A new year and a new beginning for the fabulous Soul Source photography thread. We've had so many fantastic contributions from so many members over two very long-running and very lengthy threads now, so it makes sense to start afresh.

For people who perhaps haven't contributed before, the idea is very simple: although the emphasis has been on nature/wildlife/flowers and scenic views, just post up and share pics you've taken of, well, just about anything.

Here's three from me, which were taken today in a small nature reserve behind Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Although it started out as a very clear and sunny afternoon, conditions changed very quickly and it became very overcast - and, I have to say, there was very little in the way of birdlife to see. Perhaps they'd all cleared off elsewhere as the place was pretty busy with people out burning off the Christmas calories.

 

Happy New Year!

It is a Bittern Peter ... and pretty difficult to find when they stand still amongst the reeds, quite a scarce bird to get over our way

It's taken me over a year to name this, eventually tracked it down to Narcissus cuatrecasasii, supposedly endangered, only endanged by being eaten by goats as I've seen plenty in various locations.

This one is the hoop petticoat narcissus, Narcissus bulbocodium, far easier to name, but a beast to find.

Only ever seen two bittern in my life. One that I posted a picture of on here last year and the other one was that I had seen flying. As Martyn said a  scarce bird.

Steve

Edited February 8, 20169 yr by Winsford Soul

1 minute ago, Winsford Soul said:

Only ever seen two bittern in my life. One that I posted a picture of on here last year and the other one was that I had seen flying. As Martyn said a  scarce bird.

Steve

Used to hear them a lot on the fens, easier than spotting them, camouflage is amazing in the natural world

3 hours ago, TattooDave said:

Used to hear them a lot on the fens, easier than spotting them, camouflage is amazing in the natural world

We had one at Belvide a couple of years ago, one chap could not find it and asked where it was, I gave him general directions to it's location but he could not find it, so I put it in his scopes field of view ... he still couldn't see it 

 

42 minutes ago, martyn pitt said:

We had one at Belvide a couple of years ago, one chap could not find it and asked where it was, I gave him general directions to it's location but he could not find it, so I put it in his scopes field of view ... he still couldn't see it 

 

They featured on a recent spring watch series - might have been 2014. Incredible birds.

Had a walk out down the Gaunless Valley Circular Walk this afternoon with border collie Rog. At last the Snowdrops are out and Opposite Leaved Golden Saxifrage are coming through (gonna be a lovely show of them due to the flooding down the woods). A photo of one of the waterfalls on Crow Howle Beck and roots of a tree exposed by the flooded beck taken 8.2.16

 

Edited February 8, 20169 yr by suzannek

Beautiful waterfall Suz !

Thank you Philippe, this stream is very healthy full of fish and invertebrates (insect life), we get lots of bird life on it including Dippers, Kingfishers and Grey Wagtails 

16 hours ago, martyn pitt said:

It is a Bittern Peter ... and pretty difficult to find when they stand still amongst the reeds, quite a scarce bird to get over our way

Quite lucky here in Norfolk not common but we do see them fairley often.This shot was taken by a pike angler in Norfolk.Their is a bittern in shot.

 

Edited February 9, 20169 yr by NCFC

1 hour ago, NCFC said:

Quite lucky here in Norfolk not common but we do see them fairley often.This shot was taken by a pike angler in Norfolk.Their is a bittern in shot.

 

Amazing camouflage all round coz I can't even see the picture! 

Haven't posted any pics for ages but thought I'd share a few from recent winter walking trips in Brides Les Bain and Cromer.

Edited February 9, 20169 yr by autumnstoned

Oh and one more. Been experimenting with my camera phone settings!

Edited February 9, 20169 yr by autumnstoned

From a six and a half mile walk around Windmill and Morley in Teesdale 9.2.16 

Just getting prepared to go out for lunch......it might look nice but it is  -6 out there today and a snow shower is coming.....

1st Avenue and East 38th Street?

12 minutes ago, Steve G said:

1st Avenue and East 38th Street?

Not bad Steve....39th and Second. However in "battleships" that would be a miss! ?

