B.Y. 2019. The Tortoise rules!

[Dave Williams]

72)Red-knobbed Coot

Red-knobbed Coot   Fulica cristata by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[TonyQ]

Great additions Dave. The Bluethroat is a beautiful bird.

[Galana]

Superb photography. Loved the Crestie.

[Dave Williams]

73) Crossbill

Back in Wales and an upland pine forest bordering the Denbighshire moors. This is the female, the male is red in colour

Crossbill   Loxia curvirostra by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

Edited February 16, 2019 by Dave Williams

[Kitsafari]

beautiful additions since I last looked. love that goshawk!

[Dave Williams]

74) Canada Goose

 

The sun was hot, a record high winter temperature set in Wales today and locally we were pretty close to it too, so off down to the local reserve!

Canada Goose  Branta canadensis by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

75) Mute Swan

An A380 takes off in less distance!

 

Mute Swan  Cygnus olor by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

76) Common Goldeneye

Male

Common Goldeneye  Bucephala clangula by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

77) Dipper

Then up the Conwy Valley to a spot for Dipper. Despite the sunshine they always seem to spend time in shadows, mind you that white breast is a photographic problem even then!

(White-fronted)Dipper  Cinclus cinclus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Galana]

Love Dippers. They always seem to be happy.

We rarely get them over here.

[mvecht]

Brilliant shots.

My local Dipper(s) have been evading me this year although I know they are there.

Only 2 fleeting glimpses in 8 attempts. Will keep trying 

[xelas]

Excellent photos, @Dave Williams. The Common Goldeneye is even worse to get the proper exposure on it; Dipper at least loves shade but Goldeneye loves sun!

[pedro maia]

How can you post these pictures and then say that I´m a birder?

 

 

[xelas]

1 hour ago, pedro maia said:

How can you post these pictures and then say that I´m a birder?

 

 

 

Pedro, competing with Dave in bird photography is very difficult ; so what we cannot achieve in quality we try to do with quantity . Are we birders? Speaking for myself, I am (still) not a birder myself. Just a person that enjoys photographing birds, and enjoys participating at Big Year. Less enjoyable is flipping through the bird guide book trying to find the proper ID .

[Galana]

@pedro maia and @xelas

What exactly IS a 'birder'. I know bird watchers and bird photographers and I have known "Chiff Chaff Chasers" in my travels.

In the absence of a fixed definition I suppose the nearest we can get is just somebody who likes birds and enjoys learning what they are and what they do. Even IF getting the true ID can be a chore!  If one was not to do that how can one become a true birder? Surely we need to know what we have been looking at?

[PeterHG]

Superb additions throughout @Dave Williams!

[lmSA84]

Beautiful Dipper - it’s been a long time since I’ve seen one 

[michael-ibk]

A great collection Dave, especially the Spanish ones are outstanding!

[Dave Williams]

@pedro maiaAs they say, it's the taking part that counts. If the Big Year gets you out of the house in to the fresh air, puts you in touch with wildlife, helps you make new friends then that's all that matters. Just because I happen to be lucky enough to have some of the best photo gear Canon make doesn't mean that my BY is better than anyone else's. Occasionally I enjoy adding an Every Bird Counts that can compete with the very worst ( or should that be the very best?!) Remember too that we don't take offence at poking fun at each other either providing it's done in jest so I look forward to being gently taken apart!!!!

[pedro maia]

@Dave Williams I guess that´s the idea, I´m spending less time in the sofa and more time outside and I´m enjoying, and besides running alone for the rookie of the year tittle I also think I have a very good chance to be EBCs Champion, Galana won´t  have it easy.

 

Anyway, your gear doesn´t take pictures on it´s own .

[Dave Williams]

Hello everyone! It's good to be back, I have missed you all!

What have I been up to? 2 weeks in The Gambia....again. I have written one page of my blog but I really need to finish it but I'm lacking the will at the moment. The birding wasn't quite as good as I have experienced there but the drier conditions and it being later in the season played their part.

At home I have been busy doing nothing, amazing how time disappears without having done anything but that's what happens when you are waiting all day for a delivery or have an appointment in the middle of the day etc etc.

Spring really has come on quickly this last week or two though so that's a boost. I need to take advantage with the camera which so far I haven't been too bothered with.

I have however had two trips to the Dee estuary, a huge salt marsh. During the winter various owls and other raptors hunt there and it can be particularly productive on high spring tides where the voles and other rodents are pushed to drier ground. Last weekend there must have been 100 photographers gathered in the hope of capturing that special image. I'm not one for crowds but the rewards were worth the effort.

I already have a Short-eared Owl counted in to my BY but the photo opportunities were far superior.

 Short-eared Owl   Asio flammeus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

The one I really wanted was a bird that has been right at the top of my wish list for a long time.

78)Barn Owl.

Barn Owl by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Happy days!!

Barn Owl by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[michael-ibk]

Spectacular Owl photos Dave, bravo!

[Galana]

Great shots and well done for nailing your bogey Barn Owl at last.

Quick Question if I may. How are you posting photos now? I get "existing attachment " or 'URL'?

[Kitsafari]

wow stunning photos of the owls. finally you scored your barn owl, and what a spectacular score!

[Dave Williams]

I use Flickr. You just copy and paste the BBcode into your thread.

I have asked on the Facebook ST page about needing to know what Matt wants to do about photographs and their storage issues and the reply was that there would be a discussion in due course here on ST.

I'm not sure what storage a Flickr photo requires compared to one that's posted directly on to a thread here, if indeed there is any at all. To be honest I don't understand how it works.It is apparent though that photographs are causing an overload on the system which increases the running costs. Matt has blocked further uploads in to individual galleries and I see the sense in that. Some of the galleries are huge and don't really serve any useful purpose other than being a safety deposit box for the owner. Much better they keep them on a back up drive at home.

The drawback with Flickr or any other external hosting site is that if it folds or the individual who owns the that site decided not to renew the fee then the photos would likely disappear so from an archive point of view that's not the best. It's a pain having to resize all the photos specifically to reduce storage for ST but if that has to be done so be it if that the way forward.Ftrom a trip report point of view I actually paste my Google blog, again it means that the whole report might vanish if Google decided to either charge too much or indeed if they just scrapped it as they have just announced are their plans for Google+.

My own personal feeling ( and I know others disagree) is that threads like the BY can be deleted after a year or two anyway. I doubt that there are many views once they are over but there again, I don't really know .

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by Dave Williams