Happy New Year to one and all. Let's hope 2021 sees some sort of return to normal as the weeks and months roll on

Running annually since 2013, this is the 9th photography thread. Thanks to everyone who has participated and made this such a popular and long-running thread. I'm sure we can look forward to lots of great contributions.

Given the restrictions we've been facing for so long now, getting out and about hasn't always been easy or even possible. But, with a bit of good fortune hopefully we'll get opportunities to revisit new and familiar places with greater ease. Certainly I've hardly been beyond my immediate environment during much of last year, so I'm opening this thread with a couple of favourite photos from some years back.

Both were taken in Elie on the Fife coast in Scotland.

 

Happy snapping, everyone!

15 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Great recordings Andy.  Looks like only 3 cubs have made it this far because from my experience they will be all out together at that age and as for  the lack of adults it's baffling mate but the cubs look healthy and fed enough so maybe they are getting looked after by camera shy adults.  

Yeh, I may go for a peek tomorrow with my little camera or put the trail cam up in another place. Don't really want to be around too much but will leave it for a few weeks after that. I have seen adult foxes in the fields but they could be any. I'll certainly keep my eye on developments through the summer.

I finally managed to grow a dandelion in a very small cascade bonsai pot.

1 hour ago, Tattoodave said:

I finally managed to grow a dandelion in a very small cascade bonsai pot.

Dave, everybody else is trying to get rid of them !!! 

Ste 

4 minutes ago, Widnes63 said:

Dave, everybody else is trying to get rid of them !!! 

Ste 

I was waiting for the question "Why" Steve, they are a great indicator of soil condition, a brilliant nectar plant and great source of food, what's not to like?

Back garden sunset tonight 

 

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_162067368500810&key=07fb2a1f7863b1992bda53cccc658569&libId=koiz9jce01000dx6000MLmts6tkdw&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fmanchesterbirding.activeboard.com%2Ft67583630%2Fdont-mess-with-a-female-kestrel%2F&v=1&opt=true&out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildlifekate.co.uk%2Fpost%2Fkestrels-battle-a-hobby-incredible-footage-from-stow-maries-aerodrome&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fmanchesterbirding.activeboard.com%2Ff329778%2Fgeneral-birding-discussion%2F&title=Don’t mess with a female Kestrel! - Manchester Birding Forum&txt=<br>https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildlifekate.co.uk%2Fpost%2Fkestrels-battle-a-hobby-incredible-footage-from-stow-maries-aerodrome

This series of films showing a female Kestrel defending its chicks fighting a Hobby is simply amazing 

Balcony view this evening...

10 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_162067368500810&key=07fb2a1f7863b1992bda53cccc658569&libId=koiz9jce01000dx6000MLmts6tkdw&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fmanchesterbirding.activeboard.com%2Ft67583630%2Fdont-mess-with-a-female-kestrel%2F&v=1&opt=true&out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildlifekate.co.uk%2Fpost%2Fkestrels-battle-a-hobby-incredible-footage-from-stow-maries-aerodrome&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fmanchesterbirding.activeboard.com%2Ff329778%2Fgeneral-birding-discussion%2F&title=Don’t mess with a female Kestrel! - Manchester Birding Forum&txt=<br>https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildlifekate.co.uk%2Fpost%2Fkestrels-battle-a-hobby-incredible-footage-from-stow-maries-aerodrome

This series of films showing a female Kestrel defending its chicks fighting a Hobby is simply amazing 

Fantastic that. All these wildlife cameras are better than evening TV 😉👍

It looked a bit better than this in real time but just after a heavy shower tonight 

Just the few from 4 hours around Elton this morning

Roe Deer Buck and Willow Warbler. Home alone Sand Martin

 

Edited May 12, 20214 yr by Winsford Soul

Very short clip to show the actual size of a Willow Warbler.  The bird in the clip was caught in a mist net  specifically set up for ringing,  weighing and overall health checks on birds before being released unharmed in the area it was caught.  This tiny bird will migrate to Africa in the late summer/ early autumn then all been well will return to the UK and roughly the same area next April.  