Just got back from a few days being a tourist in Reykjavik, Iceland and did a snowmobiling trip. Brilliant even though it was a long day and took 5 hours to get to the hut on the glacier via two monster vehicles The coach had 48" wheels and that's the wife stood next to it to give an impression of how big they are or how small she is

The sun going down just as the last of the riders are coming back on the last photo

Edited February 11, 20169 yr by soulandy

9 minutes ago, soulandy said:

Just got back from a few days being a tourist in Reykavic, Iceland and did a snowmobiling trip. Brilliant even though it was a long day and took 5 hours to get to the hut on the glacier via two monster vehicles The coach had 48" wheels and that's the wife stood next to it to give an impression of how big they are or how small she is

The sun going down just as the last of the riders are coming back on the last photo

and I complain when I have to put socks on

Just got home from El Porte.....a Spanish restaurant on the corner of second and 38th Street.....a lobster paella ....very nice but it is very very cold out on the streets....minus 10.... Shall I go to BB King's tomorrow to see Martha Reeves or stay in and keep warm? 

 

Saw George Clinton on Tuesday....what a wild night that was.......

 

4 hours ago, Rbman said:

Just got home from El Porte.....a Spanish restaurant on the corner of second and 38th Street.....a lobster paella ....very nice but it is very very cold out on the streets....minus 10.... Shall I go to BB King's tomorrow to see Martha Reeves or stay in and keep warm? 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mPfIgm-MoI

Stay in and keep warm. Seriously.

Edited February 12, 20169 yr by Steve G

1 hour ago, Steve G said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mPfIgm-MoI

Stay in and keep warm. Seriously.

Oh my goodness.....that is so sad!  I recall her being very weak on Jools New Year show a few years back but that YouTube clip is even worse.  I think I will save my money and go and see Gregory Porter on Saturday night.

The "city that never sleeps".... the sun has not yet shown itself but the FDR running alongside the East River is already busy. Across the river you can see The Borough of Queens to the left and Brooklyn to the right. The UN building is the tall thing on the left.

Downtown Manhatttan from the Staten Island ferry....

Had a five and a half miles walk along the bottom of Cockfield Fell. Much of the snow had melted, but it was cold out with a chilly wind 14.2.16 

Thought this might interest some of you.

As we head into spring and the breeding season for birds, the Dutch equivalent of the RSPB has set up a number of web cams at nest sites, including  those of barn owls (kerkuil), tawny owls (bosuil), montagu's harriers (grauwe kiekendief), kingfisher (ijsvogel), peregrines (slechtvalk), storks (ooievaar) and a whole lot more.

English language story here:

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/02/big-brother-is-watching-dutch-birds/

Actual web cams (some of which were not actually live when I looked earlier & noted by the word "onderweg") here:

http://www.beleefdelente.nl

 

Maybe not a great photo.....but a photo of a great soul DJ from the 80s. I met Dave Withers in a dive bar on 9th between 44th and 45th Manhattan. The record packet contained a Mello Souls and a Don Gardner Cheatin Kind....

 

Sunset just taken from my back garden in Manchester

Steve

Guess the bridge......

16 hours ago, Rbman said:

Maybe not a great photo.....but a photo of a great soul DJ from the 80s. I met Dave Withers in a dive bar on 9th between 44th and 45th Manhattan. The record packet contained a Mello Souls and a Don Gardner Cheatin Kind....

 

I think it's a fantastic photograph.

Peter

 

1 hour ago, Rbman said:

Guess the bridge......

Is that recent? You don't look any older than you did on the 80's photograph!

Few more experiments with my camera phone. The building is Norwich University Of The Arts with Norwich Cathedral in the background in the 2nd picture.

Edited February 19, 20169 yr by autumnstoned

We thought that squirrels were responsible for the damage to this dead tree, turns out we were wrong

Nice picture Martyn ! 

 

Edited February 20, 20169 yr by Philippe

1 hour ago, martyn pitt said:

We thought that squirrels were responsible for the damage to this dead tree, turns out we were wrong

Martyn. Great  picture as always mate. , but it will never fool me. I know it's a squirrel disguised as a greater spotted woodpecker. 

Steve

On ‎15‎/‎02‎/‎2016 at 11:01, Russell Gilbert said:

Thought this might interest some of you.

As we head into spring and the breeding season for birds, the Dutch equivalent of the RSPB has set up a number of web cams at nest sites, including  those of barn owls (kerkuil), tawny owls (bosuil), montagu's harriers (grauwe kiekendief), kingfisher (ijsvogel), peregrines (slechtvalk), storks (ooievaar) and a whole lot more.

English language story here:

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/02/big-brother-is-watching-dutch-birds/

Actual web cams (some of which were not actually live when I looked earlier & noted by the word "onderweg") here:

http://www.beleefdelente.nl

 

Russell. Just been watching the Storks getting battered by the high winds you seem to be having over there at the moment.

