A New Year means a new Soul Source photography thread! Starting in 2013, "Show us your great photos" has proved to be a long-lived favourite - all because of the continued contributions and involvement of its enthusiastic participants. Here's looking forward to yet another year of fab photos - and don't forget that you don't need to be a photographer to post up pics. Whether taken with top-of-the-line gear or the camera on your smart phone, if you've got interesting pics, please feel free to share.

To kick off, here's a batch of pics I took today while out on a cold and misty walk in a place called the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen. I'd not heard of it until just very recently. Apparently it's a natural water table from which Amsterdam gets most of its fresh water. At the same time, it's a nature reserve, so now that I know of its existence, I'll have to make a point of visiting regularly.

It wasn't a good day to be out with a camera, especially with a zoom lens. The light was poor, it was misty (heavy fog overhead - we could hear geese flying over but could barely see them, even though they were quite low), and it was cold. Hopefully conditions will be better on my next visit.

Here's wishing you all a happy New Year and lots of happy shooting across the next 12 months.

Sunday nights Sunset

 

Some Photos from the last couple of Weekends. Bit of Wildlife and our dogs.

Some Toadstools, Last Saturday's Rainbow and a couple of Arty Farty B+W Shots.

24 minutes ago, Johnny Jones said:

Great Chiffchaff pictures Johnny 

Edited June 30, 20204 yr by Winsford Soul

10 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Great Chiffchaff pictures Johnny 

Cheers Pal, watched it for a good couple of minutes bashing the grubs head in on the fence, managed to get quite a few good photos of it.

Saw this Elephant Hawk Moth the other day - never seen one alive before (though we used to get Hummingbird Hawk Moths and Emperor Hawk Moths when we lived in the hills near Tebay). Also an exceptionally brightly coloured orchid on  the car park of the church over the road and sunset from Fort Greyhair earlier this year. 

Posting this on here aswell as must watch TV thread. Friday night 9pm

BBC 2. Wild Pembrokeshire.  For the people on here that have never been to Pembrokeshire its a chance to be see what keeps drawing me back year after year.  Enjoy 😁

My favourite camera shop. ( Cambrian Photography ) in Colwyn bay is open again and from next week i can visit again so i was going through a few picture to get printed at 15 " X 10" and a noticed that i had,nt posted this Barn Owl picture so i thought i would share it. Incidentally Lunt Meadows nature reserve has re-opened where the photograph was taken. Guess where i will be next week !!!

  

 

Edited July 3, 20204 yr by Winsford Soul

49 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

My favourite camera shop. ( Cambrian Photography ) in Colwyn bay is open again and from next week i can visit again so i was going through a few picture to get printed at 15 " X 10" and a noticed that i had,nt posted this Barn Owl picture so i thought i would share it. Incidentally Lunt Meadows nature reserve has re-opened where the photograph was taken. Guess where i will be next week !!!

  

 

Not seen our Barn Owl this year - indeed only seen one all year up here. Dx

Edited July 3, 20204 yr by Davenpete

1 hour ago, Davenpete said:

Not seen our Barn Owl this year - indeed only seen one all year up here. Dx

I was lucky enough to have four flying around along with a short eared owl when I took this picture.  

Steve 

On 27/06/2020 at 12:34, Jayne Houghton said:

 

 

Sorry I just thought it was a bit of fun , in these sad times , I  will take it down , stay safe and well,

Edited July 4, 20204 yr by Jayne Houghton

A couple from Friday evening along the river where the crows have made their home in the trees and have a bit of a feed at the small farm. A few hundred of them, or a mob, a horde or even a murder of crows, after all the chicks have now fledged but they are here every evening  making a right old racket. 

A couple from a couple of weeks back. Honeybee, cropped to show a bit of detail and a horse in need of a good haircut and shave 🙂

Edited July 5, 20204 yr by Soulandy

a few from the garden today

Great Tit Fledgling ( rather wet }. Goldfinch. Buzzard

 

Sunrays, a new duck family and a few midges tonight

9 minutes ago, Soulandy said:

Sunrays, a new duck family and a few midges tonight

Andy  is that river view upstream from Carrington spur ? 

Hamburg docks Sunday afternoon after the weekender.

Edited July 6, 20204 yr by Maxwell

Saltwick Bay - Whitby where I am this week. 