 

 

Edited May 12, 20214 yr by Winsford Soul

Went to see the fox cubs this afternoon and there are 5 of them. I have quite a bit of Trail cam footage but managed to get these zoomed in photos from amonsgt the trees. The poor cub with the bad hind leg seems to be doing OK but who knows

Edited May 12, 20214 yr by Soulandy

7 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Very short clip to shot the actual size of a Willow Warbler.  The bird in the clip was caught in a mist net  specifically set up for ringing,  weighing and overall health checks on birds before being released unharmed in the area it was caught.  This tiny bird will migrate to Africa in the late summer/ early autumn then all been well will return to the UK and roughly the same area next April.  

 

 

 

Wow Steve cracking set of pictures 

video is really cool , thanks for sharing 

8 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Just the few from 4 hours around Elton this morning

Roe Deer Buck and Willow Warbler. Home alone Sand Martin

 

Roe buck is a beauty, very luck to see

and photograph 👍 thanks steveSteve

33 minutes ago, Soulandy said:

Went to see the fox cubs this afternoon and there are 5 of them. I have quite a bit of Trail cam footage but managed to get these zoomed in photos from amonsgt the trees. The poor cub with the bad hind leg seems to be doing OK but who knows

Five. Wow. Definite adults are about then Andy. 

13 minutes ago, Neil Austin said:

Wow Steve cracking set of pictures 

video is really cool , thanks for sharing 

Roe buck is a beauty, very luck to see

and photograph 👍 thanks steveSteve

Thanks Neil as always.

Not sure where you live Neil but they are very common around here now, even been sightings on my little street, 3 miles from Manchester City centre.  

The Willow Warbler is a cracking little bird with a fantastic song 

11 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Five. Wow. Definite adults are about then Andy. 

Out of 217 clips on my Trail Cam, only one 20 seconds of the female and she just walked on by with no cubs insight. Plenty of playful cubs that will take some editing

23 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Thanks Neil as always.

Not sure where you live Neil but they are very common around here now, even been sightings on my little street, 3 miles from Manchester City centre.  

The Willow Warbler is a cracking little bird with a fantastic song 

Hi Steve , I live at the top end of Windsor great park, so we do get a lot

of birds, mainly kites and finches , lots

of monkjac, great place to be , not as remote as some of the wilder areas around Yorkshire, trough of bowland etc

each April I drive up to sizergh castle just north of carnforth , every time I have been I have seen hawfinches and bull finches a real treat and three miles

away the us an osprey next so great viewing 

definitely worth a day out 

 

all the best Neil 

 

North Wales Llandulas near Colwyn Bay,there must be plenty of fish around here,saw about 20 cormorants within 500 mtrs.

Some good reflections on Loch Achnahinic in Duirinish  Scotland this evening 

West Burton waterfall right now..

Ed

On 14/05/2021 at 20:24, Soulandy said:

Some good reflections on Loch Achnahinic in Duirinish  Scotland this evening 

 

 

Them reeds look good, I'd drop a rig to the side of those every time 🙂

I was fishing over night at our local lake last night (Mathern Mill) only caught three, all of a size though, so the carp are deffo putting on weight ready to spawn.   The pick of the catches was this very nice 18.2lb Mirror carp, also a pic of me and all my kids on the bank, they took the nice bivvy for the night,  and I got the old and cold one 😞 

Edited May 16, 20213 yr by Mal C

Watching the sun go down tonight and the quietness of an idyllic bay.

wow, that middle picture is fabulous, I'd return here mate and see if you can develop a shot of that, the perspective and the boat are very dynamic, as I like to say, if you could use the same light again, Dusk is it? maybe come out a bit, you really could have a very very nice shot from / of this little bay and those two little islands... there is a brilliant photograph in there, can see it...

I used to visit locations many times before I actually worked out how to photograph a place, what lens to use, what perspective, and then you wait for the light and a bit of Magic, and CLICK! 🙂  maybe your picture could lend it self to B&W approach?

 

Edited May 19, 20213 yr by Mal C

Listen to me, we will be doing regular CRIT on here soon... Photographic students attend CRIT every week, on Fridays normally, its where you take a look, say what you feel and develop ideas, its cool...

Edited May 19, 20213 yr by Mal C

10 minutes ago, Mal C said:

wow, that middle picture is fabulous, I'd return here mate and see if you can develop a shot of that, the perspective and the boat are very dynamic, as I like to say, if you could use the same light again, Dusk is it? maybe come out a bit, you really could have a very very nice shot from / of this little bay and those two little islands... there is a brilliant photograph in there, can see it...

