Kitchen Garden Forum

Just to say as expected no birds & only insect I found was a drowned bee in the dogs water bowl. Not surprised really as everyone seemed to be burning stuff regardless of wind direction. I would like to say me included but I'm no boy scout & couldn't get it to take the autumn raspberry canes which were dry - reassured that the neighbour had same difficulty.

Don't relax tiger - I'm not one to give up!

To get some photos you may have to entice the objective in. so plant nectar rich flowers for insects, the birds you know about and for predators chuck some road kills in a spot where you can watch from a safe distance(safe from the smell that is, SWMBO has banned the last practice from our garden).

Oh I'd love some road kill to put on our back lawn to watch the kites coming in and to have the chance for them to be on the ground long enough to feed. The only time I ever come across any is when I'm driving down a country lane and there is usually somebody driving up my backside so I can't stop.

The red kites certainly came into the gardens in Henley. Considering their size, I'm not at all surprised that they are afraid of nothing.

Something a bit different, an oil on canvas I have been doing over the past few months, I can paint, but I am a lazy painter and not very prolific. Self taught, there are a lot of technical mistakes, but it keeps me out of mischief on a rainy day when I can neither garden nor go out with the camera.

We like, we like......

Looks great tiger,me and my wife were helping out building a timber shelter down the allotment it was at the far end away from our plot I very rarely go down there it has our communal toilet and a meeting hut anyway I spent around three weeks there one day I noticed this oil painting on the hut wall it is of the dam and the view over the fields to say I was impressed is an understatement ,I asked who had painted it expecting to be told it was someone famous I was shocked when told George did it (one of the plot holders) I asked George if I paid him would he do one for me his answer was "take that " I only paint as a hobby it is now on our living room wall at the side of one done by a relatively famous Welsh artist of his two daughters paddling in the sea it's a nice one but not as good as George's

I got a new tripod and gimbal head for my birthday, this is the new lens on it, whole lot weighs almost 10 kilos, I've not bothered with any gym membership for this year lol.

Tiger - is there no end to your talents? I am envious! With your new piece of kit to play we we look forward to many more interesting photos. I've always thought wildlife photographers had to be pretty fit people with the amount of kit they have to lug around. The camera on your iPhone just unfortunately won't do the same job, will it ?

Wow - that's some impressive piece of kit there.

Under pressure to deliver now though, I think I've spent my pocket money for bit.

Man of many talents! Lovely to see.

Since I posted asking for your critique of my pics I have been bereft of anything on the plot to take a picture of as the farmer behind my plot is prepping & sowing with his big tractors going up & down so birds staying clear. Was concerned about the lack of bees but apparently they are all in the local garden centre just near us having a ball from the pics posted on FB by my friends, but at least some wee fly like insects showing interest in my plum blossom, but they don't stay still!

Had a wander for an hour in the sunshine near Montrose Basin, the sky was full of birds, geese seem to be getting ready to fly north and the song of Skylarks filled the air, almost spring.
One of the Skylarks


A Little Egret looking for lunch

As a kid I used to lie in a local field for hours trying to watch skylarks land then crawl through the grass to try and find their nests , I never found one neither did any of the other twenty kids all doing the same , the field was an old golf course and a small cow field it's now a school and new golf course , I can't remember the last time I heard a skylark even down the plot which is surrounded on three sides with wild fields plenty of pheasant and a few buzzards but no larks

Went for a longer walk today as part of my recuperation, carrying 10 kilos of camera gear certainly is a tester lol.
2 Red squirrels showed up


I also managed to find a couple of Bramblings too


We get Greater spotted Woodpeckers too