Kicking off this year's odds and sods with Starlings in a rainbow on that extreme rarity: sunshine.
It was early morning, with the sun barely cresting the tree line. We were able to get out for our morning walk as it wasn't raining. This photo is my trusty Canon 80D and Sigma 18-300mm lens zoomed in at 300mm.
Pulling back a bit.
And finally all the way back.
Oh, 2024 got off to a good start with this.
So far my cat, perhaps two neighbouring cats visiting our garden, a local fox and Tawny owl, and this trap have accounted for at least five of the beasties. Sightings of rats in our garden are getting rarer, so I think I'm winning. Two rather timid and wary rats, that I know of, are proving more elusive to catch. I've resorted to buying a lethal trap. The trap was triggered, yesterday, but no rat, sadly. Though a mouse might have triggered it, and was small enough to be within the kill bar.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.
Thank you, Mike, it was a really enjoyable day
Kevin Brooke said:Thank you, Mike, it was a really enjoyable day
You're welcome.
It's been too long since I was last on the Malverns (it was when I had a motorbike, that was circa 1980± 12-18 months) and sadly, getting up there is no longer a reality, but always good to see others photos.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Well captured Angus. It shows how knowing the habits of your subject helped to catch the shots you want ...
Kestrel on a telegraph pole and a grey heron having a moment of reflection yesterday.
Lovely photos
Nice photo's Bob, great reflection.
Both crackin' shots Bob. The Heron reflection is wonderful ...
Thanks BD
Thank you all for your lovely comments.
I've mentioned how astonished I was as to how tame various wild fowl were along this stretch of the Thames. This next sequence will blow your socks off.
Bouncing all the way back to the very end of our walk, as we retrace our route across foot bridges over the weir, we came across the 'resident' Egyptian geese.
The base of the bridge is roughly 1 metre (just over a yard) above the weir. I am leaning, slightly, over a 1m high guard rail to take these photos. I am almost completely above the bird, with camera about 2.3m (about 8') away from it. Lens is at 63mm.
How tame is this? The goose stood there, calmly letting me take its photo. We were there for a couple of minutes, before deciding to leave the creature alone, and walked on over it!!!
This photo is uncropped.
Now with lens out at 95mm. Again, an uncropped photo.
Detail was quite splendid, even with the cloudy conditions, and the sun setting.
Cropping out a bit.
This pair were feeding calmly. Well, all the geese were feeding, on and off. Lens is at 160mm, which gives you an idea how close they were. Uncropped photo.
Now with lens at 300mm. The birds did keep their beady little eyes on me.
They could hold their breaths for a long time.
And breathe...
Back in water, guzzle, guzzle, burble...
Remember I said that my 80D takes really interesting photos of water. Cropping out a section of water. The water has a slightly metallic look to it.
Settling down for a calm evening and beddy byes.
Lovely photo's Angus.