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.
Nice photos Bob shame about the weather
Lovely shot of the Robin Bob, and good detail in the wings of the Cormorantasaurus ... . Don't think I have ever seen one in a tree. Usually on rocks or on something floating.
Always nice to see a Robin Bob
Morning all. Identification help here, please. A nice early morning challenge. I wouldn't normally bother with such a grainy photo, but I'm adding a record to TVERC's database.
Heard this bird during our morning walk, yesterday. I've never heard this particular bird call before; a nice gentle trilling noise. Conditions were dull, manky, damp (mist), more like evening than morning. Made all the worse by the bird being in amongst branches. I only had my compact digital camera, and had to guess where the bird was in its viewing frame.
The bird was small (about the size of a Great Tit or Robin), long and thin (rather than the compact stockiness of a Great Tit or Robin), and had a fine, thin beak.
The above is the best photo I managed, even though I was some 13 feet from the bird. I've brightened the photo in FastStone. I thought it might be a Green Finch, but its beak didn't seem as rugged as a finch's beak. Its beak seemed more like that of a warbler. Possibly a Chiffchaff - but the yellow flashes on the wings do not look right.
Looks Goldcrest-ish to me Angus, although smaller than you suggest