Just because there's way too much great photography on this site...!
You know the feeling. You only got one or a few photos of it and they're not very good, but you can't bear to throw the photos away because they're all you have of that particular species. So you keep them, just until you get better ones :) We've managed to 'upgrade' some of the species below since these bad pics were taken, but not all...
Please join in! I can't be the only one who hordes terrible wildlife photos :)
Collared Flycatcher
Otter
Peregrine
and best (worst) of all, Nightjar!
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
Best place to see the Barn Owls is in the fields from the two scrape hides and the field behind the river Wensum that leads along the pathway to the hide. Also check out the field next to the car park by the wind turbine and the large open field opposite the small water course that runs next to the boardwalk leading to the whitely hide (this is the hide where you see the Bullfinches - sit in the right of the hide right by the door as you enter for the best views of them).
Enjoy it's a great little reserve.
www.andrewa.zenfolio.com
Thanks, Plover.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
LOL, I'm only back a day and see what I have started !!! sorry folks, I'll try and get the camera in position next time but this bird took me by surprise as it appeared out of the blue and was gone the next ......... many thanks for all the suggestions :) I feel as if we're in a quiz now lol
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Regards, Hazel
Certainly a weird one, Hazy. If aiki doesn't know for sure what it is we are all in trouble. As she's said it does look more the shape of a gull but very odd colouring.
Never a dull moment when you're around, Hazy. LOL
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Ohhhhh, hang on, it occurred to me I may have got another quick grotty shot of it so checking memory card which I thought I may have already deleted .................... be right back lol
OK....Yay ! the memory-card was still in the camera and I hadn't re-formatted it yet so this may be the answer; the two pics were taken seconds apart so must be the same bird (this pic being the first bad shot) ............. what I still don't understand is how could that shadow be so very precise and I swear I didn't photoshop it LOL ? ..... it looks an entirely different bird from the 1st pic ! So here is the possible answer which makes more sense and as our expert Aiki suggested a Gull ......again I need ID !!
1st pic .........
2nd pic again .........
I've got to say, I still find this very puzzling and can't believe the two could be the same bird ...........but I guess it has to be with the frames being next to one another ?
Well that's certainly a gull although I'll pass on the ID.
The sun appears to be coming from the left so one can only assume that the wing is somehow casting a shadow across head of the bird making it look dark.
That was a puzzler Hazy. It's clearly a gull, but more than that I can't say either. :-)
Annie
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
Einstein
Well, I have to say this is the strangest shadow/light phenonomon I have ever come across (must be those large wings casting such a uniform shadow across the head) although it was fairly early in the morning when these were taken and the sky was bright, patched with cloud but a lot of blue ... and yes TJ, the sun was coming from the left ! So glad to think the mystery is finally solved; I was awake until the small hours trying to work out what it could possibly be - good job I didn't have half the birders in the country racing to Northwich for a new species of bird LOL
Now all we need is the Gull ID ......oh Aiki lol
Unknown said: the two pics were taken seconds apart so must be the same bird (this pic being the first bad shot) ............. what I still don't understand is how could that shadow be so very precise and I swear I didn't photoshop it LOL ? ..... it looks an entirely different bird from the 1st pic ! So here is the possible answer which makes more sense and as our expert Aiki suggested a Gull ......again I need ID !! 1st pic ......... 2nd pic again ......... I've got to say, I still find this very puzzling and can't believe the two could be the same bird ...........but I guess it has to be with the frames being next to one another ?
the two pics were taken seconds apart so must be the same bird (this pic being the first bad shot) ............. what I still don't understand is how could that shadow be so very precise and I swear I didn't photoshop it LOL ? ..... it looks an entirely different bird from the 1st pic ! So here is the possible answer which makes more sense and as our expert Aiki suggested a Gull ......again I need ID !!
Very interesting!
I'm not fully convinced that the two photos here do show the same bird, although both are gulls!
The first photo 'quoted' here gives the impression of a larger, more powerful bird, seeming fairly broad chested, and appearing to have a heavy bill (the later may be due to the effects of blurring though). If this photo was posted on it's own I would suggest that it was a Great Black-backed Gull.
The second pic seems to show a slimmer, lighter bird with a less heavy bill. The apparent grey hood is curious and doesn't fit any of the world's gull species - especially in combination with the pinkish/red legs. As for the ID, if it is a different bird from the first pic, I can't suggest anything more than that it is a curious effect of shadow from the wing, and if so I would tend to agree with Aiki's suggestion that it is a Herring Gull (a sub-adult).
If both photos do show the same bird, I am probably wrong about the ID of the top pic here!
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