[grumpycrumpy]

Had a good day birding last weekend with an RSPB mate along the Norfolk coast. Got 71 on the sheet & even twitched an American Golden Plover, a life tick so I'm told.

Bloody hell ...... Nice one 

[jcm]

Good grief, those owl pictures are amazing. Congratulations. (The fish ones probably are too but I'm not so interested in fish.)

A couple of great crested grebes have arrived on my local lake. Nothing to shout about, of course, but it pleases me; makes a change from the usual coots and ducks.

[tregiffian]

Not very recent (1987) but Sammy`s Slab at Hella Point was named after a very interested spectator six feet offshore from the belay ledge.

[lagerstarfish]

Good grief, those owl pictures are amazing. Congratulations. (The fish ones probably are too but I'm not so interested in fish.)

I was just about to punter you and call you an idiot, but realised that you meant only that you are more interested in birds than fish and not that you have no interest in fish (that's me thinking the best of people posting on 'tinterweb).

Plus, you appreciate the arrival of great crested grebes. Always nice to see these lovely birds 

(do we have a Dead Interesting Birds Who Go Diving thread yet?)

Have a Grebe Club hug 

[grumpycrumpy]

Best place I've found for sighting Great Crested Grebes is the old docks next to Excel .......

Personally , when it comes to dead interesting birds who go diving I'm a big fan of Gannets ...... 

[SA Chris]

I get my daily dose of Goosander on my walk along the Dee on the way to work every moring,

[Brolly]

Tlr loving the underwater shots, just back from Egypt myself after a weeks diving.   We did take my other half's cybershot and underwater housing to the Galapagos a few years ago, got some ok shots (there in my flick account) but the camera wasn't up to it, the light wasn't good and the ripping currents didn't help.  The sharks where good though!!

Cheers to everyone for the nice owl comments will head up there again soon.

Did see quite a lot of wildlife in Egypt above the water.  The most impressive where the black kites and the ospreys.  The black kites seemed to fly round a land fill tip about a mile from the hotel.


Egyptian Black Kite by Brolly99, on Flickr


Black Kite in Sharm el Sheikh by Brolly99, on Flickr

There's a few more on my flickr account too. 

Cheers Ol

[match]

Had a good day birding last weekend with an RSPB mate along the Norfolk coast. Got 71 on the sheet & even twitched an American Golden Plover, a life tick so I'm told.

Bloody hell ...... Nice one 

Norfolk is bloody amazing for birding! Used to go there regularly for family hols when my Gran lived in Hunstanton. This October for my Mum's 64th we had a memory-lane-style holiday, staying at Wells YHA, and it was the shit - Pallas's Warblers, Yellow-browed Warbler, Cranes, Grey Phalarope, Pec. Sand., Lapland Bunting etc., plus all the fantastic regular stuff like Hen + Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, Twite, Snow Bunt. blah blah blah. Fantastic.

Also, there is a brilliant real ale shop just south of Wells on the Fakenham road, tons (sp?) of local brews, and the Red Lion at Stiffkey rules 

More recently - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11727552
4000 miles through Atlantic storms, and you end up in sodding Rochdale. Gutted 

[Falling Down]

Large flock of Redwings at the Roaches on Sunday. Three or four groups of 25-50 birds gathered at dusk above the spring boulders and lower tier before flocking and buggering off over the back Northwards.

[Brolly]

Had a great trip out this aft.  Saw my first long eared owls.  They where quite distant over a large frozen pond hence the large crop and loss of detail, but still great to see.


Long eared owl @ Fairburn by Brolly99, on Flickr

Below is one of the Osprey shots I got on Sunday in Egypt, bit of a funny angle and I was stood in waist deep water to get the shot (it was on a private beach and I got chucked off by security!!).


Opsrey on a ships mast (from the other side) by Brolly99, on Flickr

Theres some more on flickr too.
Cheers Ol

[Brolly]

Did another visit to Worlaby Carrs last week.  Bit of an epic over that way in the deep snow, but worth it for the viewings of short eared owls.


Short eared owl flying in the snow by Brolly99, on Flickr


Short Eared Owl in Flight by Brolly99, on Flickr

Short eared owl @ Worlaby 3rd Dec by Brolly99, on Flickr

Saw some bearded tits for the first time the other day, but no photos.

Cheers Ol

[Paul B]

That first pic is incredible!

[Bonjoy]

Flock of Waxwings in the garden on Saturday, marvelous.

[match]

Did another visit to Worlaby Carrs last week.  Bit of an epic over that way in the deep snow, but worth it for the viewings of short eared owls.

Brolly, are you a professional photographer? Your shots are truly stunning.

Fabulous SEOwls, not seen one for a while. Nice one on the Bearded Tits too, funky little things.

[SA Chris]

Owl shots are phenomenal, what lens are you using?

[john horscroft]

Bloody hell!  If you lot aren't careful, climbers will lose there reputation as the bird-murdering scourge of the RSPB... 


nice owl shots Brolly..... 

[Brolly]

Cheers all for the feedback. 

I have been working really hard on my photography (I'm not a professional by any means just enjoy it) as I've had a bust ankle since July so no climbing but I'm able to hobble around most bird/wildlife areas!

SA Chris nearly all my bird shots are with a canon 100-400L, but I probably have my macro lens on just as much (probably half my shots on flickr).

Did manage to get a couple of reasonable shots today including my first tawny owl near Harewood.

Cheers Ol

[SpanishJuan]

Bloody hell!  If you lot aren't careful, climbers will lose there reputation as the bird-murdering scourge of the RSPB... 
nice owl shots Brolly..... 

 

[SA Chris]

I've had a bust ankle since July

Not the best year then. You might have to fight Paul B or Fultonius for the Unlucky Alf award.

[SA Chris]

Did a ski tour yesterday, felt like spring. Loads of deer, artic hares, grouse and ptarmigan about, felt like spring.



Me trying to get a decent photo of ptarmigan with crap P&S camera.

[Will Hunt]

A Kea





Eating field equipment

[Muenchener]

Well now. A few weeks ago there were reports of a wolf in the Bavarian Alps. This is not normal: there *are* a handful of wolves in the wild in Bavaria, but they are in the forests on the Czech frontier, not in the Alps. But apparently one had wandered in from somewhere.

I was out for a walk in the general area, somewhere in the deep forest with nobody around, when I was startled by an animal suddenly breaking cover just ahead of me and running away at top speed. "Hey", I thought, "that's a large and rather greyish fox". A large and rather greyish fox is most probably exactly what it was, and I can't imagine a wolf would accidentally let a human being get within a few feet of it before being startled and running off. But you never know.

[SA Chris]

A Kea

And there was me thinking it was a Swedish Furniture Store.

[clm]

where did you get those invisible skis chris?
Theres a photo of an alpine chough on my flickr that i tempted with cheese. I dont know how to link to it via this crappy phone.

[Plattsy]

Never one to see very much yomping my way about especially on 'nature' trails. Came to a stop in a small opening on the Merritt's nature trail to take in the view along the side of the mountains above Thredbo, Snowy Mountains. Looked down and saw a rather thickset black spider right beside my foot. I jumped like a girl. This spider was about 5cm in diameter and had reared up its front legs in a rather aggressive posture. Wish I'd taken a photo but I was too keen to disappear. Funnel-web is my guess but I could be wrong.