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Post by zou on Nov 12, 2024 21:53:29 GMT
Oh, I forgot to mention the kingfisher sighting last week on my lunch break. Had my K2 with FP4+ and a 35mm lens so only got a phone pic, but now keeping my wee Lumix superzoom in the office to improve my chances.
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Post by peterob on Nov 13, 2024 6:59:33 GMT
As a rule the HCT fly their birds without jesses attached, unless it's novice bird such as the Little Owls that they are just starting to show. The hardest part is the backgrounds in the flying arenas. I sat away from the photography 'experts' today. One asked me why I was sat there. I pointed to the totally natural backdrop compared to the the straight lines and manmade structures that made up the background to the angle he was facing.  tawny owl by Martin Bone, on Flickr  great grey ghost by Martin Bone, on Flickr Those are excellent. In my limited experience of falconry displays natural background (other than the sky) is sadly missing but straight lines and man-made structures plentiful!  BV9R0116.jpg by Pete, on Flickr |
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Post by gray1720 on Nov 13, 2024 7:18:02 GMT
I think it was Thame country Fair one year we went to where the birds of prey flying display was held inside one of the marquees because something large had made a bid for freedom and they were worried it would return and attack someone else's bird. I think it's the only time I've seen a Scops owl being flown.
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Post by peterob on Nov 13, 2024 17:28:36 GMT
Couldn't get close enough really. Jackdaws rather aware of the observation they are under  XH2S0046.jpg by Pete, on Flickr |
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Post by gray1720 on Nov 13, 2024 17:45:36 GMT
Too busy digging to get the mamba out, but was entertained by a buzzard over the allotment having crow trouble. Also popped into the nearby lake, to my annoyance the swans decided that a human meant food and headed my way,
disturbing what may well be the only three wigeon to settle there all winter. It's still warm enough that Mr Shoveller had things on his mind rhyming with "duck".
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Post by zou on Nov 13, 2024 17:53:59 GMT
Too busy digging to get the mamba out, but was entertained by a buzzard over the allotment having crow trouble. Also popped into the nearby lake, to my annoyance the swans decided that a human meant food and headed my way, disturbing what may well be the only three wigeon to settle there all winter. It's still warm enough that Mr Shoveller had things on his mind rhyming with "duck". Oh aye, luck, fingers crossed for the Shoveller's scratch card. |
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Post by gray1720 on Nov 20, 2024 16:23:07 GMT
To my absolute delight today as I parked up to go to the allotment there were 10 wigeon on the pond by the road! They used to be regular winter visitors, I remember flocks of 50+ grazing on the meadow at dawn and dusk 10-15 years ago, but they've been few and far between since, and I'm not living there to see them as often either. Very little in the lake itself, just some shoveller, and only one close enough to photograph as it rapidly buggered off. Oh, and the last item flew over while I still had the camera handy. I'm rather fond of these (by chance, had a photo of one on my wall as a kid).  Wigeon by gray1720, on Flickr  Drake shoveller by gray1720, on Flickr  Short Skyvan C-FARA by gray1720, on Flickr |
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Post by spinno on Nov 20, 2024 18:53:56 GMT
Was that last one flying south for the winter?
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Post by gray1720 on Nov 20, 2024 20:23:24 GMT
Was that last one flying south for the winter? It's registered in Canuckistan, it must be! It's actually pretty regular round here, trundling between Brize Norton and Weston-on-the Green for the RAF Falcons to jump out of. What is very funny is when it heads back to Brize and has to join on the same approach as the Globemasters and Atlases that are about 20 times it's size, so it's lining up for the descent about 20 miles further out than it needs to. |
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