As an extension to the ongoing "I saw my first kingfisher today" thread, I thought it might be interesting if people wanted to post and share any wildlife pics that they've taken. As I said on the other thread, that way instead of just talking about what birds and other wildlife we've seen, we can also show photos of them. 

 

Hope you think it's a good idea.

 

As the current topic in the "kingfisher" thread is herons, I thought I'd start with a couple of pics of them that I've taken...

 

Juvenile heron (looking very interested in a dragonfly)

 

Heron in sunset silhouette

 

Next up, a couple of pics of blackbird chicks, which I was lucky enough to get while looking out through a window at home.

 

 

 

Come on then, show us what you've got. The only condition is that the photos are ones you've taken yourself.

 

 

Reflections

 

Steve

 

Steve

Went  Leighton Moss today, bad move full of tourists after Autumn watch. Never seen it that busy. Got a new tick off my bird list. Seen a Water Rail for the very first time. Unfortunately no pictures. Another Leighton Moss first was a Otter to far away for a picture,  had a robin perched on my hand, seen  a brown hawker dragonfly, seen a peacock or red admiral butterfly couldn't make out which one. Then sat for a hour waiting for the starlings to come in to roost, they must have gone to a different part of the reserve as i only seen a small flock of maybe a few hundred birds. Very happy 

 

Steve

 

Steve

IMG_0293.JPG

 

Steve

Cutting wood in the wood today and a Robin was being nosey seeing what I was doing.

This thread always makes me say to myself "wow"! It's amazing - the skill, craft and love of nature blows me away every time.

 

Well done and thank you guys. It's an inspiration - don't stop now. 

 

On behalf of mesen and the site team.

 

Peter

Nuthatch in the woods of Amsterdam - taken earlier in the year, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nuthatch in the woods of Amsterdam - taken earlier in the year, of course.

 

Nuthatch-Bos.jpg

Nice one Russell, love nuthatches

 

Steve

Nice one Russell, love nuthatches

 

Steve

Fed one out my hand in a park in Twickenham, I think it was called Marble Hill or something, was told to take unsalted peanuts and just wait with them in my hand, I expected squirrels, but got great tits, blue tits and a nuthatch, I was well impressed as a youngster, maybe 13 years old.

Fed one out my hand in a park in Twickenham, I think it was called Marble Hill or something, was told to take unsalted peanuts and just wait with them in my hand, I expected squirrels, but got great tits, blue tits and a nuthatch, I was well impressed as a youngster, maybe 13 years old.

Nice Dave.  always impressed with your wildlife tales. Only been lucky enough to have robins feed out of my hands and that's only happened twice

 

Steve

Nice Dave.  always impressed with your wildlife tales. Only been lucky enough to have robins feed out of my hands and that's only happened twice

 

Steve

I had one sit on the fork as I was digging, but never fed a robin from my hand.  Had a chaffinch come in the car at Portmadog, for his lunch, sat on the steering wheel, very odd.

I fell nose first into briar bush today I look like I have been attacked by a hawk..ouch

I fell nose first into briar bush today I look like I have been attacked by a hawk..ouch

Ouch  ( the closest i could get to a bush)

Kev it could have been a brambling that attacked you 

 

Steve 

Edited November 5, 201410 yr by Winsford Soul

Nice one Russell, love nuthatches

 

Steve

 

 

Fed one out my hand in a park in Twickenham, I think it was called Marble Hill or something, was told to take unsalted peanuts and just wait with them in my hand, I expected squirrels, but got great tits, blue tits and a nuthatch, I was well impressed as a youngster, maybe 13 years old.

 

 

First time I ever saw a nuthatch I was sitting quietly in an elder tree watching for birds and it landed on a branch right in front of me. I was perhaps 13-14 years old then and maybe a couple of years into birdwatching. I was so excited at seeing one - and especially as it was so near to me. For me it was a really magical moment.

I fell nose first into briar bush today I look like I have been attacked by a hawk..ouch

How????

First time I ever saw a nuthatch I was sitting quietly in an elder tree watching for birds and it landed on a branch right in front of me. I was perhaps 13-14 years old then and maybe a couple of years into birdwatching. I was so excited at seeing one - and especially as it was so near to me. For me it was a really magical moment.

 

Russell. Here,s a fledgling nuthatch from last year

 

Steve

 

 

Slightly off topic but my first ever however feeble  attempt at capturing fireworks. Wrong lens, wrong location, i live in a valley so its very limited viewing

 

Steve

First time I ever saw a nuthatch I was sitting quietly in an elder tree watching for birds and it landed on a branch right in front of me. I was perhaps 13-14 years old then and maybe a couple of years into birdwatching. I was so excited at seeing one - and especially as it was so near to me. For me it was a really magical moment.