You may notice a very rare sight at the bottom of the picture .... my foot in a blxxdy cast because I’ve only gone & broke my ankle ☹️  I’ll be right tho👍

Photo taken from my wheelchair on my iPhone 

 

 

Edited July 6, 20204 yr by Alison H
added more blurb

48 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Andy  is that river view upstream from Carrington spur ? 

Steve, yes mate. Seen around 30 ducklings, kingfishers, buzzards, kestrels, owls, herons, rats, 100's of crows and alsorts these past months. 👍

11 hours ago, Alison H said:

Saltwick Bay - Whitby where I am this week. 

You may notice a very rare sight at the bottom of the picture .... my foot in a blxxdy cast because I’ve only gone & broke my ankle ☹️  I’ll be right tho👍

Photo taken from my wheelchair on my iPhone 

 

 

Ali. Hope you're OK and getting better love. 

Ste. XX 

12 hours ago, Alison H said:

You may notice a very rare sight at the bottom of the picture .... my foot in a blxxdy cast because I’ve only gone & broke my ankle ☹️  I’ll be right tho👍

Photo taken from my wheelchair on my iPhone 

Ali ... crikey thats bad luck, released from lockdown and that's what happens ... I always said you need to take more water with it 😁 ... hope it all mends quickly and you are back on your feet soon.

Love from me and Carol xxxx

Juvenile female Greater spotted woodpecker. Don,t like posting pictures of birds on my feeders but this is the first time that i,ve seen a juvenile in the garden. 

Forgot to mention that this picture was taken through the kitchen window 

Edited July 7, 20204 yr by Winsford Soul

42 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Juvenile female Greater spotted woodpecker. Don,t like posting pictures of birds on my feeders but this is the first time that i,ve seen a juvenile in the garden. 

Forgot to mention that this picture was taken through the kitchen window 

Steve we had one in the garden earlier today as well ... only difference was we saw ours through the dining room window.

7 minutes ago, Martyn Pitt said:

Steve we had one in the garden earlier today as well ... only difference was we saw ours through the dining room window.

Must be the time to fledge the nests mate and set out on their own journeys 

8 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Ali. Hope you're OK and getting better love. 

Ste. XX 

Ste, it’s only just happened on my way here, so it will be a while I fear ☹️ but I’ll still try take some nice piccies from my wheelchair/crutches 👍xx

7 hours ago, Martyn Pitt said:

Ali ... crikey thats bad luck, released from lockdown and that's what happens ... I always said you need to take more water with it 😁 ... hope it all mends quickly and you are back on your feet soon.

Love from me and Carol xxxx

I know!! Typical! on Super Saturday I go and break my ankle Super Style in 2 places. I wasn’t drunk either, fell off a kerb whilst wearing sensible trainers. Ah well, it’s only temporary and I’ll be right 

Cheers for your well wishes 👍xx

Edited July 7, 20204 yr by Alison H
.

10 minutes ago, Alison H said:

Ste, it’s only just happened on my way here, so it will be a while I fear ☹️ but I’ll still try take some nice piccies from my wheelchair/crutches 👍xx

I know!! Typical! on Super Saturday I go and break my ankle Super Style in 2 places. I wasn’t drunk either, fell off a kerb whilst wearing sensible trainers. Ah well, it’s only temporary and I’ll be right 

Cheers for your well wishes 👍xx

Ali. Since when have you and sensible shoe's been in the same sentence 🤣. XX X

Look forward to seeing your pictures from Martyn Pitt,s  point of view 🤔🤣

Edited July 7, 20204 yr by Winsford Soul

Swallows

Edited July 7, 20204 yr by Winsford Soul

Some photos from last weekend.

Very nice mate 👌 👍 

And a few more.

7 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Very nice mate 👌👍 

Thank you, Much appreciated 👍

Platform 4 of the train station under Schiphol Airport at 18:00 today at what would normally be 'rush hour' - almost completely deserted.

Not sure if a panorama shot will work in the limited space here, but worth a try. Sepia effect added for, well... effect!

 

Panoramic picture works Russell.  👍

9 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Panoramic picture works Russell.  👍

Great, thanks - and I'd forgotten you can click on a pic to see it at a larger size.

Female Chaffinch. Just taken this picture at 7.32pm  under the Rowan tree and Burberis bush in the gloom and drizzle of the back garden

 

After all the rain on Monday and over last night, the river is looking a bit full 

Just came across this beast in the garden. I think its a violet ground beetle.

