www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

[quote="Denise"]Cracking photo's twitcher. You really have an eye for the birds


Thanks Denise, But there is only one bird in my life,so the wife tells me anyway

Yes, it's a good "off-season" thread with some superb photos. I might get my old "big-zoom" Box Brownie out of retirement (aka Canon S3 COMPACT) and give birds a go.

Birds have never been the No1 love and my bird i/d skills are certainly not up to my butterfly knowledge. For example, I struggle to tell the difference between a second winter plumage Yellow-legged Gull and a second winter Caspian Gull. By comparison, a flying Willow Tit is dead easy to distinguish from a flying Marsh Tit (provided they are not more than 50 metres away). An as for non-singing Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers - well they're a piece of cake

Jack

Hello Professor Jack,

I bet you can't tell the difference between a Goldcrest and a Firecrest.

Shirley

Shirley:

I bet you can't tell the difference between a Goldcrest and a Firecrest.

I can tell you a good story about that.

My wife came in to the house one day and excitedly said that she had just seen a Firecrest. "Yes, yes" I said most dissmissively. (It had to be a Goldcrest; they have in fact bred).

Next day we were at the local petrol station and at the edge in some bushes was a flock of Goldcrests. "See those" said Suzie. They are Goldcrests. My Firecrest in the garden yesterday was very similar but a had a noticeable white eye stripe."

So I had missed the best garden tick anyone could ever hope for.

Jack

Heres a photo you dont see very often.Early Swallow lateish snow, And a young Cuckoo,and the poor Meadow Pipit Foster
Shaun.

Yesterday in the Butterfly Farm on Anglesey, unfortunatly there were only about half a dozen butterflies there, this is one of them, I know its not a bird but this Dunnock is which I took the photo to-day and a couple of Blue Titmouse's.

Only half a dozen butterflies? Not so much a butterfly farm, more an allotment.
BTW, Shirley, you can say 'tits'. It's allowed.

Not if Jack Harrison is watching, he's not used to words like that and not with the web-site The Artist Web where I have my 'things' for sale, they called it an improper word. It cost me £6 to see those butterflies on Saturday.
Shirley

I much prefer some of the other names in common usage. Such as:
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Titmice, or in America, Chickadees.

And for reasons that totally elude me, a Google search for "Great Tits" offers 995,000 hits. I would never have thought that our delightful Parus major would be so popular among web surfers.

Jack

I can't compete with these fantastic bird pics - especially Shirley's tits. But here's an interesting almost bird pic. It's a view of the Dent de Favre from my new chalet:



I have always called this view 'the Eagle', because it reminds me of René Magritte's picture, 'le Domaine d'Arnheim', where a similar shape in the mountains becomes an eagle sheltering its nest:


(This picture is lifted from http://imagecache2.allposters.com/image ... fiches.jpg, where you can presumably buy the poster)

Once you've seen this mountain as an eagle spreading its wings to protect you, you can't see it any other way.

Sadly, I've only seen buzzards around the house so far:



Guy

Snap. I see Jack's back in more ways than one, what are all those line of dots.
How to you quote something someone has written like Mr. Padfield refering to my ' ***** ' indeed. Although his sunsets are very good, I like the Eagle mountain and I see the milk mans delivered the eggs.
Shirley

Should we have a different thread of Beautiful Butterflies of 2008. I feel that some people are left out if they don't like birds.

Don't forget the old navy joke: Two wrens fell into the water - four blue tits came out...

Guy

I see Jack's back in more ways than one, what are all those line of dots?

Just follow down the page.

Jack

Great Buzzard pics!
Trouble is with birds they are to camera shy.
Shaun.

Hi everyone, I've really loved looking at all the bird photo's so thought I might post a few of my own. My sister and I are off to Costa Rica in February (hopefully the anticipation will make the worst of the winter pass more quickly ).

We have been trying to practice taking "action" shots of birds, just in case the wildlife won't pose for us!! Here are a few of my efforts. The red kites were taken at Gigrin Farm, Wales in May - a birthday treat from my sister and the swans and seagulls were taken at Exeter Quay last Friday, 14th November. The swans were engaged in a beautiful ourtship dance, entwining their necks etc. it was very beautiful, I sat and watched for ages!!

Sylvia.

You know, we really have some talent on this forum.
Well done everyone for posting such excellent bird photo's.
I am in awe.

Denise

I remember seeing the Red Kites on that farm, isn't that the farm where the famer feeds the birds and there are dozens of Red Kites come in to feed.
The swan photos are really very good, you've captured them perfectly.
Shirley

In the photo forum I posted a warning about buying Sigma lenses. Unfortunately, I didn't follow my own advice. I was really missing autofocus on that 400mm, so when Sigma offered a part exchange on a 100-300 F4 with a three year warranty I couldn't resist it.
So here's another great tit using the Sigma that I was never going to buy again.
300mm F4 1/200 hand held.

Very nice photo of a Great Tit but I am a bit worried, have you got a passion for taking photos of Great Tits, I know somewhere in your box of tricks you have nice photos of ' Long Tail tits' or what it Padfield. You spend your money on what you like Eccles remember you can't take it with you That what someone told me when I was looking to buy a Subaru Lecacy and I did buy one.
Shirley
P.S That is a male GT by the way

[quote="Shirley Roulston"]I remember seeing the Red Kites on that farm, isn't that the farm where the famer feeds the birds and there are dozens of Red Kites come in to feed.

Thanks for your comments on the swans, they are magnificant birds. There are so many in the canal basin at Exeter its a real delight to see.

Yes, the farmer does throw food for the red kites, there must have been over 50 came in to feed on the day we were there, it was a wonderful sight.

Kind regards,

Sylvia.