Martyn Pitt

Like a blob of candy floss on a stick, the cute and adorable Long Tailed Tit

New Years Day I got a distant flight snap of a Glossy Ibis, I was just testing some settings for flight shots and as it was still pretty gloomy, and the bird distant I had not really clocked what it was looking through the viewfinder, then I zoomed in on it on the back screen ... that really pissed off the regular birders who had all left the hide about five minutes before it flew over. I don't keep a list of birds Steve, I do this as a hobby ... I count things for my job

A male & female Siskin out in the rain ... bet they wished they had stayed at home for the winter

Cheers Russell ... here is a cute little Marsh Tit

Nice job Russell ... better have a Kingy then to welcome the new thread ... From 1/1/2016 This one got really close, less than 10m away

Cheers Steve ... been pretty naff weather here as well, I have been out a couple of times and come home without any worthwhile shots, Saturday it was that gloomy I was taking shots of the Kingfisher @ 1/30 of a second ISO 12800, not ideal to say the least.

We always clear an opening in the fraggies in front of the hide at the end of the Autumn, this year we made it a bit bigger which seems to have paid off with some regular visits from the Kingfishers, this young lady was on show for quite a while this morning, to start with when it was still pretty dark, then she came back when the light improved, unfortunately she failed to re-appear when it really brightened up ... never mind there is always next time

Steve, nothing you can do about them hiding in trees, especially Owls, they would be buggers to play hide and seek with. That is a rare bird to see, so any photo of it is a bonus

Here is a Green Woodpecker that was in my back garden in the week,shame it was a dull day. This was taken through our back bedroom window

I know his stuff, he used to post on the same photography forum I did

That Kingfisher shot was in the Daily Mail, it was taken by Alan McFadyen. The Kingfisher is diving into a glass tank that is full of small fish, ... still a nice shot, it has been causing a fair few rows on facebook as to the rights and wrongs of the method used to get it.

Steve the human tripod ... ooh errr misses Anyway ... a couple of Turnstones enjoying a break in Lanzarote

More holiday snaps ... stood on our terrace taking these

Part ninja me Steve

More than likely Dave I have seen most birds doing this at some time

Dave it's auditioning for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie ... Either that or it's what most birds do when they are resting

Yes we did thanks Steve ... here are a couple of my holiday snaps These were taken in the rocks below our patio, I managed to get to within 10 feet of the Sanderlings without spooking them

Sorry for the delay in responding Steve, but I have been away for a weeks sunshine Steve there is a Brown Hawker or a Migrant Hawker (also a Southern Migrant Hawker). Brown Hawkers have a distinct and unique amber coloured wing, which makes them easy to identify, which I do not see on the one in your photo. I would think what you photographed was a female Migrant Hawker. Migrant Hawkers are always the latest ones to appear, and with the mild weather we have been having they seem to have been around for a bit longer.

Cheers Peter, ... I like that you can see his eye through the wing on the second image ... but that is just absolute pure luck on my part

A Shoveler getting airborne ...

Kingfishers are getting more active, actually got one on a perch in front of the hide ... for a nano second

We cut down a few willow trees up in the marsh, which opened up the small brook that feeds the reservoir, which meant I got to see a few of these bombing up and down, even managed to get a couple static for a second or two

A Peregrine Falcon decided he fancied a bit of Lapwing for his lunch ... however the Lapwing had other ideas, and managed to avoid being first up on the menu

A couple of Migrant Hawkers from the weekend I wasn't carrying the right kit for these really, I was set up for shots of birds, so it was quite a challenge to find these using 700mm of lens

Had this on a tape in the car back in the early 90's, my daughter who was only a toddler asked why they were swearing on the song, when the "walk on" chorus kinks in she thought they were sing F*** Off