I really like these Simon, beautiful landscapes. Think the second just edges it for me, with the house in the foreground and the sunlight hitting the upper part of the hill on the right, and the peaks poking up through the mist in the distance... wonderful.

Regards

Some really marvellous photos. Thanks for the link. Inspirational in fact.

Regards

Thanks for the kind comments all. I thought people would probably like the squirrel best

Jumbo- thanks for the gen, I reckon you are right that it may well be a hybrid duck. Algi - this was the first time I have seen a wild bird of prey this close up around London at all (normally they are a bit more distant), but now I'm seeing them everywhere! I was watching another Kestrel sitting on the steeple of the church opposite my office in Holborn yesterday...

Regards

So sorry to hear that Gwyn.

Welcome to the forum David! I used to live in Southampton whilst I was at University there, so looking forward to some pics which might make me feel nostalgic!

Regards

Looks good, and like you should be able to get some great shots - especially with a 150-500 lens. Hope you'll post some when you've been

Regards

Hello all. Noticing that there was one nice day forecast last week I took a day off and spent some time at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre in Barnes. The weather actually proved to be pretty good, although providing for some pretty extreme side-lighting, and the centre was pretty magical (especially as, being out of the holiday season, it was not so busy). I fired off hods of shots and thought I would post a handful here. If anyone is in the area, I heartily recommend a visit as there is quite a lot to see, and there are some excellent facilities, and a large number of ponds and hides

First up, I think I might have disrupted the lie-in of a bunch of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks...



As with anywhere and everywhere around London, there are plenty of slightly less aquatic species around as well...



...and of course the ubiquitous squirrels...



A rather splendid Moorhen seemed quite content to have his portrait done...



This Little Grebe was like a ball of fluff, but he couldn't half shift underwater...



I'm not sure what kind of duck this chap is, blending in nicely, but a look in my bird bible makes me wonder if it might be a Falcated Duck? (maybe one for the experts)...



Whilst I was watching (and listening) to some eiders, I realised I was being watched myself... (a Kestrel I believe)



Finally, a Wigeon that just looks like he is having serious fun!



I hope you like these. Like I say I took loads so there are tons on Flickr... All were taken with the K-7 and the DA*300, which was a great combo for the most part but to get really frame-filling pictures from the hides overlooking the main lakes at Barnes probably needs something a bit longer. I even saw a Bittern last week, but only because someone kindly let me look through their scope.

Regards

Love those Cormorants - great shots. I especially like the second cormorant. With the third Cormorant shot (the B/W one) I might try cropping off the right edge and the left side, cropping out the bird in flight and leaving a broadly square shot overall...:

The Sunrays are very cool too!

Regards

Hello all, spotted these when browsing the web over lunch today, thought folk here might like to see... two photo galleries from the Guardian website.

The first is from the European wildlife photographer of the year, and I found it pretty inspirational because (a) the shots are great and (b) a number of them seem very 'attainable' - one could even have been taken in my garden! and another at a set of traffic lights in Leeds. Great stuff:
link

The second is a set of B/W images of post-war Britain by Eric de Mare. Some great shots I thought:
link

Of course I have no idea whether these were captured using Pentax gear, but thought some members might enjoy these in any case.

Regards

+1 for me. Especially at this time of year when the light is less intense I always seem to be at higher ISO setting... likewise need to find the readies...

Regards