Steve

1 hour ago, Winsford Soul said:

Russell. Just been watching the Storks getting battered by the high winds you seem to be having over there at the moment.

Steve

Bit windy in parts of the country - up to 80kph/50mph. More blustery here though with winds at about 50kph/30mph. Reasonably warm too. It's about 11 deg C at the moment, which ain't bad. Not planning to head out anywhere on my bike, though. 

 

Looking at the website, and if I've understood the Dutch correctly, the storks are nesting on top of the historic former town hall of Gennep in the south east of the country. Apparently they've been nesting there since the year 2000.

 

Nice pic with the storks in situ here:

Spring is just around the corner...................here anyway!

x

A beautiful day, so took the dog (Clyde) for a walk.

x

2 hours ago, crazylegs said:

A beautiful day, so took the dog (Clyde) for a walk.

x

 

Why didn't Ste take it ? lazy sod  Hope your both well.

Steve n Lou. X

Id just dropped him off at the airport, so decided to make the most of a beautiful day!

xx

6 hours ago, crazylegs said:

Id just dropped him off at the airport, so decided to make the most of a beautiful day!

xx

And the peace and quiet

Steve

This was my bucket list car.

Wish I could go for a spin in it again sometime. The noise and power were amazing, once she had been modified to 375bhp and 400+lb/ft torque. She handled and stopped well too, once I had Bilstein coil overs all round and the Alcon big brake kit fitted.

This was when she was brand new and standard.

 

This was taken just before I sold her. Fully modified. Sob, sob.

 

Ive got a year older poor mans Zetec  S   , a young neighbour of mine has an RS and he said he loves it when he pulls up next to an ST driver and sees the look on their faces, priceless........ I would love to have a blast in the RS !!!!

Some of my old Rag Tops.......

Vauxhall VX220. Built to promote the re-launch of the VX marque by Vauxhall who contracted Lotus to built it (based around the S2 Elise).

Usual fantastic Lotus design & handling - usual Crap Lotus Build quality.

Next was the TOTAL opposite. Audi TTR 225 Roadster. Fantastic build quality - Soulless Handling (a Golf in a party frock)

Also, for some reason people kept asking me for a short back and sides?....

And EASILY the best of the lot. Honda S2000. The S2K was well built with great handling and one of the finest internal combustion engines EVER made. 

Edited February 25, 20169 yr by Zed1

2 hours ago, Widnes63 said:

Ive got a year older poor mans Zetec  S   , a young neighbour of mine has an RS and he said he loves it when he pulls up next to an ST driver and sees the look on their faces, priceless........ I would love to have a blast in the RS !!!!

What is an ST driver?

Never had a flashy care - apart from me Ford Capreee Ghia back in the 80's. Here's me current drive - a humble Megane. I like it.

42 minutes ago, Peter99 said:

What is an ST driver?

Ford Focus ST mate.

48 minutes ago, Zed1 said:

Some of my old Rag Tops.......

Vauxhall VX220. Built to promote the re-launch of the VX marque by Vauxhall who contracted Lotus to built it (based around the S2 Elise).

Usual fantastic Lotus design & handling - usual Crap Lotus Build quality.

Next was the TOTAL opposite. Audi TTR 225 Roadster. Fantastic build quality - Soulless Handling (a Golf in a party frock)

Also, for some reason people kept asking me for a short back and sides?....

And EASILY the best of the lot. Honda S2000. The S2K was well built with great handling and one of the finest internal combustion engines EVER made. 

Much respect, some very nice metal there. Always fancied the VX myself. I must admit that I never understood the attraction of rag tops, until I recently bought a Mazda MX5 that had been modified for sprints/hill climbs. I still didn't "get" it for a while, but finally after a few months with the top down, I now understand why they are so popular. The handling is superb, but they are so lacking in power. No wonder there owners are obsessed with forced induction.

1 hour ago, Zed1 said:

Some of my old Rag Tops.......

Vauxhall VX220. Built to promote the re-launch of the VX marque by Vauxhall who contracted Lotus to built it (based around the S2 Elise).

Usual fantastic Lotus design & handling - usual Crap Lotus Build quality.

Next was the TOTAL opposite. Audi TTR 225 Roadster. Fantastic build quality - Soulless Handling (a Golf in a party frock)

Also, for some reason people kept asking me for a short back and sides?....

And EASILY the best of the lot. Honda S2000. The S2K was well built with great handling and one of the finest internal combustion engines EVER made. 

Gaz. hope you and the lovely Debs are good. You must have kept them well hidden and out of Runcorn to keep hold of them mate.

Ste