London Birds

A few photos of some birds in London this year

 

A Harris Hawk.  I was lucky enough to get close to this american bird resting on it's hawker's arm (I presume he is is not a falconer, as this is not a falcon) after it had finished chasing off the pigeons around Euston Station.

Urban Canada Geese on the wing above Hammersmith



 

Winter plumage Black Headed Gull having a stretch

London - Christmas in the City

A quick lunchtime walk in the City - Just before Christmas

 

Reflections on the Gherkin

A young boy shows an interest in a giant shiny Christmas Bauble.....



 

.....made of shiny metal objects

 

Wishing you all Seasons Greetings



 

This is as close to a 'selfie' that I will take.

London - A Startled Mystical Beast on a Street

Walking along a London pavement I nearly stood on a circular stain which, startled by my foot,  jumped out of my way to reveal that it was alive.

Seriously though, this stain on the pavement caught my eye. Very abstract, as if an artist had created it by throwing paint. A horse, or a mystical beast? Could have been sold for quite a lot of money judging by the abstract paintings in the various galleries in nearby Fitzrovia.  I went back a week later to do it more justice, but the rain had washed it away...

 

...or perhaps it was alive?

London - Colourful Streetlife

After a lot of black & white recently, I thought I would brighten things up with a few more colourful shots taken in the summer.

 

Still some monochrome, but....

 

....here we have some bright red dresses (I just wished I had seen the shot a few moments earlier, so the red dresses were more in the line of the eyes of the poster girl)

 

A wall painting on the gable wall of a house (with poor graffiti)

Schoolground Shadows

My eye was caught by children in the school playground below my window, their shadows cast by a low sun exaggerating their actions.

 

Taken with my pocket camera through glass reduces the sharpness and gives a ghostlike quality.

 

 

Better upside down?

London - A bright morning at Hammersmith

A beautiful morning in Hammersmith gave an opportunity for some high contrast black & white photos this week

 

A District Line train running out of the station into the light

 

Parked bicycles with crazy shadows 

NW Scotland - Clashnessie and Eddrachillis Bay

More photos of the NW of of Scotland in September this year

 

Beautiful Classnessie Bay.  Apparently the cottge here featured in a Snowcem advert.

Ripples in the river catching the light as it ran across the sand into the sea.





 

Eddrachillis Bay from near Drumbeg with the island of Handa in the background.  Pity the visibility was not better

 

Nearby, autumn colours of the bracken and heather frame this lone Red Deer Stag surveying the moor at the begining of the rut as the light begins to disapperar.

NW Scotland - Balnakeil Bay Near Durness

Photographs taken in September.

 

A wonderful afternoon at Balnakeil Bay near Durness near the NW tip of Scotland.  We had an amazing sky on this calm day.

 

I just love this place with its quiet beach.

Cows graze the sand dunes, the herd leaving individual hoof prints on the beach.  Pity I could not frame this photograph properly



London - Patterns and Shapes

Some photos of patterns and shapes that caught my eye in London

 

A leaf on an outside cafe table just after rain.

 

A staircase in sunlight

 

A building reflected in a glass facade

 

Cat & Sunflower

One of our cats took advantage of some steps left near a tall sunflower to swat some flies that were flying around the sunflower.

On the lookout...



...Missed.



 

 Any more?

 

Broken Venetian Blinds

A number of windows with broken venetian blinds makes interesting patterns.

 

Two windows in an abandoned office

 

Were they like this when last in use?

 

Another office - This one seemingly in use casts an interesting shadow.

Norfolk - Happisburgh Beach Sea Defences

A walk along the beach in July

 

I believe that these posts are what remains of largely ineffective old coast 1950's protection against erosion....

....but together with the steel sheet piles, they make nice Silhouettes

The Start of September - Mainly Yellow

A sunny day in the garden on the 1st of September 2013.  Yellow seemed to be the theme

 

A hover-fly sitting on Golden Rail 

 

The brilliant metallic colour a Green Bottle

 

Another species of Hover-fly

 

A Digger Wasp that catches flies and hover-flies for its burrow

 

A Yellow Daisy



Large Dog Turns Smaller Dog into Wallaby

On the Beach at Happisburgh Norfolk

 

Large dog meets smaller dog....

 

....and magic.

 

The smaller dog becomes a Wallaby for a moment

Summer Harvesting below Steps Hill

Photos of the wheat harvest in the fields below Step's Hill, Ashridge, taken in 2011. 

 

Combine Harvester making patterns in the field 

 

Loading the grain

 

A dusty business

 

London - River Thames Night Trip

An evening trip on the Thames early August.

 

Dramatic sky from Tower Pier before embarking

 

Canary Wharf Lights

 

Blackfrairs Railway Bridge

 

St Paul's Cathedral, Blackfriars Road and Railway Bridges and the Shard

Lights on Hungerford Footbridge and the London Eye

 

Photos a bit grainy, but it was from a moving boat, so could not use slow shutter speed, and needed high ISO