I wonder if someone could id a few pictures for me, we saw these on a walk on Sunday but I'm really not good with fish, unless it's well seasoned and stuffed with herbs, although not sure I would want to eat this one!
Another shot, it was what I like to call "Masseeef" skimming the surface of the water with a mouth that would put my Dyson to shame!
and another...
Then from one extreme to another, we spotted this bird one of two which were flitting from the trees to open grassland and back again over and over. Sorry the pictures are a bit grainy as it was a far off shot but can't quite make out what the birds were. I did try to enlarge them but this only made the image worse if that can be possible.
One more just as bad
Many thanks
Kerry
Regards
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Thank you all very much for your replies and again to Buzzard for the lesson on Carp - he's was quite a nice bluey grey colour albeit a very ugly fella, I wonder how old he is.
Yippee on the Whitethroat, my pen has most definitely made a tick!
Thanks again :-)
Just checked with my other half and this fish is definitely not a carp - try googling catfish - pretty sure that's what this is. You're right about the whitethroat though.
What is this world if full of care we have no time to stand and stare ...
cuckooo said: Just checked with my other half and this fish is definitely not a carp - try googling catfish - pretty sure that's what this is. You're right about the whitethroat though.
I'm not sure about that. Doesn't wels catfish (the species you get in the UK) has a much smaller and pointier dorsal fin than this beast? Also compare the mouth shape and width, dorsal fin position and barbel length to this catfish in similar pose to Kezmo's third photo http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ckBlasgNSzg/Sm5P2EmBwgI/AAAAAAAANto/-eVW19MnO74/s400/Wels+Catfish.jpg
I'm no fish expert, but I'm unconvinced this is not a leather carp (or mirror carp if it does indeed have that form's big shiny scales as Buzzard says, but I can't see any!).
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
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cuckooo said:Just checked with my other half and this fish is definitely not a carp
Hi Cuckoo, I'm afraid your other half is incorrect. It is DEFINATELY a Carp.
I've caught hundreds, so I think my ID was correct. A Mirror Carp is what it is.
Get him to google Catfish Dorsal Fin and also Catfish Barbels.
This fish in the photo's has two tiny barbels and its dorsel fin is far to big, a wels catfish has a tiny fin and would have six barbels. They would be clearly visible on a fish this size.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Unknown said:I wonder how old he is.
Hi Kezmo, looking at the size of the mouth and it's girth. I would certainly put this fish in the 20+ lb region.
Depending on the natural food source, a fish this size would have grown at roughly a lb to 2 lb a year if there was adequate food?
So I would estimate that its between 20 - 25 years.
Hi cuckoo, thank you so much for replying but I'm quite happy to go with Carp. I did do a google search and the photos I found showed (I'm so sorry for my ignorance about fish) that Catfish have more of those dangly things around their mouths (I'm assuming these are the barbels?). I checked quite a few websites and they were all the same whereas the "beast" I saw only had two one on either side of the mouth.
:-)
Thanks Buzzard for replying, I know you are busy, what a great age he is, well in my opinion he certainly deserves to be congratulated for living so long :-)
I have slapped Hubby :o)