World Photography Forum

Egyption Geese In Close Formation

miketoll — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 17:17:03 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: I liked how close together they flew against a darker background.

2 comments

Redwing

miketoll — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 17:06:16 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Not a particularly exciting photo but the first shot of a redwing that I have taken thanks to a sharp eyed lady who pointed it out to me.

2 comments

Kestrel In Flight.

miketoll — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 21:37:52 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Taken a split second after my previous take off shot I like this shot too but it's a bit of a shame it's just past my position so flying away slightly.

3 comments

Kestral Take-Off!

miketoll — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 20:00:53 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Went out with a friend to a nature reserve for the first time in months and was rewarded with my first ever decent shots of a Kestral.

3 comments

Lapwing

miketoll — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 20:49:52 +0000

by: miketoll

3 comments

Godwits

miketoll — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:51:17 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: For some reason there were lots of Godwits on this particular visit to Minsmere, here's a pair of them.

2 comments

Basking Common Lizard

miketoll — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 07:56:16 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Went to Abberton Reservoir where there is a small articial pond outside the visitors centre. There was this one lizard on the concrete bank and I managed to get a shot through the fencing. Different from birds anyway!

2 comments

Still Life

miketoll — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 20:26:24 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: The Grey Heron stood so still for so long I just had to call this shot Still Life'

2 comments

Low Flying Swan

miketoll — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 18:20:30 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: One of a burst of shots as the Swan took off which is slow and lumbering. Always reminds me of a large cargo plane taking off.

4 comments

Finished!

miketoll — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:19:07 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: But where is his partner? Never did see her and with other Coots with young swimming around I wondered if he had left it all a bit too late!

2 comments

Nest Building

miketoll — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:12:24 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Putting the finishing touch to the nest

2 comments

Skulking Snipe.

miketoll — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 15:16:33 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: A fellow photographer pointed out this Common Snipe in the cut reeds, I would have never seen it otherwise.

2 comments

Little Egrets Arrives.

miketoll — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 19:54:08 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Took this while hoping for a Kingfisher to show up which it failed to do.

2 comments

Grey Heron Alights.

miketoll — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 18:52:02 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Managed to get the moment just before the actual touchdown.

2 comments

Oystercatcher Descends From His Perch.

miketoll — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 18:10:30 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: The oystercatcher had been on the old tree dtump for a while so I knew he would eventually leave it so only had to wait to catch the moment.

2 comments

Shakin' Shoveler.

miketoll — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 16:52:19 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Bath time for the shoveler than it shook itself like a dog.

2 comments

Scraggy.

miketoll — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 11:38:05 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: An Egyption Goose chick, the last and only survivor of the brood. Thanks for the query about the eyes Dave. Still waiting for the appointment for the 2nd eye which has what they call "a guarded visual prognosis". ie they don't know how good the result will be due to optical nerve damage from other problems with that eye.

3 comments

Big Blue Feet!

miketoll — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 17:05:51 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: The coot stood on the rock for a while showing off his feet which you don't see all that often.

2 comments

Landing

miketoll — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 08:10:54 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Bit of a messy background but hey ho. One eye, two surgical procedures done giving me clear distance vision. Seeing the surgeon Tuesday foe the week later checkup then wait for the appointment for the second eye. In the meantime because of the discrepancies in the eyes I struggle with double vision and slight nausea, especially with movement.

2 comments

Black-headed Hunting Insects.

miketoll — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 16:57:37 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Similar to another shot I put up but I was very happy to get this shot. As an aside I am going into hospital on Monday 28th for the first of my eye operations, four procedures in total, two on each eye. This means I will not be able to get out and about with my camera for about three months. Hopefully I will be able to post a few pictures from the archives in the meantime.

2 comments

Coot Youngster

miketoll — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 17:15:25 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: The young coot got off the nest and swam off showing it's growing independence. Cropped image.

2 comments

Young Coot On The Nest

miketoll — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 17:09:21 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: I must admit I did not know that young coots looked like this, in my opinion much better looking than adults. The adult was in the nest and when it got off this youngster was full revealed.

2 comments

Chasing round the stump!

miketoll — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 17:54:06 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: A female Mallard was not impressed by her suitor and was trying to escape his attentions by flying off at high speed and dodging round the stump in an effort to lose him. All to no avail I fear although I never did see the final outcome.

3 comments

Watching the sky.

miketoll — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 16:55:58 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Oyster Catcher keeping a wary eye on the sky watching for predators, probably in this case the local Marsh Harrier. Birds always have to be alert for danger.

2 comments

Collision Course!

miketoll — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 16:03:03 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Except it wasn't really, just the angle of the shot and the shortened perspective of a long telephoto lens. Blsk Tailed Godwits.

