Its Not Just Black and White

We have had some quite awful dull overcast weather during recent days and not conducive to nature photography. So its that time that one should practice some black and white shooting.

Scenes that look pretty ordinary under normal circumstances can improve if taken in black and white.

Fieldfare Plus

A few of the flock of 50+ Fieldfare that I observed last week.

These were enjoying the Haw berries of which are very plentiful this year.

Its a splendid bird and great for photographs (if you can get close enough) and has a variety of colours in its plumage.

The Fieldfare is one of our regular Winter visitors to UK arriving from Northern Scandinavia in September at the very earliest and departing by April. A member of the Thrush family its gregarious in nature and flocks up to 100 in number. It does mix with the Redwing (a similar bird from the same family), I did see one Redwing amongst this party, but there could have been more.

Robin

Quite a switch from the last entry about the Great Grey Shrike to one of our common species.

Everyones favourite the Robin, is beginning to show out in the open now and has lost its scruffy summer brood rearing appearance. 

Great Grey Shrike

Another milestone has been reached in my Birding Pursuits.

This is the first Great Grey Shrike I have seen and I was able to get some shots of it as well.

There have been two separate birds reported in the local area over the last couple of weeks and quite a number of images taken. So I decided to have a look for it at the location reported. On arrival there were two local Birding Colleagues MW and JHPS already in attendance so I didn't have to look for it myself.{:)) It was first observed on telegraph wires quite some distance away, I was afforded some great views through MW's scope (Thanks Mike). I was surprised at how big it was compared to a number of Goldfinchs on the same wires. It eventually came much closer firstly on wires then on a small disused farm building and even tall bushes. It was quite wary and maintained a healthy distance.

Lonely Cow

Lumix GH3. 35-100mm f2.8 lens. 35mm(70). 1/1600 at f8. ISO125

Another Angry Mute

I'll be back, I'm just seeing someone off.

The aggressive pose this male Mute Swan is showing as he powers towards an unwanted visitor Mute that he believes is encroaching upon his area. A few images I shot in the local parkland where this behaviour is fairly constant amongst the Mute Swan population

Lumix GH3. 35-100mm 2.8 lens. 100mm(=200mm). 1/100 at f8. ISO400

Strange Sky and Dabbling Ducks

My recent walk around the local Parkland revealed some interesting sky views and the other main attraction was the dabbling ducks including Wigeon and Gadwall.

The Wigeon is a particularly colourful species of duck and like the Gadwall below, are not easy to get near to as they tend to keep their distance or take flight if you are too close.

The Gadwall although not so colourful, has subtle markings if examined closely.

The high flying immature Mute Swans put on a bit of a display over one of the lakes probably as a result of being driven off the water by an pair of angry adult Mute Swans.