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!

The place looks idyllic.....could imagine you having loads of fun in a setting like that! 

3 minutes ago, Okehsoul1952 said:

The place looks idyllic.....could imagine you having loads of fun in a setting like that! 

Thanks mate.  It certainly has a special place in my life. Bit sanitised version of what it was with tarmac roads and occasional street lights and not as many overgrown wild areas.  Progress they call it it but I would still jump at the chance to own a caravan there.  Only 90 minutes from home. 

3 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

World heritage site.  Pontcysyllte viaduct casting its shadow on the river Dee,  tree's  and fields far below and a distant view of the less well known Chirk viaduct 

 

Had a couple of days camping at Llangollen the other week and walked from Chirk back to Llangollen along the canal and over the viaduct, great place 👍

10 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Buzzard . Perched in a tree this morning about 100 metres away from the back garden, cropped image 

 

Nice buzzard, looks very regal 

thanks Steve 

On the Viaduct theme. This is Chirk Viaduct with Telford and Robertson's efforts side by side.

Yet another, Dutton Viaduct near Acton Bridge with the Weaver Navigation running under it. Incidentally, a great location for wild life the odd ship and trains crossing of course. 

Little ladybird having a moment in the sunshine 😎

On 17/07/2021 at 17:35, washlively said:

Yet another, Dutton Viaduct near Acton Bridge with the Weaver Navigation running under it. Incidentally, a great location for wild life the odd ship and trains crossing of course. 

Know it well. Used to swim in the weaver navigation to cool off after a massive bike ride from Widnes to Delemere forest and back. Great picture

Edited July 18, 20213 yr by Winsford Soul

5 hours ago, Lozzer66 said:

Little ladybird having a moment in the sunshine 😎

Nice picture Lorraine. X

Only took the lighter kit out on Saturday, this was taken with a 300mm f4 lens, ideal for Butterflies and the like about 6 feet from the camera, unfortunately this one was a bit far out from the bank but I was pleased I had managed to get it in focus ... a male Banded Demoiselle 

 

6 minutes ago, Martyn Pitt said:

Only took the lighter kit out on Saturday, this was taken with a 300mm f4 lens, ideal for Butterflies and the like about 6 feet from the camera, unfortunately this one was a bit far out from the bank but I was pleased I had managed to get it in focus ... a male Banded Demoiselle 

 

Stunning picture my friend.  They are so elegant to watch  had the pleasure of watching  two last Thursday on my latest visit to Shropshire at Mellington Hall.  

Unlike you I only had the big daft white with me ( 500mm  f4 ) 

The 300 has a close focus of 5 - 6 feet which is great for Butterflies, Dragons and Damselflies and is one sharp lens, plus I can get away with putting it on a lighter tripod, given how hot it was going to be it was a no brainer.

My grandson Ronnie holding my new grandson Rex. 😃

5 minutes ago, Widnes63 said:

My grandson Ronnie holding my new grandson Rex. 😃

Brilliant Ste and massive congratulations  mate 

I can set myself some right challenges when out and about with a camera, these Hoverflies were darting in and out of the shafts of sunlight in the woods, so I thought why not. First I had to find one in the viewfinder, then get focus, then find it again, find focus again and eventually get a shot whilst they did their best to avoid getting papped. For the benefit of Smiffy these were shot at 6400 ISO.

Bee fest - can you spot the 6 bees on the yellow flower?

Think i can just about make out two...and that's pushing it?  You're gonna say later that there we're non.....aren't you? 

45 minutes ago, Martyn Pitt said:

I can set myself some right challenges when out and about with a camera, these Hoverflies were darting in and out of the shafts of sunlight in the woods, so I thought why not. First I had to find one in the viewfinder, then get focus, then find it again, find focus again and eventually get a shot whilst they did their best to avoid getting papped. For the benefit of Smiffy these were shot at 6400 ISO.

Fantastic snap thanks for sharing 

30 minutes ago, Okehsoul1952 said:

Think i can just about make out two...and that's pushing it?  You're gonna say later that there we're non.....aren't you? 

There are 6 but I can't spot them all either! My excuse is that my eyes are old🤣👍🤣

A few pics from an afternoon bike ride to the Schinkelbos nature reserve, which is part of the Amsterdam woods (Amsterdamse Bos) and sits on the outer perimeter of Schiphol airport...

A juvenile dabchick (little grebe).

A juvenile moorhen (I'm guessing). This little creature was nearly underfoot and appeared a little lost and bewildered. 

Frogs (not toads).

A toad (not a frog!).

Meadow brown butterfly.

Reminded me of an old-fashioned bristle shaving brush.

Teasels.

Stonechat - pic heavily cropped. My 300mm zoom lens just isn't good enough for capturing small birds at a distance. Really pleased to have seen one here as not spotted them before.

And about a second after I'd taken the last pic, the stonechat flew off like a bullet. Again, pic heavily cropped.

The afternoon temperature was supposedly about 21C, but it was way hotter than that - more like a breezeless 25C, which was manageable, but must admit I was soaked in sweat when I completed my cycle ride and needed an instant cooling shower. No complaints, mind you. It is summer!

A Brown Hawker perched up for me for a brief moment on Saturday, they are rarely so obliging. If you see a dragonfly with bronzy gold wings in flight it is one of these. This one is a female I think from the paler colour eyes.

I was at Dunraven Bay last night, actually been every night this week for a swim and BBQ.. had a bit of fun with silhouettes..

 

Edited July 21, 20213 yr by Mal C

This was a good one, was in GAP on Oxford street on Sat, top end, and they were having a closing down sale, tried a few things on, and released they had already let allot of staff go....

Ladies pls avert your eyes 🙂

Edited July 21, 20213 yr by Mal C

Always told

GAP was derived from.....