I used to visit locations many times before I actually worked out how to photograph a place, what lens to use, what perspective, and then you wait for the light and a bit of Magic, and CLICK! 🙂  maybe your picture could lend it self to B&W approach?

 

Thanks for that Mal. Its off my phone but i do have one on my camera,  a small pocket point and shoot. It was after the sun had gone down and id just been watching an otter, no photo, but will try and get a couple more before we head home on Friday,  cheers 

try to develop the foreground, it works because of all the weeds in the front giving the image depth, here is a picture I took in Canada years ago which is working in the same way, I noticed the sludge and tried, as best as I could on a boat, to use the sludge as my foreground...

 

below is an example of what you can do when you turn a nice colour image to B&W.. both of these images are taken on a phone, so it can be done... good luck mate 🙂

Edited May 19, 20213 yr by Mal C

Not been out much or on here. Pulled a muscle in my back and i,ve been in a bit of pain , getting there now so i thought i  would share with you a very special encounter i had recently with a  rare bird or a colony of them . Little Terns

Little Terns are  endangered in the UK and they only breed on very selective shingle beaches. The one at Gronant in North Wales is protected by a double fence , the inner one is to stop land based predators and the outer one  30 metres away from the inner fence is to stop humans from getting to close and disturbing them. 

 

On the same shingle beach as the Little Terns  was a small mixed flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover

 

Avocet. Emblem of the RSPB

 

Reed Warblers

 

Edited May 20, 20213 yr by Winsford Soul

51 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Avocet. Emblem of the RSPB

 

Love The avocet Steve , saw my first

in minsmere Norfolk, great day out 

1 hour ago, Winsford Soul said:

Not been out much or on here. Pulled a muscle in my back and i,ve been in a bit of pain , getting there now so i thought i  would share with you a very special encounter i had recently with a  rare bird or a colony of them . Little Terns

Little Terns are  endangered in the UK and they only breed on very selective shingle beaches. The one at Gronant in North Wales is protected by a double fence , the inner one is to stop land based predators and the outer one  30 metres away from the inner fence is to stop humans from getting to close and disturbing them. 

 

Great pictures Steve hope you feel better 

Neil 

17 minutes ago, Neil Austin said:

Love The avocet Steve , saw my first

in minsmere Norfolk, great day out 

Great pictures Steve hope you feel better 

Neil 

Thanks Neil.  Avocet are stunning birds.

Wow Minsmere would love to go there.

About a 6 hour drive for me, It is on my list of places though.  got to hear nightingales.  

Feeling much better thanks , 😊 just tweaked a muscle in my back 

Edited May 19, 20213 yr by Winsford Soul

Sorry me shots of my lad

Nothing wrong with shots of your lad mate. Good to see actually.  

23 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Thanks Neil.  Avocet are stunning birds.

Wow Minsmere would love to go there.

About a 6 hour drive for me, It is on my list of places though.  got to hear nightingales.  

Feeling much better thanks , 😊 just tweaked a muscle in my back 

Worth the trip Steve in the summertime 

the variety of waiders is brilliant 

a day to remember.

if you go the sizergh castle near milnthorpe closer to you , there are 

bull finche and hawfinche , took my

daughter who is a birder , had a great

day 

First Linnet I've seen on our feeders in a long time.

We're very very lucky with our birds here - These are what I've seen ON our feeders or ON the patio - (not including birds 'seen from' like Barn Owls, Egrets, Hooper Swans and Snow Geese):

Rook, Jacdaw, Magpie

Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (unfortunately we don't get these now as I've had to switch to caged feeders because of the rooks)

Blue, Great, Long Tailed, Marsh and Coal Tits

Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Starling

Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Tawny Owl

Chaffinch, Green Finch, Siskin, Brambling, Gold Finch, Linnet

Wood Pidgeon, Collared Dove, Stock Dove

Dunnock, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow

Willow Warbler and Wren

31 species!!!! I think that's it, but I may have forgotten a couple - interestingly we hardly ever see crows, and never on the patio. We also have bats in the gable covers!

Dx

Edited May 22, 20213 yr by Davenpete

8 hours ago, Davenpete said:

First Linnet I've seen on our feeders in a long time.

