As an extension to the ongoing "I saw my first kingfisher today" thread, I thought it might be interesting if people wanted to post and share any wildlife pics that they've taken. As I said on the other thread, that way instead of just talking about what birds and other wildlife we've seen, we can also show photos of them. 

 

Hope you think it's a good idea.

 

As the current topic in the "kingfisher" thread is herons, I thought I'd start with a couple of pics of them that I've taken...

 

Juvenile heron (looking very interested in a dragonfly)

 

Heron in sunset silhouette

 

Next up, a couple of pics of blackbird chicks, which I was lucky enough to get while looking out through a window at home.

 

 

 

Come on then, show us what you've got. The only condition is that the photos are ones you've taken yourself.

 

Swifty Swallow... where do we reckon he is now?  I have a story I made up about a small bird that migrates every year that I used to tell the kids, he stops at the same tree every year, bu the first time he comes up against some owls!!  now Ive got my hero...Swifty Swallow...

 

there he goes...

Edited October 8, 201410 yr by Mal C

What about Martin as in house

Steve

 

 

Only in Norfolk :-) jumped on my boat again

fish 078.jpg

 

 

Only in Norfolk :-) jumped on my boat again

B*llocks! you'll be telling me he was being chased by an orca next

B*llocks! you'll be telling me he was being chased by an orca next

Funny you should say that.................

Here's one for the record books. Apparently bee eaters have bred in the UK for the first time in years. A pair of them succeeding in raising three chicks. They are truly stunnning birds.

Steve

Here's one for the record books. Apparently bee eaters have bred in the UK for the first time in years. A pair of them succeeding in raising three chicks. They are truly stunnning birds.

Steve

I've seen lots of them this summer, still hoping to see a blue roller though

It's raining this morning, so after a few days of sunshine and me finding more hibiscus varieties I thought I'd share these, I am quite a fan of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Three other plants that I've taken notice of recently.

Ismene festalis

Bignonia rosa

 and a curiously variegated foliaged bougainvillea with white and pink flowers, I'm thinking it will make a fine bonsai once I've got a stolen cutting to root

This chap was resting on the rocks at Riviera last night, probably a juvenile, but I don't know, he looked lonely.

Anybody know what he could be?  I'm a bit puzzled

Edited October 12, 201410 yr by TattooDave

Three other plants that I've taken notice of recently.

DSC09584.JPG Ismene festalis

DSC09577.JPG Bignonia rosa

DSCN75431.JPG and a curiously variegated foliaged bougainvillea with white and pink flowers, I'm thinking it will make a fine bonsai once I've got a stolen cutting to root

No obvious hints of the changing season in your part of the world, Dave? None of those classic red, brown and golden hues, or is it all a near-permanent state of summer?

 

Looking out the window, the horse chestnut trees flanking the canal in front of us are a lovely coppery gold colour now. Although the leaves are rapidly dwindling, some foliage will remain for a few weeks yet. 

 

Thinking autumnal thoughts yesterday, and admiring the colours of an almost dead bouquet of flowers we have indoors, I took some time out to set up a still life of them on the dinner table. The last remaining spotlight I had in a softbox set died as soon as I turned it on, so that wasn't a good start. The only option was to use a couple of floor/reading lamps for lighting. 

 

I wanted to try and get a subdued, autumny feel and at the same time portray that even though the flowers are faded and almost dead, they still have a beauty about them. Here's one of the results...

 

No obvious hints of the changing season in your part of the world, Dave? None of those classic red, brown and golden hues, or is it all a near-permanent state of summer?

 

Looking out the window, the horse chestnut trees flanking the canal in front of us are a lovely coppery gold colour now. Although the leaves are rapidly dwindling, some foliage will remain for a few weeks yet. 

 

Thinking autumnal thoughts yesterday, and admiring the colours of an almost dead bouquet of flowers we have indoors, I took some time out to set up a still life of them on the dinner table. The last remaining spotlight I had in a softbox set died as soon as I turned it on, so that wasn't a good start. The only option was to use a couple of floor/reading lamps for lighting. 

 

I wanted to try and get a subdued, autumny feel and at the same time portray that even though the flowers are faded and almost dead, they still have a beauty about them. Here's one of the results...

 

_DSC1429-NEW-web.jpg

There are bits of autumn colour here and there in the mountains, but nothing major, there's still lots of buds on plants, so more flowers to come.  The sun is now shining after some rain and thunder, and the loquat trees are in flower just outside the kitchen window, beautifully scented.  I used to enjoy the fall colour when I lived in the US, but didn't enjoy the Minnesota winters, I'm looking forward to the winter here, and strawberries next February and March. 