Edited July 11, 20204 yr by Soulandy

Plenty of Red Soldier Beetles out today enjoying life in the sun 😉

Edited July 12, 20204 yr by Soulandy

 

Buggers to hook but look stunning in the 5 am sunlight.Fantastic watching them swim away on release.

 

21 minutes ago, Ncfc said:

 

Buggers to hook but look stunning in the 5 am sunlight.Fantastic watching them swim away on release.

 

Excellent. Never caught a mullet.  Tried a few times with breadflake but seemed to be striking 10 minutes to late even though it was as soon as the float moved or the line moved when using crust. 

2 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Excellent. Never caught a mullet.  Tried a few times with breadflake but seemed to be striking 10 minutes to late even though it was as soon as the float moved or the line moved when using crust. 

I ledger for them and let them hook themselves.Flurocarbon is a must but as i age its a bugger to tie knots even with glasses.

 

Edited July 13, 20204 yr by Ncfc

Male Kingfisher.

For anyone who would like to tell the sexes apart the Male has a completely black beak while the female,s lower beak is orange

Unfortunately i have never managed to photograph a female for a comparison 

 

37 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Male Kingfisher.

For anyone who would like to tell the sexes apart the Male has a completely black beak while the female,s lower beak is orange

Unfortunately i have never managed to photograph a female for a comparison 

 

So that's what it looks like when it's still 😁 Great photo Steve. You haven't managed to see the vulture have you, must be a great sight for anyone. 

https://www.birdguides.com/articles/britain-ireland/tracking-down-the-peak-district-lammergeier/

8 minutes ago, Soulandy said:

So that's what it looks like when it's still 😁 Great photo Steve. You haven't managed to see the vulture have you, must be a great sight for anyone. 

https://www.birdguides.com/articles/britain-ireland/tracking-down-the-peak-district-lammergeier/

Cheers Andy. Find a suitable branch and stick it into the riverbank near where you see them and they will definitely use it mate. Be a good photo opportunity.  Picked up the Vulture report from birdguides 2 weeks ago. It was getting mobbed by two Buzzards who like the Ravens in your link look tiny in comparison . Not really a twitcher but may go to have a look next week with the warmer weather that is forecast but will be full of tourists by then on holidays.  

Just entered the maximum of three photos into the BBC country file calendar competition . Not expecting any response but you can't win  if you don't enter . 

 

1 hour ago, Winsford Soul said:

Cheers Andy. Find a suitable branch and stick it into the riverbank near where you see them and they will definitely use it mate. Be a good photo opportunity.  Picked up the Vulture report from birdguides 2 weeks ago. It was getting mobbed by two Buzzards who like the Ravens in your link look tiny in comparison . Not really a twitcher but may go to have a look next week with the warmer weather that is forecast but will be full of tourists by then on holidays.  

Unfortunately the kingfishers i had been watching are gone, probably because the farmer or Bollin Valley rangers were working on the bank clearing the fallen trees and all the debris while the river was so low a few weeks back. Probably didnt know they wete there. As a side note we've seen another skimming over the mersey earlier on. Seen it a few times over the weeks. 

First photo with the work going on. Second photo last week

1 minute ago, Soulandy said:

Unfortunately the kingfishers i had been watching are gone, probably because the farmer or Bollin Valley rangers were working on the bank clearing the fallen trees and all the debris while the river was so low a few weeks back. Probably didnt know they wete there. As a side note we've seen another skimming over the mersey earlier on. Seen it a few times over the weeks. 

First photo with the work going on. Second photo last week

Cant believe that the idiots are doing any work now when  there's still nesting birds about. 

1 hour ago, Winsford Soul said:

Just entered the maximum of three photos into the BBC country file calendar competition . Not expecting any response but you can't win  if you don't enter . 

 

Love the waders pic especially - sorry I'm useless on the species when it come to waders (they're my LBB).

Dx

1 minute ago, Winsford Soul said:

Cant believe that the idiots are doing any work now when  there's still nesting birds about. 

Yes mate. Around 3 days they were there. Luckily the bluetit family fledged, they were next to the KF. The M56 tunnel, a 100 yards from the KF site, is the home to another brood of grey wagtails. I think its the same as earlier in the spring as its on the opposite side of the tunnel as earlier so theres still plenty going on.