2 comments

Common Sandpiper.

miketoll — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 19:36:32 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Not really seen one before (my bird ID is poor) but this one came close to the hide so got a decent shot.

2 comments

Close Formation Flying

miketoll — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 17:04:27 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: I was amazed about how close this pair of Egyption Geese flew to each other.

2 comments

Run Baby Run

miketoll — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 21:17:07 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Coot sprinting at full tilt chasing after another coot.

2 comments

Godwits Formation Flying

miketoll — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 18:05:39 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: There were lots of Black Tailed Godwits on the water and occasionaly flying around, coming and going.

2 comments

Family Planning?

miketoll — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 17:23:23 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Very successful brood by the look of it. Another pair of Egyption Geese had only got one surviving chick.

3 comments

Four-Spotted Chaser 3

miketoll — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:29:28 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: A very standard view but I do like the detail.

2 comments

Four-Spotted Chaser 2

miketoll — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:26:42 +0000

by: miketoll

Four-Spotted Chaser 1

miketoll — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:24:13 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Managed to get a few shots of the Chaser while sitting in the hide.

2 comments

Nature In The Raw?

miketoll — Sat, 31 May 2025 18:23:01 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Must be a better title somewhere! The birds were not out playing yesterday so like many of the other photographers used my zoom as a semi macro lens on dragonflies and damselflies.

2 comments

Blowing In The Wind

miketoll — Wed, 28 May 2025 20:31:25 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: A wee change from bird pictures. The path I was walking on was covered in millions of seeds coming from reeds lining a stream. I used a shaded area of the background to under expose the shot giving a dark background and make the seeds (which had filaments) stand out.

3 comments

Gull Attack 3

miketoll — Sun, 25 May 2025 16:45:40 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: The same gull having forced down the crow then attacked a Coot which fought back by leaping from the water to try and strike the gull. I have never seen this behaviour before as most birds just duck (no pun intended) but Coots are themselves aggressive birds. This happened several times until the gull flew away.

4 comments

Gull Attack 2

miketoll — Sun, 25 May 2025 16:37:29 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: The next frame of the attack at 12.5 fps so giving some idea of the closing speed. The next frame caught the impact but it was such a chaotic jumble of bodies and wings with no heads showing I deleted it.

2 comments

Gull Attack 1 - Closing In.

miketoll — Fri, 23 May 2025 17:35:35 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: A particularly agressive gull was attacking all and sundry, here closing in on what I think is a crow. Harsh light, both a black and a white subject plus cropping. Not an ideal situation!

4 comments

Feed Me!

miketoll — Wed, 21 May 2025 19:22:13 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Hungary chick keen to get that large fish!

4 comments

Where Are We Going Daddy?

miketoll — Fri, 16 May 2025 20:28:19 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: I was thrilled to see a succesful brood of Great Crested Grebes riding on the parents back, four in all though not all visible in this shot. Long lens plus two teleconverters plus pretty hefty crop but it worked!

2 comments

Magpie Fly By

miketoll — Tue, 13 May 2025 20:15:05 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Given the right light these are surprisingly beautiful birds.

4 comments

Lapwing.

miketoll — Sat, 10 May 2025 20:48:19 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: All my previous Lapwing shots have been taken from quite a distance but for once the bird came close and showed off it's beautifull colours in the sunshine.

3 comments

Another Swan Shot

miketoll — Sun, 04 May 2025 21:56:38 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Title says it all really but hey ho hope you like it anyway.

2 comments

Swan Landing.

miketoll — Fri, 02 May 2025 21:29:34 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: I love to watch and photograph these beautiful birds in action, not just looking serene floating on a lake.

2 comments

Smatching Up A Morsel

miketoll — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:26:19 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: I am not sure if this is a slightly different technique or if he slightly overshot the morsel and did a quick grab.

2 comments

Picking Up A Morsel.

miketoll — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 19:28:33 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: There were a lot of Blackheaded Gulls picking up something from the surface of the water, guessing insects?

3 comments

Four Winged Mutant Goose!?!

miketoll — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 21:55:51 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Just a bit of fun for Easter, though you never know.....

3 comments

Black-Tailed Godwit Coming In To Land

miketoll — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:14:50 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Disturbed by another bird landing close by the Godwit did a very short flight to land close by to where it was.

2 comments

Swan Takeoff.

miketoll — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 20:39:12 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Prolonged and arduous take off both running and flapping wings over a considerable distance. Another grab shot after hearing three swans making a racket, managed to get this one full frame having missed the first two.

3 comments

Grey Heron Flypast.

miketoll — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:03:27 +0000

by: miketoll

Description: Went to a different location and was talking to a couple of other photographers when this Grey Heron appeared from nowhere and I managed to grab a shot.

2 comments