Hey Laurence: I'll see your squirrel and raise you a goat!

[Crackle]

that's a really good shot... you've got three deer, all very different (is it a male, female and young?). it also shows how well their coats enable them to blend in, if they were lying down they would be very hard to spot. nice natural habitat shot, sir.

I think they're two females and one young. The males tend to get all chummy this time of year and run around together.

My technique is well out, I suspect you'd have done better with the raw material as you'll see in a mo when I post a couple of others.

 

[Speicher]

[quote=laurence;218593]if it's going for the bottom part of the window i'd guess it's territorial and he's seeing his reflection against the dark of the plant pots. it could be going for the plants, but unlikely, unless they are trees! you could try putting patterned paper or something on the pots to break up the reflection. white paper might do it too. (end of quote by Laurence)

Two of the pots are dark green, the other three are white. I would rather not move the pots as the plants (Schlumbergers) seem to love it there are flower two or three times a year. Is he? being territorial because of the time of year, or will he always do this?

 

[laurence]

speicher... look through the window from outside (if you can) and see if the green pots are causing a dark enough background to create a good reflection (white won't be as good a 'mirror' background). it could be that that's making him get aggressive. if so, put white paper over the front of the pots and see if that stops him.

he will be territorial all the time, just more so now. do you know what type of bird it is? robins are really territorial all year. others are less so once the breeding season is done.

Crackle, i look forward to seeing more, the deer one is great.

 

[Crackle]

Ok. Another Deer. Nice pose I thought but the exposure is in-between silhouette and correct, so missed a trick there.

 

[Crackle]

Now this is a goat! He's such a dark face though you can't make him out. Needed a closer shot or a sunnier angle but after I'd done a merry dance around the shore with him, I gave up.

 

[Speicher]

speicher... look through the window from outside (if you can) and see if the green pots are causing a dark enough background to create a good reflection (white won't be as good a 'mirror' background). it could be that that's making him get aggressive. if so, put white paper over the front of the pots and see if that stops him.

he will be territorial all the time, just more so now. do you know what type of bird it is? robins are really territorial all year. others are less so once the breeding season is done.

Crackle, i look forward to seeing more, the deer one is great.

Thank you, I will try that. He is very small, but moves very fast, so not easy to identify (bearing in mind the very little I know about birds). He looks sort of blue with a lighter colour on his chest. Very round body, short tail.

 

[laurence]

that's lovely.

tricky one to expose, what with the water. over expose and the water will be glaring and the grass washed out. the trouble with wildlife is you get one chance at the shot (normally). if you'd stopped to check settings you would have missed that shot. you could always try processing it to change the balance. must admit, i don't do that as i can't be bothered! i've converted a few to B&W and adjusted the exposure then, but that's about it.

 

[laurence]

Thank you, I will try that. He is very small, but moves very fast, so not easy to identify (bearing in mind the very little I know about birds). He looks sort of blue with a lighter colour on his chest. Very round body, short tail.

sounds like a blue tit. i haven't seen them fighting, but the great tits have been lately. blue tits also feed off plants, so he might be a bit daft and think he can get to the pots, but it's usually tree buds and seeds.

maybe put up a small sign saying "beware glass"

 

[laurence]

Now this is a goat! He's such a dark face though you can't make him out. Needed a closer shot or a sunnier angle but after I'd done a merry dance around the shore with him, I gave up.

that's another great one. i like the dark face. you are good at getting them to pose with the plain background.

 

[Crackle]

Ah! I have to admit to having already roughed up the exposure on these. I always sort the levels even if I don't do anything else.

Is this one a Rook?

 

[laurence]

looks like a hooded crow! i've only ever seen one in Sweden as they don't come far south. can you send them down this way, i'd love to get a snap of one.

 

[Crackle]

I also had a one legged Heron but he was too far away and an oven of Oystercatchers badly exposed and out of focus. I need to check how I've got the camera set up.

I also need a longer lens.

I reckon your dinosaur has it though

Considering the raw material on my doorstep I should do better.

 

[Crackle]

looks like a hooded crow! i've only ever seen one in Sweden as they don't come far south. can you send them down this way, i'd love to get a snap of one.

Really! I'll try flapping my arms at them next time.

 

[laurence]

is oven the collective noun? how cool! i know it's a Bazaar of Guillemots.

Oystercatchers, i tried to sneak up on them in North Berwick and only got fuzzy shots with a 300mm.

one thing i did with my camera was to set the meter zone for central, not full screen. i found that when snapping birds there was a chance of lots of water/sky in the shot and it tended to make it underexposed. of course, now i get over exposed shots - hey ho. the big lens is a real pig to focus as it's a narrow aperture.

the really big lenses are ok, but i'd get worried having one as tall as me, as some seem to be. the 500mm mirror is still fairly compact. i figure i'm taking the shots for me and i don't care if i can't get the eyelashes on a robin from 10 miles away. i'd rather go out and enjoy the wildlife and take some snaps for memories and pleasure. i've seen shots taken through scopes - you'd have been hard pushed to actually see the bird in real life, yet they had a close-up. nice, but you can hardly go for a nice walk and carry your camera in your hand - you'd need a 4x4 to lug the gear!

anyway... ramble over.

great shots. you have captured the fauna and flora. it's nice to see where these animals live as well as their eye colour.

 

[laurence]

my rspb book says hooded crow. natives of ireland and north west scotland. some wintering on the east coat of the UK. "frequently visits the seashore".