Fogey

Or a Wren.

Absolutely beautiful. So detailed.

Well taken Geoff.

My sincerest condolences on your loss, John. Speaking from experience, the rawness you feel now will fade in time, trite but true. My thoughts go out to you.

Fotosketcher and Photoshop, Cheryl.

Digitally altered for a pastel rendering.

Love the clarity.

Ditto. Here

Lovely colouring. You've caught them well.

A tip for you. If you have images that deteriorate when you reduce them for the web, simply take a screenshot of the full image and post that. I use Fastone capture - you can take a screenshot without the cursor. Try it and see how you get on.

How on earth did you manage that?

Soaring Gannet.

And with a westerlly wind, that's two minutes flying time from one of the feeding stations in Wales.

Louring Sky, Scotland.

Ummm! Don't we all? Hibernate, that is. I can't wait for the warmer weather to arrive. That image is just begging to be colour popped.

I did read about that - and I agree - the culprit should be imprisoned.

It crtainly does, Polly. And that tree must hold the record of being the most photographed tree in the British Isles. It's just so photogenic.

Playing around with a few photos to see how they would look in black and white.

I've seen photos of that woman before. Is she a professional beggar?

That looks cold and bleak. Interesting perspectve.

There are areas around the country where the Red Kites are fed daily. It's just another source of income for the farmers, (charging the public to witness this feeding display), who have jumped on the conservation band wagon. Red Kites are scavengers rather than predators - the dustmen of the animal world - although a gamekeeper acquaintance tells me he has seen Red Kites flying low over fields and meadows pouncing on the young of ground nesting birds. However, that is anecdotal and could very well be the gamekeeper's bias In Scotland, they are fast becoming known as a pest, continually raiding dustbins and the like. Still with the protection of birds act, they are going to increase in numbers exponentially.

That's what happens when they are hand fed, Craig. They shouldn't be so familiar with humans.

Not a lot wrong with these Craig. Really nice!

It's very realistic. Well done.