My house is on the edge of a sprawling metropolis of roughly 8 million people, and a short bike ride from the headquarters of a few companies you might have heard of, such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc. Fortunately a lot of open space has been preserved and I’m lucky to have a bit of room around the house that’s situated near a creek and in a transition zone from redwood forests into oak scrubland. Consequently I see a lot of wildlife wander or fly by if I’m just sitting outside doing other things, enough that I make sure to have my camera at hand because I invariably regret it if I don’t. Almost all of my pictures have been taken serendipitously in this manner.

Rollamok said:

outside doing other things

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Drinking home made vino and surreptitiously taking portraits of beautiful birds. Oh, it's a hard life but someone's gotta do it.

Rollamok said:

My house is on the edge of a sprawling metropolis of roughly 8 million people, and a short bike ride from the headquarters of a few companies you might have heard of, such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc. Fortunately a lot of open space has been preserved and I’m lucky to have a bit of room around the house that’s situated near a creek and in a transition zone from redwood forests into oak scrubland. Consequently I see a lot of wildlife wander or fly by if I’m just sitting outside doing other things, enough that I make sure to have my camera at hand because I invariably regret it if I don’t. Almost all of my pictures have been taken serendipitously in this manner. View attachment 7040

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Looks like a beautiful spot.

My view from the back deck of my home in Northern California is the town of Sonora and the Sierra Nevada range. Way off in the distance to the right of the image would be Yosemite NP. This was in the spring before the fires started. Once the fires start the view is most often just a smoky white sky, no buildings, no mountains....:(.

A ten minute drive from my house in Suffolk, England is Staverton Park. This is an area where the great Eric Hosking, a true pioneer of bird photography and a tremendous inspiration to me and many others, spent a great deal of time photographing the local wildlife. In his seminal work, 'An Eye for a Bird' he writes fondly of the park and its environs stating that 'there nested no fewer than eighty species, including such local rarities as stone curlews, water rails, wrynecks, red-backed shrikes, lesser redpolls, Montagu's harriers and hawfinches.'

Oh those halcyon days of the 30's and 40's! Today there may be some water rails in the area but I can guarantee that nobody will come across the others unless they happen to be on passage. I'm sure that the ancient oak woodland has not changed a great deal in that time, apart from the encroachment of bracken. What a damning indictment of modern times that we are rapidly losing so much. For example the once ubiquitous meadow pipit, a bird I took for granted, is now something of a rarity.

Anyhow, enough melancholy, this snapshot of Staverton Park, showing it fenced off to the public, is my tribute to a great man to whom I owe so much.

Gongster said:

A ten minute drive from my house in Suffolk, England is Staverton Park. This is an area where the great Eric Hosking, a true pioneer of bird photography and a tremendous inspiration to me and many others, spent a great deal of time photographing the local wildlife. In his seminal work, 'An Eye for a Bird' he writes fondly of the park and its environs stating that 'there nested no fewer than eighty species, including such local rarities as stone curlews, water rails, wrynecks, red-backed shrikes, lesser redpolls, Montagu's harriers and hawfinches.'

Oh those halcyon days of the 30's and 40's! Today there may be some water rails in the area but I can guarantee that nobody will come across the others unless they happen to be on passage. I'm sure that the ancient oak woodland has not changed a great deal in that time, apart from the encroachment of bracken. What a damning indictment of modern times that we are rapidly losing so much. For example the once ubiquitous meadow pipit, a bird I took for granted, is now something of a rarity.

Anyhow, enough melancholy, this snapshot of Staverton Park, showing it fenced off to the public, is my tribute to a great man to whom I owe so much.View attachment 7218

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Love it, I grew up in Gorleston and know the area well.

Ivan, I lived and worked in Lowestoft for a few years so we were practically neighbours!

Well not exactly 'my' neighborhood, but a view this morning from across the valley at the ski resort looking at how the good people of the world live

Nikon D500, 16-85mm @85mm, f/14, 1/640", ISO 500

Took a walk around the neighborhood this evening without my camera but the evening light was fantastic so I captured this image on my phone

iPhone 8, focal length: 3.99mm (28mm FX equivalent), f/1.8, 1/750", ISO 20 (according to the file info in PS )

That is beautiful Dave.

Kathy G said:

That is beautiful Dave.

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Thanks Kathy!

Well, sort of my neighbourhood. There is a park about 1 mile from my house - Bowring Park. I was there last week during the evening (well, about 11 pm - I was participating in a night photography workshop). Anyway, I thought it looked best as a B&W.

Gongster said:

A ten minute drive from my house in Suffolk, England is Staverton Park. This is an area where the great Eric Hosking, a true pioneer of bird photography and a tremendous inspiration to me and many others, spent a great deal of time photographing the local wildlife. In his seminal work, 'An Eye for a Bird' he writes fondly of the park and its environs stating that 'there nested no fewer than eighty species, including such local rarities as stone curlews, water rails, wrynecks, red-backed shrikes, lesser redpolls, Montagu's harriers and hawfinches.'

Oh those halcyon days of the 30's and 40's! Today there may be some water rails in the area but I can guarantee that nobody will come across the others unless they happen to be on passage. I'm sure that the ancient oak woodland has not changed a great deal in that time, apart from the encroachment of bracken. What a damning indictment of modern times that we are rapidly losing so much. For example the once ubiquitous meadow pipit, a bird I took for granted, is now something of a rarity.

Anyhow, enough melancholy, this snapshot of Staverton Park, showing it fenced off to the public, is my tribute to a great man to whom I owe so much.

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Sad how we humans destroy what we love! Now that oak is a real tree-hugger's beaut! Maybe >150 years? The trunk size could make it 400 years? because they grow much slower there than here. We have some 200 + years oaks in the Cape

Kathy G said:

There is a park about 1 mile from my house - Bowring Park. I was there last week during the evening (well, about 11 pm - I was participating in a night photography workshop). Anyway, I thought it looked best as a B&W.

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That looks fantastic in B&W Kathy. Great image. Nicely done!

DRwyoming said:

That looks fantastic in B&W Kathy. Great image. Nicely done!

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Thanks Dave.