Magnificent Seven

Superb Tony - I think I'll "borrow" your idea of trying to produce a representative sample across the year. :-)

Unknown said:

Perhaps we should have a "Photo of the Week" thread where people could post their favourite photo taken that week. What does anyone think? Would it work?

   Think it would be a great idea Tony and would work methinks if we had a regular start day of the week (for instance a Monday start)  and an end day (maybe a Sunday) where, perhaps once all the photos are up for that week at a designated cut off time we could all select just one favourite from them all by pressing the Like button on your overall chosen like of the week    !     Would want everyone to join in no matter if you take your pic on a mobile or a DSLR and whatever skill level you have at taking photos,  we could choose our favourite (like) photo for various reasons and not just quality of photo;   maybe choose it for its originality, the setting its taken in, the composition, etc.,  so those not as familiar with cameras or photography could also join in the fun.         

Only an idea but welcome what other ideas folk have.      

We did a little bit of travelling this year (hurray) and not so much birding in the UK for various reasons (boo) so here's a quick retrospective.

Asian Paradise Flycatcher - Sri Lanka

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater - Sri Lanka

Grey Heron - Kalogria, Greece

Rock Nuthatch - Mycenae, Greece

Mediterranean Gull - Southsea Beach

Whitethroat - RSPB Rainham

I did try telling it that my lens hood wasn't edible, but would it listen?

Oh wow Stuart,  some of those species are ones I could only dream of seeing, the colours and variations are fabulous and love the way the Swan is checking out the camera lens  lol

Thanks Hazel, I don't think the swan liked the paparazzi ;-)

Stuart, Wow I am speechless.

Ta very much - just a matter of being in the right place at roughly the right time - very little skill involved, trust me ;-)

Terrific photos, Stuart. That Bee-eater is to die for.

Beautiful shots from everyone, a fantastic variety. Like all of you, I found picking just a handful of shots from last year to be very difficult to do. I do love Corvids so my first choice is a shot of a Rook taken at Linlithgow Loch between showers of rain. The green background is the out of focus grass in the field behind the bird; purely accidental.

Next up is a wee Blue Tit in the garden. They're such great characters that you can’t help but love them.

Sticking with the garden birds, before we know it, the chaotic Starling youngsters will be back to cause their unique brand of mayhem.!!

This wee male Stonechat was snapped in the nature reserve at Aberlady . He was very gracious in letting me get so close to him.

This shot of a pair of Redshank in mid-scuffle was taken at the manmade scrapes at Musselburgh, near Edinburgh.

I often find that I can be thinking too much about portrait shots and missing out on the bird’s surroundings, which is why I've chosen this shot of a few Pink-footed Geese coming in to land at Loch Leven. I really must try harder to get more shots when the bird is not the only thing in the photo.!!

Finally I’ve chosen a shot of a Common Gull. I don't really see too many of these around so I always take great pleasure in enjoying them when I get the chance.

 

This thread that Limpy started is producing some wonderful favourite photo captures from everyone, really enjoying the variety chosen by folk and makes me realise how many species I have to catch up on  lol     Thanks for the great idea of listing 7 favourites Limpy, it makes for some great viewing :)