The tail end of winter had a bit of a sting in this part of the UK so I thought I'd make a trip to Caerlaverock to see if any geese or swans were willing to have their photo taken. Geese there were none, but this Hooper Swan was one of many making use of the free buffet provided by the reserve staff every day.
I do love the way these birds appear brilliant white - until you photograph them against snow!
More great birds at Wild Bird Wednesday
Memories of a summer holiday on the far side of the world. It was cold, very windy and threatening to rain, so in traditional British holiday-maker fashion we set off with Stewart to go for a walk on the beach. Would have missed this chappie if Stewart had not pointed him out to me, trying to disguise itself as a silver gull.
Shortly after this the weather turned from merely bad to positively atrocious, but somehow it didn’t seem to matter. Even cowering in my cagoule to avoid getting my sandwiches soaked seemed like a worthy adventure. So…when can we do Antarctica?
if you enjoy pictures of birds – there are plenty more at Wild Bird Wednesday – why not join in the fun. You wont even have to get cold and wet.
The common cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason you will see, no doubt,
It is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.
All of which is complete nonsense of course – including the confusion of cormorant and shag!
If you enjoyed this photo there are plenty more great bird shots at Wild Bird Wednesday
Birds of prey induce strange reactions in some people. Take the barn owl – the one below was taken a while back and has featured in this blog before – almost everyone I know thinks they’re wonderful. See a barn owl and it says that everything’s all right with the environment around you. And they eat those horrid ratty things that, furry or not, most people don’t like – so that’s OK then.
On the other hand – this guy – a rather neat sparrowhawk which has also featured before – eats those lovely little blue tits that eat my peanuts. That’s not alright in some peoples eye’s.
Doesn’t seem to matter that by putting out the peanuts we’re really establishing a sparrowhawk feeding station. Nor that our pet moggy probably kills and eats more of our favourites than the sparrowhawk will ever manage. Nor even that without birds of prey we’d be neck deep in blue tits in no time.
Many people still seem to like their environment nice, neat and clean – full of their favourites and empty of their pet hates. But, of course, it isn’t that way. Sparrowhawks are only successful if their food chain is successful. Just like the owls. It’s a privilege to have these birds in and around our gardens - and seeing either one of them take their prey makes my heart glad. Glad that my bit of the environment at least is healthy and operating pretty much as it should.
If you enjoyed these photos there are plenty more great bird shots at Wild Bird Wednesday
Thought I’d dedicate a post to one of the more unsung heroes of the off-beat and wacky world that is Australian wildlife – the quokka. They are found on a couple of off-shore islands in the south west of Oz and apparently a small mainland colony, and they look like this:
They’re about the size of a large moggy, and a passing Dutch sailor thought they looked like rats – not sure how he found his way home again with eyesight that poor – so he named the island Rottnest and seems to have left them to it. In reality, they’re nothing like rats – their front legs are considerably smaller than their back legs, which they use to womble about like miniature kangaroos – and apart from very sharp teeth they don’t appear to have any of good old ratty’s more unsociable habits.
They are now – of course a major tourist attraction and the primary reason we were having a day on the island as part of our latest holiday.. They’re helped in this regard by their apparent lack of concern for the size of people – they seem inquisitive to the point of being positively suicidal – which does make them even more endearing.
It also means that with a little patience you can get down on their level at which point they become really cute. I could have photographed them all day – as it was I came away with around 50 shots of the little guys. Here are a few more of my favourites
And finally just for good measure one with little Joey’s head sticking out rather than his tail.
OK - that's the lot. I find myself more and more frequently taking pointless photos simply to fulfil a self-imposed desire to take a photo every day.
I started the process over two years ago as a way to force me to think about photography more, and to improve my camera handling skills.
In the intervening time it's helped me develop my interest in black and white and look for photographs in the most unlikely places, but more and more often I find I'm simply taking photos of nothing - which serves no useful purpose so I'm going to stop.
So thanks to everyone who has followed this blog, and for your interest in what I've been doing. Not sure what I'll be doing with this blog next, but I suspect I'll be taking a break for a few days.
Couldn't resist this red white and blue arrangement. Wasn't really at it's best for the Jubilee (even if I'd been here) so have had to make a belated contribution.
