Beverley Lass

Hi all birdlovers, I'm sorry I haven't photographic evidence of my own .. But today I saw 5 or 6 birds at the bottom of my garden. They were in the bare branches of my whitebeam tree. I had a good look at them through my handy binoculars and they seemed different to Yellowhammers. The males had a strong black stripe through the eye region. The rest of their cheeks/head was a vivid yellow. Their bodies much like a 'striking' sparrow. Looking in my bird book, they seem just like this .. the Cirl Bunting ! But they are rare indeed (c. 200 pairs?) and confined to the very south coast I believe ? I've e-mailed the RSPB, and I'll wait and see if they pass comment. Beauties anyway. Hope they return ! BL. x

A lovely day here. 9º C at midday. c. 15mph breeze 995 mb pressure (rising) Lots of blue sky and surprising to me .. warmth in that sunshine. BL.

Congrats to all the Finalists and of course most especially to Louby & Slinky Lovely pics. BL x

Yes, I started a thread in 'Outdoor Life' back in mid December about my Collared Doves nesting in a conifer tree. Saw her yesterday still adding sticks, lol. As for Spring-like birdsong, I reckon it's the Robins and Grt Tits here that are most obvious in the last couple of weeks. Lovely it is too. No frog spawn as yet, but I've seen some frogs about on the odd warmer, wet day. Cheers, BL x

Snowing heavily here, tho' small flakes. Began settling on the grass at 3.30pm Just checked the temp. and it's right on zero. Brrr. BL.

A lively morning here ! Winds 40mph + since 6am Gusting to 61 mph at 9 am in heavy rain squall. ( It would be dustbin emptying day ! ) I'm hearing of a tree down at my village roundabout. Temp. now, 4.5 º C Pressure now, 993 hPa (falling) Hoping for a little snow to come (?) Cheers, stay safe all. BL x

Hi all, A grey start here. A little light drizzle on and off. 5º C 7 mph wind 987 hPa rising. Exactly 1½ " of rainfall over the last 24 hrs (and more to come as we know .. pass the sandbags!) BL.

Ok, no-one has answered and pointed me in the right direction, so I'll either ask a Mod in a pm. then or perhaps use my own judgement on PS alterations for the NW comp. in light of this interesting and enlightening thread BL.

Yes indeedy it's hard to choose between these two superb shots. The Eye has it for me .. as I've never seen one just like this before. Well done, BL x

Brrr, 0º C here c. 15 miles north of Hull A light covering of snow after a short blizzard at 7.30am. A little more to come thru the day I'm sure. *Edit .. Coming down hard again now ! Cheers, BL.

WoW Debs those pics are quite something ! To think we're getting weather warnings for snow flurries here at the mo. LoL. Keep safe and cosy gal and enjoy ! BL x

Hi, can someone tell me if there is a rules section to read re. 'photo enhancing' for the competitions here on NW ? I looked in the photo comp. section and couldn't see any. Up to now, I've presumed no PS alterations were allowed and I've abided by that. Thanks, BL.

Well I'd really like to thank you folks for this thread as it has made me think more about what cameras can offer / do. I've had a very basic Sony Cyber-shot with only X3 optical zoom for several years now, my first ever digital camera. I was unaware of these so-called 'bridge', 'prosumer' (heck) compacts and all they can offer .. wide angle to huge zoom etc, etc all built in. I've spent best part of three days researching what might suit me best and now have a short-list of three, all about £250. I feel excited at the prospect of getting one soon and seeing what I can do with this upgrade. Just hope I can understand all it offers, else use the 'Auto' functions most (?) lol. Cheers, B x

Interesting topic I think perhaps the very best quality photo's are best 'natural' The thing is tho', I only have a Sony Cyber Shot digital camera and I find some photoshop enhancements serve to get me where a better camera would .. (?) I only recently discovered 'Picasa' and found that the one touch 'sharpening' tool enhanced perhaps 75% of my stock of holiday pics, many of which are of buildings. I'm pleased that I kept many photo's, as more and more additional enhancement techniques seem to bring them back to some quality. Even old prints, damaged over decades have been scanned in and creases, marks 'repaired'. I love fiddling with photoshop especially for arty effects and for card making. I certainly abide by the rules of photo competitions tho' and only enter my best original attempts .. and of course never win ! LoL. I may afford a good DSLR camera in the future, but will I be able to master all that it offers ? LoL Cheers, BL x

LoL Yes, my male bird is 'giving it plenty' this morning in the sunshine while the hen bird continues her rather mad nesting idea. BL x

Gosh, what a healthy 'love life' LoL Funny thing is I've never spotted a 'baby' dove, Squab isn't it. Cheers, BL x

I think you're right, they're likely just planning ahead I'm fond of them too and shall now pop out with some seed for them before dark; safely put under a bush. Cheers, BL x

Thanks for the replies guys. They have done well then, there's certainly a good number of them to be seen in the gardens. Perhaps suprisingly, as here at least, I watch them idlying around in the middle of lawns and on roads apparently oblivious to predators ! I've also witnessed them making their flimsy nests in the daftest places including this year .. in the end of an open gutter. Poor thing tried in vain to sit it out through the heavy rains. Also two attempts at nesting on the wall brackets of satellite dishes ! lol At least my 'early' nesting pair have chosen a conifer tree I'll try to spot if they're serious with this and continue. Seems so odd after days of night frosts and bitter days ! Cheers, BL x

Hi all bird-lovers, I've just been out for my morning walk with the dog and was surprised to see a collared dove collecting fine sticks. On getting back home I've just spotted another one doing the same in my garden and apparently nesting in a conifer tree ! They always strike me as rather sweet but slightly daft birds, lol. Surely they don't normally nest until early Spring do they ? Cheers, BL. x

And now my Weather choices. So many great shots to pick from. FK 1 O3JT 3 GB 3 FR52 1 FR52 2 Cheers everyone. BL x

Non - Weather choices .. BK N1 KF N1 SY N1 KF N3 FK N1 Well done all BL x

Thanks Debs, I had a good view of her at 5.18pm here, low on the horizon moving at a good pace West to East It's back again at 6.51pm for me if still clear. Cheers, BL x

Yes, excellent finalists all, but I've voted for BE's superb rainbows and Wibs' wonderful woodland pic. As soon as I saw those rainbow's in the 'weather photography' section I thought they'd be a winner. And although I was pleased with my own woodland shot, this one by Wibs was so much more. Cheers everyone, BL x

Very squally at times in the early hours here. 3 cm of rainfall overnight, min. temp. of 5.3 and gusts at 5am of 60 mph (recorded @ Leconfield) ! Bright n breezy now. Cheers, BL.

Wow, that would seem amazing to me to see such birds wild in the gardens and countryside. Cheers. Btw has everyone seen that poppet of a dancing Cockatoo called 'Snowball' rocking his body on YouTube ? (If I tried a link I'd cock it up I know ..) His high kicks in time to the music and the final bow in particular had me giggling BL x