Happy New Year everyone. I hope your Yuletide and New Year celebrations have been plentiful and that the year ahead offers you good health, prosperity, happiness and endless photo opportunities.

To kickstart the new edition of the fabulous "Show us your great photos" thread, I offer not a pic but a video. We took this last night and it shows, in all its glory, the incredible firework display we offered our neighbours from the comfort of our balcony. If you watch the video you'll see our neighbours' fantastic fireworks going off in the background - and then there's ours. 

This is what you get when you buy a box of mini fireworks from your local cheapskate supermarket (Albert Heijn) for the princely sum of 10 euros!  Still, it was so crap it was a laugh, which means it actually offered great value for money. I hope the vid of our box of damp balcony squibs also raises a smile with you.

Happy New Year!

 

I forgot Fulmars.

Arum

Just one from todays eight and a half mile walk.  A Speckled Wood on Pignut 

Just one from me today Too

White tailed bumble Bee. ( I think )

Steve

Greetings from Molyvos, on the Greek island of Lesbos, where the sun is shining and the food is beyond exception!

Two taken down my favourite woods Gaunless Valley Woods amazing place hard to believe it is not a nature reserve.  Large Red Damselfly and Small White Wave moth 

The Jacksons 50th Anniversary with Kool and the Gang ... 

Great venue ... beautiful weather .. fantastic music ... didn't think the Jacksons would be that good ... but was blown away how tight and polished they still are .. all 4 remaining Jacksons singing and playing ... 

Kool and the Gang still bang out " Jungle Boogie - Hollowood Swinging " 

Great weekend 

 

 

36 minutes ago, stevegods said:

The Jacksons 50th Anniversary with Kool and the Gang ... 

Great venue ... beautiful weather .. fantastic music ... didn't think the Jacksons would be that good ... but was blown away how tight and polished they still are .. all 4 remaining Jacksons singing and playing ... 

Kool and the Gang still bang out " Jungle Boogie - Hollowood Swinging " 

Great weekend 

 

 

Is that Grimsthorpe Castle?

No mate ... Blenheim Palace just north of Oxford ... Winston Churchills old gaff 😜

2 minutes ago, stevegods said:

No mate ... Blenheim Palace just north of Oxford ... Winston Churchills old gaff 😜

Thanks, I'm easily confused

Bottle nosed Dolphin 

Approx 400 metres away heavily cropped. Unfortunately this was as close as they ventured inshore on Saturday

Steve

Shorted Ear Owl with Skomer vole. 

Slightly blurred as my arms where knackered after hand holding the 500mm lens for 4 hours and about 5 miles of walking in rather hot conditions

Steve

Puffin Posing ( just for Joan )

Steve

A new sport I've invented here on the island of Lesvos - beer snorkelling!

8 minutes ago, Russell Gilbert said:

A new sport I've invented here on the island of Lesvos - beer snorkelling!

Looking good Russell . Can think of worse sports

Steve 

Not The Med

Newquay. Ceredigion. West Wales

Steve

the all 'English' Cheese Man...

 

Edited June 19, 20177 yr by Mal C

Bit of Rock & Roll...

Foliage and Fotography...

Edited June 19, 20177 yr by Mal C

Here's Betsy, my brothers new rescue dog. She's been very badly treated but you would never know - she has a beautiful temperament and has soon settled in. 

Edited June 20, 20177 yr by Peter99

Betsy with her new toy - not totally sure about it just yet!

 

IMG_0331.MP4IMG_0331.MP4

 

oops- can't get that to work. Will try later. 

Edited June 20, 20177 yr by Peter99

Hunstanton last night - fish n chips , scooter 

More photos from the beautiful Greek island of Lesvos.

Was out with the dogs on monday night. And what i thought was a tennis ball, fell out of the sky about 10 yards in front of me. Then 4 Magpies swooped down and started attacking it. Then i realised it was a fledgling Starling, so i ran and scattered the Magpies, the poor little fella was screaming so i picked him up. I`m not one for moving fledglings as i believe they are better off left, i stood and waited and looked to see if i could see or hear mum and dad, but sadly no, just the four magpies sat waiting on the house gutter above me. So i took him home, put him in a little box and left him, as he was in  shock. He`s been with us 3 days now, yesterday i didn`t think he was going to make it, his head was going right down. So i started getting him out and feeding him, we put a little mirror in his new storage tub home and a couple of twigs for him to perch on. He picked up straight away, i was having to force feed him at first, he was very weak. But now he`s taking the food off the end off a straw, and he`s happily sat chirping in front of his mirror on his new perches. Been taking him in the garden with me and he hops along behind me. He only flies about 3 feet, so i`ll feed him up, until he`s properly fledged, and release him in the woods where i walk the dogs.

