nice ones, i saw these in the flickr group and noticed you used a K20. i put some into that group recently, but my last visit was on a dismal rainy day (they said it would be sunny). i did manage to get a shot of a lizard that they keep in the discovery centre.

there is a comfort inn at putney bridge!

i've only seen the race once, despite living near it my entire life. might take a look this year and then pop into the london wetlands centre (my usual haunt)

laurence

i had an email from Warehouse Express informing me of their Pentax range and mentioning the cashback on the k-m. Pentax will probably shift more through them than Jessops where you had to machete your way through all the other brands to spot a Pentax.

cheers!

it's the 2nd time i've made the BBC "your pics" bit, but the first time with the Pentax.

for the record, it was taken with a K100d and a Tamron 500mm Mirror lens.

L

one of my photos is feature on the BBC's Scotland pictures this week...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7914490.stm

picture 9 is me.

signed copies will be available

L

the river at Musselburgh has good birdlife - saw goldeneye and goosander there recently. you also get oystercatchers in the fields near the water. the Ash Lagoons have hides, although if the tide is out they'll all be on the beach. my last trip i stood on the embankment before the 'active' lagoon and tried to get panning shots of the oysties as they flew in to roost as dusk and tide encroached. i didn't do very well as i was laughing so much as they sped past me on both sides.

Aberlady bay is great for photography - the beaches on the headland could be somewhere tropical - if it weren't for the icy waters of the Forth! i had a lovely day there when the sand was covered in frost. in winter the bay is home to thousands of pink-footed geese. they come in to roost at dusk and it is an incredible sight (and sound). i wished i ahd another camera when i went as i was using the 500 for bird shots, but needed a wide angle to try and get the beauty of the bay/sand/water etc. it was so cold i didn't want to faff about changing lenses too often.

closer to the gardens there's the water of leith - you get dippers there. i've seen then near Stockbridge. Goosanders too.

a while back i was at the London Wetland Centre and heard a rustling sound in a tree. i stalked it and got the camera ready. i traced the source of the noise and looked closer... and the red beak of a moorhen popped out! i'm not sure who was more surprised.


James... have you been to Aberlady bay? Musselburgh was good for birds when i was there too.


Bullfinches are very lovely... i'll have to track some down, probably in the botanical gardens when i'm next up there in a few weeks.

the only bullfinches i have seen where in the gardens... usually near the pagoda.

the cafe area is good for dunnocks. i've had a great tit eat seed from my hand in the gardens too. it is a great place with lots of birds.

and the squirrels are fun too... feed them seed from your hand and you can stroke their furry little tummy as they eat out of your palm!

hope you get to see more bullfinches.

great shots. i was only talking to someone today about the bullfinches in the gardens at Edinburgh. lovely birds.

did they actually read the petition? the answer doesn't seem to have a lot to do with the original query.

pah!