First Lambs

The choice of blip for today was made easy when the farmer's wife informed us their first lambs had been born last night. For me its a very significant moment in the year as it signifies Spring has arrived, or is at least not far away. Similar in many ways to the first Swallow of Summer.

The subject may have been easy, but getting a blip of the lambs proved much more difficult. Firstly, the shed where they were was quite dark and I was not keen on using the flash in case their mother took fright. She was quite nervous and protective, stamping her foot on the ground when I got close to the enclosure. If I put the camera against the gate she would stamp and charge forward, which meant I had to pick my moment to blip carefully. The main issue however was the light and with a high ISO and low shutter speed I had to try and catch them stationary, which was almost impossible, as evidenced by the little blurry areas.

The lamb at the front of the picture is the bigger of the twins. The one at the back was a bit scruffy looking, although it had lots of character. I tried blipping it on its own, but its wee legs were still unsteady and it had the shakes. The result was lots of blurred shots, although I quite liked this one where the mother's foot can be seen raised ready to stamp.

The shed has two large enclosures full of sheep, although most are not due to lamb for a week or so yet. After that the farm will echo to the sound of bleating lambs, confirming Spring has arrived.