Give me the warmth of southern Spain any day, I'm hoping to be on the beach Christmas Day.

This chap was resting on the rocks at Riviera last night, probably a juvenile, but I don't know, he looked lonely.

DSC09585.JPG

Anybody know what he could be?  I'm a bit puzzled

Looks a bit like Cormorant Dave ?

This chap was resting on the rocks at Riviera last night, probably a juvenile, but I don't know, he looked lonely.

DSC09585.JPG

Anybody know what he could be?  I'm a bit puzzled

Dave .I'm only looking on a kindle at the moment and the picture quality is rubbish when you expand it, but it looks like a juvenile cormorant with the pale underbelly

Steve

Dave .I'm only looking on a kindle at the moment and the picture quality is rubbish when you expand it, but it looks like a juvenile cormorant with the pale underbelly

Steve

I thought that too Steve, but have never seen much of juvenile cormorants so was unsure, he was very white and some distance off, I enlarged it before I posted it, hence the poor quality

Looks a bit like Cormorant Dave ?

I pretty much knew it was a cormorant Swifty, but what was puzzling me was his underbelly, I looked at lots of pictures of cormorants and the juveniles never looked as white as he did, they do get birds blown in from the US on the gulf stream so I wondered if it was just misplaced.  Sadly he was too far away to get a decent shot, but his belly was very white.

I pretty much knew it was a cormorant Swifty, but what was puzzling me was his underbelly, I looked at lots of pictures of cormorants and the juveniles never looked as white as he did, they do get birds blown in from the US on the gulf stream so I wondered if it was just misplaced.  Sadly he was too far away to get a decent shot, but his belly was very white.

Looks fairly standard for a juvenile to me. To confirm I had a quick look online and basically that's all you see - white bellies. Here's an example I 'nabbed' from Mr Google.

 

Looks fairly standard for a juvenile to me. To confirm I had a quick look online and basically that's all you see - white bellies. Here's an example I 'nabbed' from Mr Google.

 

cormorant-juvenile.jpeg

maybe you're right Russell, though he was very white even under his chin, I've not seen a juvenile with such clean white markings

maybe you're right Russell, though he was very white even under his chin, I've not seen a juvenile with such clean white markings

Plumage patterns do vary in young birds, of course, so that could explain it. More exotically, could it have been one of these?

 

 

A white-breasted cormorant.

 

It would have been well out of it's usual geographical zone, but then that's not really so unusual among our feathered friends, is it? And what with all that 'climate change' taking place...

Plumage patterns do vary in young birds, of course, so that could explain it. More exotically, could it have been one of these?

 

White-breasted-cormorant.jpg

 

A white-breasted cormorant.

 

It would have been well out of it's usual geographical zone, but then that's not really so unusual among our feathered friends, is it? And what with all that 'climate change' taking place...

Who can tell, it looked like an adult bird to me, and was the only one around that had any white markings, I knew it was a cormorant, and knew juveniles had a white belly, but had never seen one so white and up to the chin.  Wasn't there tonight, but then after the weather we had earlier I wouldn't blame it

My new Canon camera finally hits the shops on the 17th November but once again rip off Britain strikes. The USA price is $1800 that converts to £1120 but the UK price is £1549. Why don't these manufacturers set a price that is the same worldwide.

Steve

Went to Bonnie Scotland for a few days.

 

Edited October 17, 201410 yr by billb

Looks like some fantastic pics the - except I can't see them properly. Click on them and they're huge - much bigger than the computer screen I'm using anyway. Any chance you can resize them so they're a bit smaller?

Looks like some fantastic pics the - except I can't see them properly. Click on them and they're huge - much bigger than the computer screen I'm using anyway. Any chance you can resize them so they're a bit smaller?

Russel, I've right clicked and opened in new tab and they are normal size on my laptop?

I don't know how to change the size of the images, help, anybody?

Edited October 15, 201410 yr by billb

Russel, I've right clicked and opened in new tab and they are normal size on my laptop?

I don't know how to change the size of the images, help, anybody?

Right-click does load individual images into a new browser window, but you shouldn't need to do that. Just clicking on them normally ought to be enough. Downloading the first image shows it to be 4000 x 3000 pixels - onscreen that's pretty big! 

Russel, I've right clicked and opened in new tab and they are normal size on my laptop?

I don't know how to change the size of the images, help, anybody?

I resize mine with Photoshop Elements when I am processing them, usually 1000 pixels on the longest edge, saves swamping the page and makes them load a bit quicker for people with slower connection speeds.