2 minutes ago, HARRY CROSBY said:

Was out with the dogs on monday night. And what i thought was a tennis ball, fell out of the sky about 10 yards in front of me. Then 4 Magpies swooped down and started attacking it. Then i realised it was a fledgling Starling, so i ran and scattered the Magpies, the poor little fella was screaming so i picked him up. I`m not one for moving fledglings as i believe they are better off left, i stood and waited and looked to see if i could see or hear mum and dad, but sadly no, just the four magpies sat waiting on the house gutter above me. So i took him home, put him in a little box and left him, as he was in  shock. He`s been with us 3 days now, yesterday i didn`t think he was going to make it, his head was going right down. So i started getting him out and feeding him, we put a little mirror in his new storage tub home and a couple of twigs for him to perch on. He picked up straight away, i was having to force feed him at first, he was very weak. But now he`s taking the food off the end off a straw, and he`s happily sat chirping in front of his mirror on his new perches. Been taking him in the garden with me and he hops along behind me. He only flies about 3 feet, so i`ll feed him up, until he`s properly fledged, and release him in the woods where i walk the dogs.

You can get them to speak if you try, they are brilliant mimics.

50 minutes ago, HARRY CROSBY said:

Was out with the dogs on monday night. And what i thought was a tennis ball, fell out of the sky about 10 yards in front of me. Then 4 Magpies swooped down and started attacking it. Then i realised it was a fledgling Starling, so i ran and scattered the Magpies, the poor little fella was screaming so i picked him up. I`m not one for moving fledglings as i believe they are better off left, i stood and waited and looked to see if i could see or hear mum and dad, but sadly no, just the four magpies sat waiting on the house gutter above me. So i took him home, put him in a little box and left him, as he was in  shock. He`s been with us 3 days now, yesterday i didn`t think he was going to make it, his head was going right down. So i started getting him out and feeding him, we put a little mirror in his new storage tub home and a couple of twigs for him to perch on. He picked up straight away, i was having to force feed him at first, he was very weak. But now he`s taking the food off the end off a straw, and he`s happily sat chirping in front of his mirror on his new perches. Been taking him in the garden with me and he hops along behind me. He only flies about 3 feet, so i`ll feed him up, until he`s properly fledged, and release him in the woods where i walk the dogs.

Amazing Harry. Top man. 

Pete

42 minutes ago, Peter99 said:

Amazing Harry. Top man. 

Pete

Hi Pete, don`t like bullies, bloody magpies!!!

1 hour ago, TattooDave said:

You can get them to speak if you try, they are brilliant mimics.

Yes i was watching one on youtube talking Dave. The plan is to release him, i`m trying not to imprint on him too much. But yesterday his head was just drooping down all the time. Once i`d taken him out of the box and put a mirror in he perked up 100%, they are a flock bird so i just think he was finding it difficult being by himself.

7 minutes ago, HARRY CROSBY said:

Yes i was watching one on youtube talking Dave. The plan is to release him, i`m trying not to imprint on him too much. But yesterday his head was just drooping down all the time. Once i`d taken him out of the box and put a mirror in he perked up 100%, they are a flock bird so i just think he was finding it difficult being by himself.

Good luck Harry, but if he's following you down the garden he might already be imprinted too much.

6 minutes ago, TattooDave said:

Good luck Harry, but if he's following you down the garden he might already be imprinted too much.

Yeah i thought that, we`ll see how he goes on, just happy, he`s happy and feeding at the moment

Few from me

In the past we had plenty of swallows coming at Spring but during these last years their number reduced drastically. It seems that they are coming back, last year we saw a few of them in our village.

They bring life around the house and I love to see them flying high and singing all day long. I even know when the cats arrive by the house, hearing their shouts !

They always come back in the same nest, used by generations of swallows. Here there are four youngsters, ready to explore the outside world :

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, HARRY CROSBY said:

Yeah i thought that, we`ll see how he goes on, just happy, he`s happy and feeding at the moment

There's one on YouTube that is coming up for it's 13th birthday in captivity, and it speaks a lot.  Also saw one that says "Pump up the volume, dance, dance".