Gay and Proud.

Ed

 

 

18 minutes ago, Tomangoes said:

Always told

GAP was derived from.....

Gay and Proud.

Ed

 

 

Well I've never been GAP. 🤣🤣🤣. Never shopped their either.  

1 hour ago, Tomangoes said:

Always told

GAP was derived from.....

Gay and Proud.

Ed

Courtesy of Snopes:

Quote

Gap Inc. was founded in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher as a single store staffed by a handful of employees. The retailer took its name in homage to “the generation gap,” a term popular in the late 1960s describing the intellectual, ethical, and social gulf between young people and their parents’ generation.

Source: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gap-store-name-origin/

Ok, so my piccie can be interpreted in either way; but one certain thing is them dummies are out of a JOB! lol

7 hours ago, Mal C said:

This was a good one, was in GAP on Oxford street on Sat, top end, and they were having a closing down sale, tried a few things on, and released they had already let allot of staff go....

Ladies pls avert your eyes 🙂

Have you got any in female form....you can blow up?  Need one or two for my allotment....white cabbage fly has decimated my plumbs!!

yes I think if you look to the end of that cue...

Common Garden Orb Spider 

It was next to me when I was sat on the patio this evening before the thunderstorm 

 

28 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Common Garden Orb Spider 

It was next to me when I was sat on the patio this evening before the thunderstorm 

 

Steve very scary , what a monster 

1 minute ago, Neil Austin said:

Steve very scary , what a monster 

Thanks Neil. It is actually about half the size in real life.  I just zoomed in a bit and cropped it to make it look more scary than it really is.  

On 21/07/2021 at 13:44, Mal C said:

I was at Dunraven Bay last night, actually been every night this week for a swim and BBQ.. had a bit of fun with silhouettes..

 

Your first three are fantastic, so show them to the wider world - they would appreciate them.

11 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

Common Garden Orb Spider 

It was next to me when I was sat on the patio this evening before the thunderstorm 

That's a bit of a surprise mate ... I would have thought you would have been sat next to Lou 😍

31 minutes ago, Martyn Pitt said:

That's a bit of a surprise mate ... I would have thought you would have been sat next to Lou 😍

Spider isn't as deadly mate😱🤣🤣🤣. 

Went for a gentle hobble on the beech (long story - suffice to say I managed to run myself over on Friday - not badly injured given what it could've been, hopefully it won't curtail the activities of this dancing bear at Cleethorpes too much). Lovely patch of Sea Holly - one of my favourite plants - a nice breeze made it very pleasant. Spotted this lovely Golden Plover whilst I wandered the beech too. Dx 

When dragonflies emerge they climb up a stem and basically fill out and harden off, they are described as teneral. We were on the far shore of the reservoir clearing these dead weeds from the shallows as they were making it impossible to see the waders on the shoreline from the hides. One of the guys was about to pull this weed out when he saw this, a teneral Migrant Hawker, you can see its wing tips are still curled up. As I didn't have my camera with me this was taken with my phone.

Was fishing last night, storm never got to us in Chepstow, so it turned out to be a nice moderate night, lowest was 16 degrees…. Very doable 😎

took a while to get goIng, most of the night in fact but I had a chance to pick pocket a spot I knew on a swim about 40 meters away, clipped it up and hey presto, 7 carp, 3 of which were mirrors off this one spot, and this beauty at 18.6lb 

Edited July 25, 20213 yr by Mal C

First trip to the smoke in 2 years...

Giving London in the sky a go...

Ed

 

My back garden Buzzard

Well its taken from the back garden but the bird is about 100 metres away in the trees at the back of the old school

it was a very heavy drizzle  combined  with a high ISO of 6400 resulting in a very grainy picture and its heavily cropped but ive always said a bad picture is definitely better than no picture 

 

Dosen't look all that 'bad' to me...an absolute beauty of a bird of prey! 

15 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

My back garden Buzzard

Well its taken from the back garden but the bird is about 100 metres away in the trees at the back of the old school

it was a very heavy drizzle  combined  with a high ISO of 6400 resulting in a very grainy picture and its heavily cropped but ive always said a bad picture is definitely better than no picture 

 

Steve what a cracker, great pic mate 

On 01/05/2021 at 16:11, Winsford Soul said:

Have to share this. At 9.42pm  Someone cut down the nesting pole / nest platform at Lyn  Brenig Osprey project in North Wales. the Osprey had actually laid her first egg on Thursday . The nest itself was been monitored 24 hrs by cameras but not the surrounding area.  The area can only be reached by boat as its so inaccessible.  

I hope the SCUM that did this gets a good slap before they get banged up for a good few years.  

There are only five breeding pairs of Osprey in Wales which makes it so much more heartbreaking.  

 

That's shocking ,but they might catch them ,and in court they will tell a story to the court of deprivation at home and poor little me .or rich kids that got bored .I would bring back the birch for these scumbags 

Just shocking, shame on them ,

speechless to be honest , words fail 😔 

A nice selection of reader pics courtesy of the BBC News website and “Your pictures of Scotland 23-30 July”:

 

Source: BBC News / © Sharon Macpherson

Photos here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-57971665

 

View from London Bridge towards Tower Bridge with his Belfast in-between.. 

Ed

1 hour ago, Tomangoes said:

View from London Bridge towards Tower Bridge with his Belfast in-between.. 

Ed

Great place to be for a day out 

Really nice to enjoy an almost back to normal London. Pretty busy, a few overseas tourists, London Marathon, covent garden full, hardly any police, theatre land busy.

Ed

Very chilly early morning for July (5am) 3 mullet before work this being biggest at 5lb 10 oz 😊

Some stunning images courtesy of The 2021 Audubon Photography Awards. Check them out!

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2021/the-2021-audubon-photography-awards-winners-and