We're very very lucky with our birds here - These are what I've seen ON our feeders or ON the patio - (not including birds 'seen from' like Barn Owls, Egrets, Hooper Swans and Snow Geese):

Rook, Jacdaw, Magpie

Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (unfortunately we don't get these now as I've had to switch to caged feeders because of the rooks)

Blue, Great, Long Tailed, Marsh and Coal Tits

Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Starling

Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Tawny Owl

Chaffinch, Green Finch, Siskin, Brambling, Gold Finch, Linnet

Wood Pidgeon, Collared Dove, Stock Dove

Dunnock, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow

Willow Warbler and Wren

31 species!!!! I think that's it, but I may have forgotten a couple - interestingly we hardly ever see crows, and never on the patio. We also have bats in the gable covers!

Dx

Great photos

 Saw a linnet up in Plockton as well as a great spotted woodpecker on the nut feeder 👍

12 hours ago, Davenpete said:

First Linnet I've seen on our feeders in a long time.

We're very very lucky with our birds here - These are what I've seen ON our feeders or ON the patio - (not including birds 'seen from' like Barn Owls, Egrets, Hooper Swans and Snow Geese):

Rook, Jacdaw, Magpie

Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (unfortunately we don't get these now as I've had to switch to caged feeders because of the rooks)

Blue, Great, Long Tailed, Marsh and Coal Tits

Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Starling

Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Tawny Owl

Chaffinch, Green Finch, Siskin, Brambling, Gold Finch, Linnet

Wood Pidgeon, Collared Dove, Stock Dove

Dunnock, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow

Willow Warbler and Wren

31 species!!!! I think that's it, but I may have forgotten a couple - interestingly we hardly ever see crows, and never on the patio. We also have bats in the gable covers!

Dx

Great pictures thanks for sharing 

amazing close up 👍 

5 minutes ago, Neil Austin said:

Great pictures thanks for sharing 

amazing close up 👍 

Thanks - it literally IS a close-up of the sparrow hawk as it's with a cameraphone and NO ZOOM - I could literally have put out my hand and patted it on the head - it had crashed the bird feeders (they do it a lot - must say it's a bit barbaric the way they drag what they've snared through the caging) and was sat on the railings for about 15 minutes - I was worried it was injured - went to the window, it didn't move, went to the patio doors and opened them - still didn't move - I ended up this close - after a minute or two it flew off quite happily. Dx

10 hours ago, Davenpete said:

Thanks - it literally IS a close-up of the sparrow hawk as it's with a cameraphone and NO ZOOM - I could literally have put out my hand and patted it on the head - it had crashed the bird feeders (they do it a lot - must say it's a bit barbaric the way they drag what they've snared through the caging) and was sat on the railings for about 15 minutes - I was worried it was injured - went to the window, it didn't move, went to the patio doors and opened them - still didn't move - I ended up this close - after a minute or two it flew off quite happily. Dx

Wow , once in a blue moon event, it so great when these things happen, such a privilege.

thank you 

Finally the clouds are starting to clear over Manchester.  Could even have a chance to photograph the full moon 🌝

Still only half way above the surrounding buildings yet though here in Blackley,  living in the bottom of this little valley so we will have to wait a while longer yet. 

49 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Finally the clouds are starting to clear over Manchester.  Could even have a chance to photograph the full moon 🌝

Still only half way above the surrounding buildings yet though here in Blackley,  living in the bottom of this little valley so we will have to wait a while longer yet. 

Managed a few pictures but not sure how good, will have a look in the morning,  hand held and because of the moons position relative to where I live I  couldn't use a  tripod.  

Not seen a hedgey out in the open in 20 years.

Quite a way from its home as well I suspect.

Ed

6 minutes ago, Tomangoes said:

Not seen a hedgey out in the open in 20 years.

Quite a way from its home as well I suspect.

Ed

Brilliant Ed. Can't remember the last one I actually saw. It was that long ago. Sad 😥. Growing up even in a heavy industrial/ chemical town like Widnes there was always plenty about 

Reed Warbler . Backlit with the sun

Common Whitethroat playing peek a boo

Not posted a picture of Grandson Thomas for a while. 

Five now

 

Nice Reed Warbler photo.......guess Thomas dosen't take too much  shit off of you?!!!!

My friend in Sarasota just fired these over in her lunch hour. Normally in May I'd be there...

Instead I'm going camping near Newark Notts next weekend.

Not a lot of difference i suppose.

Ed

Wud sooner go camping Ed!!