Just on an extra ordinary job at the mo an its tuffffffff but its so rewarding cos he's a soul man just like me and to give him this garden is giving me so much,I will post a small vid of the task involved tmoz !!!!my company moto is barry goddard paving and lanscaping "built with soul" finnished product will be on here end of next week I hope ? Nearly dead baz

1 hour ago, baz1 said:

Just on an extra ordinary job at the mo an its tuffffffff but its so rewarding cos he's a soul man just like me and to give him this garden is giving me so much,I will post a small vid of the task involved tmoz !!!!my company moto is barry goddard paving and lanscaping "built with soul" finnished product will be on here end of next week I hope ? Nearly dead baz

Baz. Can I live in the garden ? 

Steve

6 hours ago, Philippe said:

In the past we had plenty of swallows coming at Spring but during these last years their number reduced drastically. It seems that they are coming back, last year we saw a few of them in our village.

They bring life around the house and I love to see them flying high and singing all day long. I even know when the cats arrive by the house, hearing their shouts !

They always come back in the same nest, used by generations of swallows. Here there are four youngsters, ready to explore the outside world :

 

 

 

 

Philippe. Nice picture. And that's a lovely description of what must be my favourite bird and time of year. Thank you

Steve

Not been on here for a bit. Was up in the Ardamurchan Peninsula of Scotland in May, Kilchoan to be exact,  what a fantastic place that is as well, highly recommended if you like peace and quiet and wildlife. The first is two seals just of the shore, the second is what I was hoping is a true Scottish wild cat but it's not a conclusive photo as it was dusk and zoomed in a bit. It was on the drive way of the cottage we were staying at and even the wild cat society can't say 100% if it's a true one or a hybrid. We know what we saw though ;-) The third is a first for me and is an adder basking on the path we were walking on :-)

On 6/19/2017 at 17:59, Russell Gilbert said:

A new sport I've invented here on the island of Lesvos - beer snorkelling!

Ha. I've got one of then snorkles, the bees knees as you find yourself talking to yourself and the fish

Here's a few pictures of vehicle's that caught my eye while attending the Hot Rod show at Beaulieu Motor Museum on Sunday 18th June.  

Just an update on little Josef the starling we saved from the magpies on monday. Sadly he died through the night, he started with a snuffling noise before bed last night and wasn`t well. He had a little food and we bedded him down. Got up this morning and sadly he`d gone. We tried our best, they are so fragile at this age. R.I.P LITTLE FELLA.

1 hour ago, HARRY CROSBY said:

Just an update on little Josef the starling we saved from the magpies on monday. Sadly he died through the night, he started with a snuffling noise before bed last night and wasn`t well. He had a little food and we bedded him down. Got up this morning and sadly he`d gone. We tried our best, they are so fragile at this age. R.I.P LITTLE FELLA.

That's sad, at least you gave him a chance.

21 hours ago, soulandy said:

Not been on here for a bit. Was up in the Ardamurchan Peninsula of Scotland in May, Kilchoan to be exact,  what a fantastic place that is as well, highly recommended if you like peace and quiet and wildlife. The first is two seals just of the shore, the second is what I was hoping is a true Scottish wild cat but it's not a conclusive photo as it was dusk and zoomed in a bit. It was on the drive way of the cottage we were staying at and even the wild cat society can't say 100% if it's a true one or a hybrid. We know what we saw though ;-) The third is a first for me and is an adder basking on the path we were walking on :-)

Nice picture's Andy.  Adder definitely on my must see list. Seen a grass snake. Not even got wild Scottish Wildcats on my list.  To rare . Seen them in captivity though. Bet you where amazed to see it and so chuffed. 

Steve 

Today the young swallows spent their first day of a new life then returned to go sleeping... And I realized they were five !

 

 

 

41 minutes ago, Philippe said:

Today the young swallows spent their first day of a new life then returned to go sleeping... And I realized they were five !

 

 

 

Fantastic picture's Philippe. Thank you for posting them.

Steve

12 hours ago, HARRY CROSBY said:

Just an update on little Josef the starling we saved from the magpies on monday. Sadly he died through the night, he started with a snuffling noise before bed last night and wasn`t well. He had a little food and we bedded him down. Got up this morning and sadly he`d gone. We tried our best, they are so fragile at this age. R.I.P LITTLE FELLA.

So sad Harry but you gave him love and kindness with his short time on earth xxx Take care 

11 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Fantastic picture's Philippe. Thank you for posting them.

Steve

You're welcome Steve, but my "pictures" are just some amateur testimony. Nothing compared to yours that should deserve to be published, as someone previously said. Seriously, aren't you interested in publishing them, or offering/selling them to some specialists mags ?