its surrounding areas, whilst socially distancing in accordance with government guidelines.

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Erithacus rubecula

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Erithacus rubecula or the European Robin, is the UK’s favourite bird and frankly I’m not surprised. Who doesn’t like having a friendly robin for company when you’re out in the garden?

This beautiful little juvenile spent over half an hour with me today in my garden, curiously watching as I photographed it from a distance with a 300mm lens. Recently flown the nest I think and maybe a little too trusting, or is it really a lost relative coming to say hello?

I know what I think. Fly high little Robin.

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Bumblebees Buddleia and Butterflies

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So the lockdown weeks are tentatively coming to an end as spring morphs into summer and 2020 marches on. Social distancing has become the new normal and probably will be for sometime to come. As we learn more and more about the novel coronavirus causing so much pain and heartache throughout the world, nature and the natural world has been a source of inspiration and comfort to many, including me. Dealing with a global pandemic so soon after suffering a close family bereavement (and a subsequent inquest) has certainly taken its toll, but photography and film making has been my salvation when I’ve not been working from home.

In my garden, birds have nested, chicks have fledged and hopefully survived, flowers like aquilegia have come and gone, and the buddleia at the bottom of my garden has started to flower. Predictably, this has brought the expected influx of butterflies into the garden, with Small Tortoiseshells, Small Whites and the odd Orange Tip already visiting.

The bumblebees have arrived and also prefer the buddleia and (I have noticed) other purple flowers too. Installing a bee hotel is going to be my next garden project for attracting solitary bees as well.

I’d never really taken much notice of how many different bumblebees there are in my garden until the start of the lockdown weeks, and I’m looking forward to learning more about them as the summer progresses. I think that would make a good subject for my next DiskayTV film, so watch this space….

In the meantime, the pandemic isn’t over yet, so #staysafe everyone and enjoy the natural world around you.

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Stay Home Stay Safe and Stay in the Garden 2

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Feeling fortunate to have an urban garden during the early lockdown weeks of Spring 2020, I decided to make a film of some of the resident flora and fauna. Everything has been filmed and recorded in my garden during this time. I’ve deliberately not added any music, just the sights and sounds of nature in between the odd neighbour doing a DIY project! 

I hope you enjoy it, but above all #staysafe in these difficult times.

#DiskayTV

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Diskay Photography on Youtube

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Introducing our sister YouTube video channel for Diskay Photography 

We are developing our Youtube channel and aim to make several new films over the coming months and years. 

Diskay Photography already has a mixture of old cine and new video films. The cine films are also showcased on our website and are published courtesy of my parents Marshall & Dorothy Kay of Dormar Productions.

We have a lot to live up to, with More4 having broadcast footage from my father’s Mallaig Trawler Fleet 1966 film in their “The World’s Most Beautiful Railway” programme in the summer of 2019……but we do like a challenge!

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#REMEMBRANCE100

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11th November 2018 is 100 years since the end of the First World War.

I am remembering the fallen and those who returned home to live the rest of their lives, never forgetting the horrors they had experienced and seen.

I am remembering them all and thanking them for their service, however it was spent.

I am remembering my Grandfather, whose birthday was 11th November and who signed up and served in the Army Veterinary Corps from 1915 to 1919

Thank you to all who served.

*****LEST WE FORGET*****

 

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them.”

Extract from “For the Fallen” by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) published in The Times newspaper on 21st September 1914

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