Slightly unsatisfactory because the head of the one in front is a little out of focus — probably it was moving for a peck when I pressed the shutter. Otherwise I like this photo — the graffiti in the background sets them off quite well I think. And I like the way the one in the rear is clearly fluffing up its ruff and giving me the big ‘piss off’ message.
On a grey day spent entirely working at home it’s always helpful for the photography when one of the local herons turns up in the Hebden Water just below my house. They are not particularly willing models — this one saw me a few seconds after I got this shot and flew off — perhaps that explains why it looks a bit rueful here, its neck tucked in, shoulders hunched. That’s why I’m calling it “Humph”, I can imagine that coming out of its mouth in a speech bubble.
This was an urban animal if ever I’ve seen one, striding out wholly purposefully this lunchtime along a busy street. I know the composition of this shot could be better — getting rid of the post behind the goose would have improved it for a start — but some shots you only really get one chance to capture.
“I ain’t no jackdaw. I ain’t got no stoopid hair in my beak. Want this bread? Come and get it, asshole.”
This rook was looking quite butch in the viewfinder but he rather spoils it with the hair poking out of his beak. No, it’s not on my camera lens, or on your computer screen — it is indeed poking out of his beak.
ERRATUM: Apparently this is a jackdaw, not a rook — my mistake….
Anybody who lives anywhere near me will know that we enjoyed a perfect spring day today — the sort where all of nature comes out to frolic. Look at the glint in this robin’s eye.
It could be sharper and it ain’t gonna win any wildlife photography contests, but I’m glad this baby was fishing in the river this morning when I went shopping down in the town, because otherwise I was home all day working and there was nothing to see…. But herons are always good for a shot. Handsome creatures. That neck-spring-and-dagger-beak combination must be a fish’s worst nightmare.
Ducks are always good models, well-coloured and they don’t really mind people sticking cameras in their faces. Mind you, this one was turned the other way until it zipped round and had a dabble in its wing, for cleaning purposes. Looks like it’s sweeping a cape across its face — ‘The Shadow knows?’. Before your time? Before mine, for sure.
Last full day in Tanzania, with the very long (35 hour) journey home starting just after lunch. Breakfast was provided for more than just the human guests of the Springlands Hotel in Moshi.
Did not see a huge amount of fauna on Kili, though with so many people around this is probably attributable to animals’ shyness rather than depopulation as such. There were flocks of big white-necked ravens, with impressive beaks, however, and also quite a few of these sparrow-like birds. This one was pictured in the Karanga valley, which we dropped into just before the end of walking on day 4, here at about 3,700m (12,140 feet).
Being 42 