2010 Spring Challenge!

[Caz]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Hope it's not too late to join the party - I took my new 550d into work today and went for a walk in my lunch hour looking for signs of spring around Milton Keynes, which were pretty few and far between! Most of the trees still have some of last year's leaves rattling in the blustery spring wind, but I did find some patches of colour:

and

[ash]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Predictable subject matter but none the less I made the effort.
Daffs in the window begging for a closeup, shot this evening.

Nikon 60mm micro on a Fuji S3.

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Here are a couple more from me:





Ian

[Pol]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Here are a couple more from me:

Ian

I like that big fat bud with the spider's thread.

I'm saying nowt about that daffodil except that I wouldn't spend time this morning pitching my ever-so-humble Pentax 300mm F.4 against yer Zuiko 300m F.2.8. Naah - I wouldn't be so daft. I mean I got changeand I got a Lacewing in my daffodil ... so eat yer heart out.

Here's mine - also handheld with the K20D + 300mm F.4 on a very breezy day.



Pol

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Aha! Today's daff (and the bud) from me was snapped with the budget Olympus ZD 70-300 macro zoom. It's a development of the Sigma 70-300, but you won't hear anyone at Olympus admit that!

Ian

[Pol]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Aha! Today's daff (and the bud) from me was snapped with the budget Olympus ZD 70-300 macro zoom.

Ian

Yeah I've just been discovered that after looking at the gallery.

I'd been referring to yer previous daff - the one you took with the 2.8 big blighter, had a copy and spent some time this morning trying some comparative shots with the Pentax. Then you came back and posted some from yer cheaper lens whilst I was hobbling around the garden determined to fly the flag for the ever-so-'umble Pentax.

One of the things about having Pentax kit is that y'know yer choice of lenses is limited so yer not so likely to go broke.

Pol

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Yes, more daffs, but first:



..and now, you guessed it, the yellow peril!:



..back-lit and with bokeh!

Ian

[Pol]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Yes, more daffs, but first:

..and now, you guessed it, the yellow peril!:

..back-lit and with bokeh!

Ian

... I fink I might have a go at shootin' sum uv our small, white Narcissi. Have you any of those?

In the meantime here's one of the Blackbird that comes and looks into the Patio door in the mornings (waiting for a few Sultanas and mealworms). He has a nest somewhere nearby and is actually quite bold and friendly.

Here he is hopping about underneath a Ribes that's coming into bloom nicely.



Pol

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Good-looking fella. We have several blackbirds; hardly ever on the feeder, mainly on the ground.

We had a jackdaw on the feeder the other day; that was quite dramatic!

I produced some home made fat balls made from lard, bird seed, and mealworms... been up two weeks and I haven't seen a dicky bird on them The old crusty ones I broke up and put on the dish feeder and the pigeons and doves finished them off in no time.

Julia did stick some anonymous bulbs in the ground last winter - I will have a check later!

Ian

[Pol]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Good-looking fella. We have several blackbirds; hardly ever on the feeder, mainly on the ground.

We had a jackdaw on the feeder the other day; that was quite dramatic!

I produced some home made fat balls made from lard, bird seed, and mealworms... been up two weeks and I haven't seen a dicky bird on them The old crusty ones I broke up and put on the dish feeder and the pigeons and doves finished them off in no time.

Julia did stick some anonymous bulbs in the ground last winter - I will have a check later!

Ian

We've never had a Jackdaw in the garden, just Crows and Magpies making a racket as they have a stand-off over the food we leave for the foxes.

David often used to make fat balls like yours. We used to stuff them into a hollow of a large, rotting stump that had fallen off a neighbours Silver Birch. he'd nailed the stump to a base so that it looked like was still in the ground and the Starlings absolutely loved it. They came in flocks and cleared out every last scrap very quickly.

The main problem we found with homemade fat balls, especially those made with Lard, was that they melted and ran down the branches when the weather warmed up - so we only buy the commercial ones now, bought in containers of 75 or 120. They get used no bother with Tits, Finches, Spuggies etc.

Narcissus about to be uploaded so watch this thread.

Pol

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

We've never had a Jackdaw in the garden, just Crows and Magpies making a racket as they have a stand-off over the food we leave for the foxes.

David often used to make fat balls like yours. We used to stuff them into a hollow of a large, rotting stump that had fallen off a neighbours Silver Birch. he'd nailed the stump to a base so that it looked like was still in the ground and the Starlings absolutely loved it. They came in flocks and cleared out every last scrap very quickly.

The main problem we found with homemade fat balls, especially those made with Lard, was that they melted and ran down the branches when the weather warmed up - so we only buy the commercial ones now, bought in containers of 75 or 120. They get used no bother with Tits, Finches, Spuggies etc.

Narcissus about to be uploaded so watch this thread.

Pol

I was worried about the fat balls melting. I don't know if it will help, but I mixed some flour into the lard. They aren't hard like the commercial ones.

Ian

[Pol]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

I was worried about the fat balls melting. I don't know if it will help, but I mixed some flour into the lard. They aren't hard like the commercial ones.

Ian

It should be ok just now as the temperatures aren't too high yet but you'd probably be better with the commercial ones for the warmer weather.
Ours used to melt any time the sun shone on them. I don't think there's much you can do to stop it happening.


Here's the Narcissus (Paper Whites). Not a very 'clean' picci as the leaves are muddy but I'm not gonna get myself covered in mud trying to get over to clean them. This is their first year - bulbs planted in November or December iirc.



Pol

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

This person seems to have home made fat balls perfected:

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/british-birds/15457-fat-feeder-recipes.html#post153991

Ian

[Ian]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

It should be ok just now as the temperatures aren't too high yet but you'd probably be better with the commercial ones for the warmer weather.
Ours used to melt any time the sun shone on them. I don't think there's much you can do to stop it happening.


Here's the Narcissus (Paper Whites). Not a very 'clean' picci as the leaves are muddy but I'm not gonna get myself covered in mud trying to get over to clean them. This is their first year - bulbs planted in November or December iirc.



Pol

Now call me picky of you like, but those highlights in the petals are burned out.

Ian

[Pol]

Re: 2010 Spring Challenge!

Now call me picky of you like, but those highlights in the petals are burned out.

Ian

Yeah but just a touch here and there, Picky. You should've seen some of my previous attempts. The best mess was with a Macro lens and ringflash, which produced spectacular failures, even at f/32. I should've reduced the exposure as well as the aperture but my brain wasn't properly into gear.

Those homemade fatballs look good but I'm not about to let 'him' mess up the kitchen again like he always did with the lard. I think Pops sometimes makes his own with suet. Not sure exactly what he uses.

Pol