What have you seen
Comments
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Maybe it knows that the winter will soon be here!
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Gosh ours, as far as we know, has been slumbering away since late November. Ours go under the shed or under the logs in the wild but at the end of the garden. Friends a few doors up the road were excited both their hedgehog houses where being used for hibernating but they moved out before Christmas leaving cosy nests 😢. We were all wondering if they knew something we didn't! 3 mornings of -6c in town over the last weekend, no visible frost this morning 2c.
Out of interest we live in town and have had several heavy frosts, including Christmas day, were at son & DIL2B on the outskirts of the Fens at the weekend Saturday was the first heavy frost this winter!
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A couple of weeks ago we had a hedgehog wandering about the garden during the daytime and came on 5 consecutive days. Unfortunately he/she looked quite small, although very active, so I doubt he will make the winter through. Saw that he liked dried meal worms that were on the floor for the birds. Hoped they helped him / her get a bit fatter.
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There are many stunning photos on this thread, (from Bluemalaga and Greylag to mention just a couple of recent photosets).
Would anyone like to give any tips to any photographers aspiring to get such fabulous bird photos? (Kit used and camera settings etc).
My current kit is a Canon EOS 600D with a Canon EF zoom lens 75 - 300mm 1 : 4 - 5.6 (apart from my standard 50mm zoom lens and an EPS 10 - 18mm wide angle lens). Is this any good?
Is there much post camera work involved? I use Photoshop 15.
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Hi John
Thanks for your kind words, I have responded to your question on the photography thread, hope you find it useful. The more time you can spend will definately see an improvement, kit will depend firstly on what you have and how much time any money you choose to spend in the future, but beware it can be a very expensive journey.
Be realistic on what you expect, look for locations that give you a chance to see birds as close as possible.
I suggest that you give it a go with your present kit and decide later what you want based on the what you decide suits you.
happy to have that discussion when you choose to change kit. As a user of Canon and Nikon I can offer an unbiased opinion should you require it later.
it can be very dissapointing for quite a while so do not get dispondent,
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Ive left food out for the last two nights and each morning the bowl is clean. The hedgehog did look on the small side, so I'm hoping the food will help but think it may be too late to get it fattened up. I also moved some dried leaves nearer to the box where he/she was collecting them and they've gone overnight. Hopefully now being used as a snuggly duvet. We live in a rural village and haven't had any frosts yet so maybe that's why he/she is still active.
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If you see hedgehogs out and about now especially if they're small gather them up and keep them warm. Contact local hedgehog rescue. They need to be a minimum 500g to hibernate. Last year we did and it was returned to us in the spring 😃.
Mealworms can be harmful as they can leech calcium . Dry none fish cat/kitten food is great with lots of water. Tinned dog or cat food good too but avoid fish.
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Oh what a gloomy start to the day, bit of lunchtime sun and a short walk up the river resulted in this stunning Little Egret...this bird is so tame, came within 8 feet of me. Wish I could say same of owl.
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A glimpse of a Blackcap tucking into an apple the other day, this morning the birds and other creatures will be struggling. We could see fox footprints in the snow.
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You got that owl spot on, GreyLag
!!Clicking on to bring it up to 3/4 screen size on my desk top
shows both wing tips ever so slightly O O F, BUT the EYE HIGHLIGHT is as crisp as a Walkers !! Superb mate -- thats a brill display of depth of field use at its best. Keep that standard up & you'll show all the rest of us up !!
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Glad you liked it...I do too!
Wish I could take credit for knowing about camera settings...the light dictates what I have it set to, then I just click and hope. I hadn't noticed the catchlight in the eye until you mentioned it.
The owl is very unreliable as to which side of the river it hunts and at what time...again luck plays a big part.
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After being absent for several months, a fox turned up this morning to sun itself in the garden. As it lay in the same place as previous visitation, I am assuming it is the same fox returning. Perhaps it chose that spot because it was the only place without snow.
For the sake of a previous discussion with John20M from the previous page, I have cropped the same photo in a few different ways to demonstrate what I was trying to suggest.
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Looks like the fox is in good condition BM, I sometimes see one of our local foxes coming out of nearby coverts but in our garden they are nocturnal visitors. When we had chickens they could certainly make a rapid day time appearance.
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Yesterday out walking along the river teme in Ludlow a mother otter and her two young kits playing on the weir at ludford bridge been waiting to see her for ages then she pops up just like that and no camera .such a wonderful site to See nature making such a big come back
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Mr Fox looks so relaxed. It's good to see him in the context of the garden but the tightly cropped ones show him as THE subject but, without the contextual photo he could have been photographed in a cage in a zoo. Cropped and un-cropped both have their merits. Following your advice I've copied and cropped some of my shots to compare the impact of them. It can make a big difference. Thanks for the tip.
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Hi OP &JM20
I think I would have gone with the close crop if the eye was sharper instead of the tip of the snout. It does show in full resolution as the shot was taken at full aperture giving short depth of field.
The fox is very relaxed in the garden, he does not bother if I walk about but will not allow me to get closer than about 10 yds before he moves on.
John M20, I have added an alternative crop from same pic that I did not think of when posting original. This might be the type of crop to choose if you were thinking of submitting to a magazine as a cover pic or a calendar perhaps, allowing space for Text and Title.
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While on my usual lunch time walk on Salford Quays today i noticed a red-breasted merganser in the water.
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Seeing wildlife unexpectedly is great - makes a memorable day.
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Went for a walk around Preston Park today, spotted nothing special of interest in either of the nature reserves, but as we were heading back onto the park there were 4 Waxwings feeding on apples on a tree. Only had my phone with me, and the light was very poor but did get a few photos of them. Can't get one to download onto here though.
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Always a joy to see waxwings Nell.
Wren came to visit the garden again today.
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They too are great little birds, however they seldom stop long enough for me to get a photo of them.
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After a nice reunion lunch with my ex workmates, I took a detour on the way home having heard about four short eared owls being reported at Aust Warth the previous day.
Sadly there was no sign of the owls where they are usually found, but the sunset was well worth the wait
Lovely pic of the Wren OP
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What have I seen?-Roe Deer with no road sense👍🏻😊.
I’d seen them(7) running for the road, lead, one just behind then a further 5 still in the field. I stopped, the lead Deer continued across, the one behind turned back. Within seconds of my continuing on they all shot across the road. . .Safely. This area is fantastic for ever growing herds of Roes👏🏻👏🏻
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, no need to tell us that, Just accept the Gold Stars and smirk 
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