They are a real beauty of the scarcer British birds, LBJ's might be difficult to pin down and downright confusing at times, but the nuthatch is a stunner.  Watched a treecreeper going down a tree as a nuthatch was going up the same tree once, pure magic.

How????

Got snagged on a bramble and arse over tit I went

IMG_4484.JPG

 

Russell. Here,s a fledgling nuthatch from last year

 

Steve

Nicely caught!

They are a real beauty of the scarcer British birds, LBJ's might be difficult to pin down and downright confusing at times, but the nuthatch is a stunner.  Watched a treecreeper going down a tree as a nuthatch was going up the same tree once, pure magic.

I think there's a touch of the exotic about them - similar to bullfinches and kingfishers in that their colourings are very rich and distinctive, especially with the deep orangey-ruddy colourings.

Nicely caught!

Russell.  Just for you a pair of fledglings

 

 

I had posted this picture very early in this thread

 

Steve

Russell.  Just for you a pair of fledglings

 

IMG_4481.JPG

 

I had posted this picture very early in this thread

 

Steve

Love it. Don't recall seeing this one here; must have missed it.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago when my little Kapitan was still alive and running along the beach with me, today would have been his 2nd birthday.

This is the limit of the autumn colour in Southern Spain at the moment, not brilliant, taken in central Marbella.

This morning, just before dawn.

 

A golden carpet of leaves

 

 

A red under lay

 

 

Structurally stunning bark

 

Steve

 

This is as close as i have got up to now anyway to a murmuration of starlings 

 

Steve

good angel, on 05 Nov 2014 - 9:39 PM, said:

Got snagged on a bramble and arse over tit I went

   

A Sparrowhawk grabbed a collard Dove  and fell out of the sky about a yard in front of me today, I must have disturbed him he flew off an the Dove.

IMG_0292.JPG

 

This is as close as i have got up to now anyway to a murmuration of starlings 

 

Steve

I was fortunate to see murmurations when I was a kid - absolutely magical things to behold; a real marvel of Nature.

 

Great video here. Best watched in HD.

 

I was fortunate to see murmurations when I was a kid - absolutely magical things to behold; a real marvel of Nature.

 

Great video here. Best watched in HD.

 

http://youtu.be/M1Q-EbX6dso[/quote

Russell. Thanks for sharing, stunning.

Where I was brought up in Widnes is in the shadow of the Widnes/runcorn bridge and in the winter there's a estimated 1 hundred thousand starlings roost on the steel work. The murmurations are stunning.

Steve

Russell. Thanks for sharing, stunning.

Where I was brought up in Widnes is in the shadow of the Widnes/runcorn bridge and in the winter there's a estimated 1 hundred thousand starlings roost on the steel work. The murmurations are stunning.

Steve

 

Got a video camera? 

Got a video camera? 

Russell. I don't have a video camera unfortunately. I haven't lived in Widnes for 12 years now. My son still lives there with his mum . If I can be bothered putting up with the probability of a two hour drive in the rush hour I may try and get some picture's. It's a 25 minutes drive normally.

Steve

Russell. I don't have a video camera unfortunately. I haven't lived in Widnes for 12 years now. My son still lives there with his mum . If I can be bothered putting up with the probability of a two hour drive in the rush hour I may try and get some picture's. It's a 25 minutes drive normally.

Steve

That's a shame. Would be an incredible experience to witness, I'm sure.

That's a shame. Would be an incredible experience to witness, I'm sure.

I've seen murmurations over Eastbourne and Brighton, amazing sight, they settle eventually on the piers, or at least did before Eastbourne went up in flames.  And before anyone from Southend asks I have a cast iron alibi (no pun intended) I was in Spain when it went up, honest!

So has any reasonable explanation been offered as to why starlings swarm in this way? It seems to have a direct association with roosting as it often happens as a precursor to that.

So has any reasonable explanation been offered as to why starlings swarm in this way? It seems to have a direct association with roosting as it often happens as a precursor to that.

My theory is that they are just warming up prior to roosting, metal structures are bloody cold and my basic physics tell me that metal conducts heat pretty well, so by getting warm prior to roosting they are probably not going to feel the cold that quickly, and it's a very good defensive strategy to fly like that, it confuses the hell out of me let alone a predator.

So has any reasonable explanation been offered as to why starlings swarm in this way? It seems to have a direct association with roosting as it often happens as a precursor to that.

Other than that I haven't got a clue!

