South Yorks meet

Hi to the guys who turned up at Old Moor this morning. Nice to meet you all however briefly. Unfortunately Im not keen on sitting in a cafe when there is the possibility of photos or seeing a new site. And even worse was the weather was atrocious for any chance of a decent shot. Never the less it must be said that all credit goes for arranging the meet as for the very first time I had the pleasure to see and photograph Waxwings.

I was a little disappointed also in the site itself, (possibly just me, [but also my Son], in the fact that it is really more commercial perhaps than visitor oriented. I believe that it is possibly more a 'Bird Watchers' site rather than one for photography opportunities. It didnt encourage me to join the RSPB but i enjoyed the sitings of the Waxwings.

Regards


Paul.

Perhaps the next one could be either Fairburn or even Potteric Carr??

Yes it was a pleasure to meet Paul and Tom for the first time and put faces to names, and catching up with old friends is always good too.

As Paul has said the weather was dire and not really a day for photography, although the Waxwings he showed us on his LCD looked far better than any I got

So heres my offering from the day, my first (ever) Waxwing shot, cropped to about 1/7th of the original frame and a pair of Tufted Ducks.
I hope others fared a little better as mine will probably end up in the recycle bin

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/IMGP1221b.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/IMGP1244b.jpg[/IMG]

hi paul
sorry that you and your son was a little disappointed in the site
yes it is more a bird watchers site its a pity they took the
feeders out of the garden hide due to some disease
somebody might start a fairburn ings or potteric carr meet
neil

Yeah, Fairburn next Tuesday, if you need an excuse just look at the weather forcast

Beautiful fringing!

Oh! do you really think so Ken, and I thought they were a total write off, I never really noticed the abstract quality of the dreaded purple glow, perhaps I should have them canvas mounted

I'm not going to try and compete on the bird front...

[IMG]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv154/bforbes/Yellowflower.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv154/bforbes/sprigg.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv154/bforbes/Reeds.jpg[/IMG]

Well, only my second Pentax User meet and my first to an RSPB site, so good to see a lot of new and friendly faces and interesting to do something way out of my comfort zone. As mentioned, the weather was truly appalling - heavy, overcast skies and drizzle for the first 3 hours so rather less than ideal.

Here are my efforts:

Obligatory swan shot:



Waxwings on the rare occaision they were sat in the tree!:



Not sure what this is - some goose? - though it looks like a particularly dirty swan to me:



The 'faux bittern' - better known as a grouse hen:



and finally:

Every cloud has a silver lining!

hi anwa
the goose is a young swan(cygnet) the other is a hen pheshant
and the last one is a female blackbird
neil
ps nice to see you again
neil

Gah! I meant to say hen pheasant - it *was* late when I posted 'grouse hen'!
So that's what an 'ugly duckling' looks like then?

No the ugly Duckling is smaller, your "duck" will probablly have its full adult plumage by the end of the summer

Yeah! more like you were innebriated with too much Grouse

Well it was so grey I give up on the photography - It was great watching the birds though

(basicaly my pictures were rubbish so i am not posting any :roll


Great time - its nice to put faces to avatars and forum comments.

Dave