Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments and particular thanks to 'tommyt' who spurred me into acquiring a Pancolar.

I just noticed the street name (or half of it). If that is New Street, whatever was the original like?

I said several weeks ago that I would post this set once I had edited them all. I am still getting used to this wonderful lens. No wonder they get snapped up so quickly whenever they appear. It can be used wide open for dreamy bokeh, right through to stopped down for crisp details.

Hazel catkins are appearing everywhere, heralding a new year .....



.... while the old year still persists, as shown by these sycamore keys that refused to leave their tree.



Ivy berries also persist from last year



and the dark green of the ivy really shows up the detail of these catkins.



Last autumn was so productive that fruit and berries have remained intact all through the winter, as shown by this blackthorn bush which is still covered with sloes. IMHO this is a marvelous advert for the lens and for what it can do.



Squirrels don't like fruit but they do like nuts and conifer seeds. They will happily demolish a cedar cone.



You wouldn't think that a Pancolar could be used to produce near macro shots but while we are talking 'seeds' this teasel presented a very good example. I never knew just how many hooks they had until I looked at this one!





And you can't talk 'spring' without crocuses. Again, the bokeh is lovely and compliments the flowers just so.





I have spoken of ancient boundaries being marked by the presence of 'spindle' bushes before. Almost all of the previous shots were taken while following an ancient boundary and, surprise!, there were spindle bushes.



Which brings me to a quite dramatic end - the end point of the boundary I was following - from the outskirts to Coventry city center and also the boundary between close and distant. Here is a 'normal' image (in contrast to the close-ups). Again, the lens surprises you. This is a reduced size version. The original clearly shows the text of the welcome message as you enter the pub ...
"May you arrive in heaven half an hour before the Devil discovers that you are dead."



I enjoyed taking these and working with them. I hope you have enjoyed them too.
(and was I glad to get on a bus that took me all the way back to where I had started from!).

I agree with John. There's nothing wrong with those. It must have been a thrilling experience to get all those shots.

Indeed so. Great photos but I can't remember the last time a Big Lizzie was in steam and running.(sadly :cry

The first looks like a cinnamon bug and the second a weevil of some sort. Nice detail.

So I went out looking for whatever colour I could find in this bitingly cold February afternoon. 'Imbolc' is supposed to be the start of Spring on February 1st, according to our pagan brethren. They could be right from what I found. These were taken with a K1 and a Vivitar 100mm f2.8. It was, however on the end of an 'F' series x1.7 auto focus adapter, giving 170mm (so ignore the quoted f numbers). All the images will enlarge if you click on them.

The superb summer and autumn has resulted in bumper catkins on those trees that support them.
My local brook is lined with huge, ancient alder trees that make its borders appear to be misty purple for as far as you can see. Also, at about f3, there is a pleasing bit of bubble bokeh! FastStone Image Viewer was also used to get rid of some quite strong green fringing.



There are one or two sycamore trees too whose branches are covered in bright green lichens. Once more, there is evidence of the fine summer where they have produced so many sycamore 'keys' that some of them remain hanging where they grew.



Further along is a large clump of Red Twig Dogwood that only shows its colour during winter, the rest of the year it has green leaves and white flowers.



Talking of times of the year,, the old question asks, "When is kissing in season?". To which the answer is, "When the gorse is in blossom", knowing that gorse blooms all year round.



And to come back to Imbolc and Spring, the crocuses have erupted really early in this sheltered spot that is protected by a grove of oak and acacia tress. Someone went to a lot of trouble to plant masses and masses of them, along with snowdrops. They have matured and naturalised now and provide a wonderful spectacle every spring.






So that is my walk over for now. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures.

There is one on Ebay at what seems reasonable price right now. (Doesn't mean it will remain reasonable, however).

Nice images, particularly the egret - it seems very purposeful.

Indeed you have caught the essence of a very lovely part of Europe. Just out of general interest, there are quite a few places ending with 'ingen' in southern Germany. According to locals, it signifies a place where a legal court could be found. It even gets doubled up with the jurisdiction of pairs of villages, such as Villingen-Schwenningen - The internet comes up with all sorts of other linguistic explanations!