General Nature Photos

[diawl bach]

A few more foxy images from today.
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Andy.

Re the wounded fox, is that illegal snaring or is the snaring of deer permitted?

 

[Hardrar]

Lovely. I don't see many bullfinches outside the blossom season but while I was sitting next to the window last week one hit the glass, recovered and flew away.

We hardly have any green finches now, they are apparently susceptible to Mycoplasma, carried by reared Pheasants. If I feed sunflower hearts can get a big flock of Goldies, but the Pheasants come in after them too and have had over 50 of the pesky things eating all my plants and scratching up the lawn!

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

That Toadflax stands out well with the background Col. '

I like to look out for those shots, Andy. All you need is the light falling on your subject and a reasonably dark background behind it. An overall metering would result in the subject being overexposed. However, by spot-metering on the subject, it correctly exposes the subject and throws the whole background into darkness. A lot easier than it looks.

Same idea...

Most extreme shot I've had recently... this took -4 EV to get it correctly exposed, as the sun was streaming in low, and anything above -4 EV was blowing-out the subject...




Col

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

We hardly have any green finches now, they are apparently susceptible to Mycoplasma, carried by reared Pheasants. If I feed sunflower hearts can get a big flock of Goldies, but the Pheasants come in after them too and have had over 50 of the pesky things eating all my plants and scratching up the lawn!

Loads of pheasants around just now, because the shooters put their birds down in the autumn and then tightening of covid restrictions has meant they have not been able to get out shooting them!

 

[boorod]

Re the wounded fox, is that illegal snaring or is the snaring of deer permitted?

Illegal snaring, usually set for Roe Deer, though cant say for sure that it was a snare that the fox got caught up in, but have had many replies back saying it looks like a snare wound.
just think someone running their dog (Lab) size through the rough ground and it getting caught up in one, nasty and a healthy vets bill

 

[Hardrar]

Loads of pheasants around just now, because the shooters put their birds down in the autumn and then tightening of covid restrictions has meant they have not been able to get out shooting them!

As shooting is finished now, the local shoots’ keepers will “have to”? Cull as many Cock pheasants as possible with a rifle. We have four of the biggest shoots in the U.K. on our doorstep, local one that I live in the middle of, shoots 6 days a week (2 syndicates shot seperately) about 300,000 pheasant and Partridge are bred on site and released.
It’s huge business, about £37/ bird shot fees now and at least they do process all the birds for burgers mince etc now!
Estate a few miles over, release Close to 7 figures of birds released shot 6 days with 3000 birds shot a day very common.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

As shooting is finished now, the local shoots’ keepers will “have to”? Cull as many Cock pheasants as possible with a rifle. We have four of the biggest shoots in the U.K. on our doorstep, local one that I live in the middle of, shoots 6 days a week (2 syndicates shot seperately) about 300,000 pheasant and Partridge are bred on site and released.
It’s huge business, about £37/ bird shot fees now and at least they do process all the birds for burgers mince etc now!
Estate a few miles over, release Close to 7 figures of birds released shot 6 days with 3000 birds shot a day very common.

Ha-ha - how the other half lives. The guys I go out with (they shoot the pheasants - I shoot them... with the camera) put out 300 birds in October, and that is to see them through the whole season until end of January. However, travel and other covid restrictions mean they have not been out since early December and have abandoned the season. I'm guessing their birds will just be left to their own devices now.

 

[Hardrar]

Ha-ha - how the other half lives. The guys I go out with (they shoot the pheasants - I shoot them... with the camera) put out 300 birds in October, and that is to see them through the whole season until end of January. However, travel and other covid restrictions mean they have not been out since early December and have abandoned the season. I'm guessing their birds will just be left to their own devices now.

That’s how it should be! Family and friends shoots.
They’re not keepers now really. Neighbourhood is full of Wood pigeons Moles, stoats, rats and Grey Squirrels, they don’t know how to control them. They wouldn’t know a Putang from a Duffus, never mind Talplex.
I used to do a lot of pest control with traps nets and ferrets, father in law used to run about 20-30 ferrets when he was alive, I used to have half a dozen. Still have the rat catchers dog though, semi retired now, she could do a thousand rats a month, in her prime and moles too!
It’s like a war zone here when the drives are nearby my patch- all the clued up Pheasywigs pile onto our land, where they know they’re safe, soon as dusk comes, back into the Pine trees at the beck side.

 

[diawl bach]

We hardly have any green finches now, they are apparently susceptible to Mycoplasma, carried by reared Pheasants. If I feed sunflower hearts can get a big flock of Goldies, but the Pheasants come in after them too and have had over 50 of the pesky things eating all my plants and scratching up the lawn!

There's a small shoot further up the valley from us, we get the occasional survivor in the garden, the cock pheasants look absolutely stunning when the sun catches them with a heavy frosted background. Hadn't realised they're vectors for disease.

 

[Hardrar]

There's a small shoot further up the valley from us, we get the occasional survivor in the garden, the cock pheasants look absolutely stunning when the sun catches them with a heavy frosted background. Hadn't realised they're vectors for disease.

It’s mainly the mass reared farmed ones, they are fed up on a high anti microbial diet(medicated with antibiotics feed) they carry mycoplasma which is deadly to some species, dogs suffer with it too.
We get some of the big older educated birds in the garden with the twin tails. They usually don’t get into their third season to develop this and are magnificent to see, I’ll try and get a picture as they are much larger than the reared ones.

 

[BRUCE1]

As shooting is finished now, the local shoots’ keepers will “have to”? Cull as many Cock pheasants as possible with a rifle. We have four of the biggest shoots in the U.K. on our doorstep, local one that I live in the middle of, shoots 6 days a week (2 syndicates shot seperately) about 300,000 pheasant and Partridge are bred on site and released.
It’s huge business, about £37/ bird shot fees now and at least they do process all the birds for burgers mince etc now!
Estate a few miles over, release Close to 7 figures of birds released shot 6 days with 3000 birds shot a day very common.

Pheasant shooting doesn't finish until 1st February which is usually an all Cocks day ...

 

[BRUCE1]

Male Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

 

[Hardrar]

Pheasant shooting doesn't finish until 1st February which is usually an all Cocks day ...

I know, but driven bird is now banned due to National lockdown.
Our local “keepers” shoot cocks throughout February , with the beaters still driving them, no guests just keepers.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

A bit of bokeh...

 

[aenoon]

Pheasant shooting doesn't finish until 1st February which is usually an all Cocks day ...

Aye thats the end of season right enough.
But covid has it banned at moment, till--------1st February!
Will be one heck of a cocks day!
Bert.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

The guys I go out with on their wee rough shoot - no such thing as "cocks only". Last day is "The Sweep".... as in sweep-up any left-overs still out there. They are all paid-for stockies anyway.

 

[ps3737]

First session out birding with a new camera targeting the swallows swooping around the local estuary. The AF worked a treat and got some in-focus shots as the little blighters zoomed past just above the sand. Got get in closer next time.



Taken at 1/1000 @ f4, ISO 200, lens zoomed out to 420mm with C-AF tracking at 15 fps with a 5x5 AF grid.

Next want a to get high jumping fish to blast away at with the 60 frames per second option!

 

[ps3737]

Mopping up the last of the Rowan berries- grand fella!
Olympus Pen F 150mm

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Nice autumnal colours. Which "150mm" lens did you use?

 

[ps3737]

Flying Red.
View attachment 30004
Andy.

Wow - excellent anticipation - are you pre-focused or using AF tracking for the squirrel-in-flight?