 

When I was using Windows there were a few free image resizing programs on the web, just do a Google search loads come up here is one 

 

https://imageresizer.codeplex.com/releases/view/30247

Having worked for 20 days straight, this was my first time out with the camera for a while.

 

A lovely male Stonechat 

 

Having worked for 20 days straight, this was my first time out with the camera for a while.

 

A lovely male Stonechat 

 

426_115.jpg

Martyn. All this work and no play isn't any good for you, especially at your age. Your accountant will be happy though.

Steve

Am going to be out and about tomorrow around bodnant gardens and the bewtys coed area of Snowdonia hoping to get some nice autumnal picture's and who knows what else.

Steve

Resized photo's, hope it's worked?

 

Resized photo's, hope it's worked?

 

They are spot on 

Resized photo's, hope it's worked?

035.JPG039.JPG065.JPG116.JPG

119.JPG

122.JPG168.JPG 243.JPG

Bill. Nice picture's. I'm assuming that the swans are Whoopers in the 2nd picture

Steve

Edited October 19, 201410 yr by Winsford Soul

Bill. Nice picture's. I'm assuming that the swans are Whoopers in the 2nd picture

Steve

Yes, Whooper swans (had to look them up in a wildlife book), saw quite a few of them in fields.

Yes, Whooper swans (had to look them up in a wildlife book), saw quite a few of them in fields.

They breed in the Artic, then spend the winter's In relative warmer climates of England, Scotland, Wales etc etc fattening up on the stubble crops that the farmers have left.

Steve

They breed in the Artic, then spend the winter's In relative warmer climates of England, Scotland, Wales etc etc fattening up on the stubble crops that the farmers have left.

Steve

They breed in the Artic, then spend the winter's In relative warmer climates of England, Scotland, Wales etc etc fattening up on the stubble crops that the farmers have left.

Steve

I red this as "They breed in the attic"............blind barsteward!

 

 

Just caught the last day of one of the Acers before the leaves fell.

 

A great looking Mushroom out walking the dogs, no idea what it is but it`s about a foot tall and there were a few of them.

 

And then I let them watch Countdown before dinner.

Edited October 20, 201410 yr by Guest

I red this as "They breed in the attic"............blind barsteward!

 

 

 

Have you checked the attic recently? You never can tell… 

I red this as "They breed in the attic"............blind barsteward!

 

 

Steve. Definitely not coming round your house for tea. Attic roll for pudding. Would that be a roll of fibreglass

Steve

Managed a few autumnal picture's today and managed at long last to get a picture of a dipper. How many year's has that taken me. Hope to get chance tomorrow to post a few picture's

Steve

 

 

A great looking Mushroom out walking the dogs, no idea what it is but it`s about a foot tall and there were a few of them.

20141016_125014.jpg

 

 

They're from the Coprinus family, most of them are edible though I never eat them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinus

 

Mushrooms are my second passion after Soul music and I'm lucky to live in a privileged area where I can find (and eat) plenty of them.

 

Here are the ones that I picked up this afternoon, some beautiful and delicious boletus aereus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_aereus

 

Edited October 21, 201410 yr by Philippe

loved the leaves under the water flowing down the steam, used a slow shutter speed to add a slight milky effect to the water

Steve

Edited October 21, 201410 yr by Winsford Soul

Philippe.......what can I say, it never ceases to amaze me there`s always someone with the knowledge on here whatever the task!

 

A touch of Autumn

Steve

A touch more of Autumn

Steve

Snowdonia at dusk yesterday as todays storm just starts to roll in

Steve

Swallow Falls at Betwsy Coed in Snowdonia

Dipper picture taken about 100 metres above the falls where the river is less turbulent

Steve

I was watching this Jay for about a hour trying to get the shot of it actually eating an acorn, this was as close as I got, you can just see the acorn disappearing down its throat

Steve

Was at junction 7 of the M62 going to Widnes when I saw a covey of 9 Partridge. First time I've seen any of these  birds for years. I'm well chuffed

 

Steve

I do like autumnal colours in photos. Here's a couple of pics I took during a dining table-top still life photo session...

 

Dutch hazel nuts

 

 

Ripe, autumnal pears

 

 

 

I do like autumnal colours in photos. Here's a couple of pics I took during a dining table-top still life photo session...

 

Dutch hazel nuts

 

Colours of Autumn Dutch Hazel Nuts.jpg

 

Ripe, autumnal pears

 

Colours of Autumn Ripe Pears.jpg

Russell. Nice pictures my friend but how did you resist the temptation of just eating them before you photographed them.

Steve