My theory is that they are just warming up prior to roosting, metal structures are bloody cold and my basic physics tell me that metal conducts heat pretty well, so by getting warm prior to roosting they are probably not going to feel the cold that quickly, and it's a very good defensive strategy to fly like that, it confuses the hell out of me let alone a predator.

I've also wondered as to whether there is some defensive value in these swarming displays. They give the idea of there being a single entity - and a rather enormous one at that! 

 

There's logic in what you say about it also being a pre-slumber warming up exercise for a species that isn't far enough up the evolutionary ladder to appreciate a hot water bottle. Like all birds, though, they are naturally very well insulated - and starlings happily roost in trees and other structures as well as metal ones such as piers. Also, energy is an extremely valuable commodity - it's life or death, so what value in burning up so many of the precious calories they've spent the whole day accumulating?

 

No idea if anything I'm saying here is "right" in any way - just postulating. Perhaps I'll have a look into the topic if I get the time later today as it's fascinating.

I've also wondered as to whether there is some defensive value in these swarming displays. They give the idea of there being a single entity - and a rather enormous one at that! 

 

There's logic in what you say about it also being a pre-slumber warming up exercise for a species that isn't far enough up the evolutionary ladder to appreciate a hot water bottle. Like all birds, though, they are naturally very well insulated - and starlings happily roost in trees and other structures as well as metal ones such as piers. Also, energy is an extremely valuable commodity - it's life or death, so what value in burning up so many of the precious calories they've spent the whole day accumulating?

 

No idea if anything I'm saying here is "right" in any way - just postulating. Perhaps I'll have a look into the topic if I get the time later today as it's fascinating.

Hence I started with "My theory", just postulating, and smiling at those two words which conjure up a piece of Monty Python lunacy.  What do I know? I ain't got fevvers!

Edited November 11, 201410 yr by TattooDave

Hence I started with "My theory", just postulating, and smiling at those two words which conjure up a piece of Monty Python lunacy.  What do I know? I ain't got fevers!

I think we could all do with a bit more "postulating", especially in some of the "discussions" that take place on Soul Source. 

A little scratching at the surface of starling murmurations reveals this interesting article. It's a lay perspective of a study conducted by theoretical physicists at the University of Rome.

 

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-incredible-science-behind-starling-murmurations

 

Anyone with an interest and understanding of higher mathematics can read the full paper here:

 

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/26/11865.full

 

While the article and source paper provide an explanation as to why, relative to the laws of physics, murmurations work, little scope is given to why they take place at all beyond it being a defensive phenomenon. I'd put money on there being some sort of social value beyond the defensive, but couldn't say what or why.

_MG_3834.JPG

 

Love the simplicity of this picture, which wasn't staged it was actually lying on the path

 

Steve 

 

 

Got a new DSLR a few years ago and took this while trying set up's.....

 

Got a new DSLR a few years ago and took this while trying set up's.....

 

G

Gaz. Welcome to our thread mate. get yourself down to the ship canal and get us some starling pctures

 

Ste

A little scratching at the surface of starling murmurations reveals this interesting article. It's a lay perspective of a study conducted by theoretical physicists at the University of Rome.

 

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-incredible-science-behind-starling-murmurations

 

Anyone with an interest and understanding of higher mathematics can read the full paper here:

 

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/26/11865.full

 

While the article and source paper provide an explanation as to why, relative to the laws of physics, murmurations work, little scope is given to why they take place at all beyond it being a defensive phenomenon. I'd put money on there being some sort of social value beyond the defensive, but couldn't say what or why.

Russell. there must be enough bird brains on here to come up with a answer     

 

Steve

Russell. there must be enough bird brains on here to come up with a answer     

 

Steve

On the subject of being bird-brained...

 

Just got in from my local supermarket ( where middleton nighters used to be ) after buying my Canon plus photography magazine and to my utter astonishment whilst walking back to my car i watched a Raven being mobbed by a herring gull. 

 

Steve

Edited November 11, 201410 yr by Winsford Soul

Male shoveller ( taken from a long way) still showing signs of summer plumage.

Taken at Burton mere RSPB reserve today also seen two common hawker dragonflies

Steve

Edited November 12, 201410 yr by Winsford Soul

Moving a log pile today a little cock Robin was in and out of the pile and sitting on my handle of my wheelbarrow and then he followed me in the garage,I love things like that.

Saw a Sardinian Warbler, Crossbill, Redstart, White Wagtail, Stonechat, Chiffchaff and Hoopoe yesterday, sadly all out of range of my little camera, but I'm still hopeful of getting some of them soon.

This afternoon with a borrowed camera as I forgot mine.  Pretty birds, sadly the dog scared them off before I could get too near.