CHARMING little reedbed specialist has a rather compact, rounded body and a proportionately very long tail. The distinctive call has earned the species the affectionate nickname of "pinger" which utters a diagnostic, high-pitched ping call.. Was overjoyed to get this chance encounter at Oare Marshes in Kent of a male, as I normally only see the female or juveniles, a bit of a nemesis bird for me.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP, its a joy seeing your images and being transported around the world without leaving my armchair. Beautiful sunshine in the U.K at last, enjoy but stay safe............God bless......................Tomx

Small, compact duck with a long, fan-shaped tail, often held sticking up out of water. Breeding males have a chestnut body, black cap, white cheek, and baby-blue bill. Winter males have a brown body, black cap and white cheek. Females and immature males are brown overall with a dark cap and dark line through the cheek. Often in tight groups bobbing like corks on ponds and bays. Dives to forage on aquatic invertebrates. Not often seen flying. (eBird)

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Here is the handsome Ruddy Duck (and he knows it), looking for a conquest.

John E. Poole Wetland, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada. June 2022.

High density

Packed stack

Seasonal distribution

Italy 2017, processed 2024

.. found in LU .. it's a piece of art placed at the location of the historic Rheinschanze .. happy Sunday!

Compact Rush (Juncus conglomeratus) plants growing in one of the moorland pools on Broadlee-Bank Tor below Grindslow Knoll.

A woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are over three hundred species and thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, climbing, or trailing, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers vary in size and shape and are usually large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows and reds. Most species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers native to Europe, North America, and northwestern Africa. Species, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and often are fragrant. Roses have acquired cultural significance in many societies. Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach seven meters in height. Different species hybridize easily, and this has been used in the development of the wide range of garden roses. 18480

Another photo of the Compact Rush plants growing in the smaller of the two moorland pools on Broadlee-bank Tor below Grindslow Knoll in Edale.

Panasonic DMC-TZ3

f/4.8 - 29.2 mm - 1/125 - ISO 100

For Macro Mondays - Hole

I was struggling to come up with a hole for this week, out of time, then this morning I had to burn a CD so decided to use that.

Happy Macro Monday!

#sliderssunday

#Shocktober

#Halloween

Creepy encounter with the Bogeyman. Or maybe the Boogie Man? Because who says abandoned sanatoriums must be creepy places haunted by the poor souls of the people who once had been treated there? The artists that have decorated a wing of one of the many buildings of this long abandoned lung sanatorium nearby Berlin must have believed the latter, because almost all of the art there is horror-themed, just like this enormous creature consisting of branches (Blair Witch, anyone?). But, wait a minute... There are branches, but there are also cables, and coloured light bulbs. Party lights! And seriously, can a creature who partly consists of colourful party lights be evil? Just imagine him all lit up like a Christmas Tree ;)

This reminded me of an anecdote my mother, magrit k., once had heard during a guided tour at Beelitz Heilstätten (another old, but no longer abandoned sanatorium also nearby Berlin). And that anecdote gives rise to doubts that these sanatoriums were per se sad places, places of pain and suffering: Back in the day (at the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century), as you might have guessed, men's and women's dormitories were strictly seperated from each other. But that didn't stop the patients from finding ways to visit each other at night. How? At one point, someone had found access to the underground logistic passages which connected the entire building complex. Those passages were off-limits for the patients, of course, but has "off-limits" ever stopped anyone? So, at least for some time, there there must have been quite a busy nightlife with regular, merry get-togethers among the patients, before the hospital's management noticed what was going on, and put an end to those "indecencies" by locking the passages for anyone except authorised personnel ;)

So maybe also this sanatorium isn't haunted by lost souls, but the spirits that linger there are of a good-natured, happy kind instead. And the creature in my photo isn't the Bogeyman, but DJ Boogie Man. So let the fun begin :)

HSS, Everyone!

Bi-Ba Butzemann

Gut, nachts im Dunkeln, womöglich noch ganz allein, möchte ich dieser schauerlichen Zweig-Kreatur (die Blair Witch lässt grüßen), die ich 2018 bei einem Fotowalk mit Flickr-Freunden in einem Gebäude einer verlassenen Lungenheilstätte bei Berlin (nicht Beelitz) gefunden hatte, nicht begegnen. Vielleicht ist sie aber gar nicht so furchterregend, wie sie auf den ersten Blick aussieht? Denn wenn man genauer hinsieht, merkt man, dass der Körper dieses Butzemanns nicht nur aus Zweigen, sondern auch aus Kabeln und bunten Glühlampen besteht. Und eine bunte Party-Lichterkette ist doch so ziemlich das Gegenteil von furchterregend, oder?

Und wer sagt eigentlich, dass in verlassenen Heilstätten auf ewig die verlorenen Seelen der armen ehemaligen "Insassen" herumspuken? Vielleicht spuken sie ja herum, haben aber ihren Spaß dabei? Das lässt zumindest eine Anekdote vermuten, die meine Mutter (magrit k.) mal bei einer Führung durch die ehemalige Lungenheilstätte Beelitz erzählt bekommen hatte: Zur Glanzeit von Beelitz, Ende des 19. / Anfang des 20. Jhdt., waren die Schlafsäle von Männlein und Weiblein natürlich brav voneinander getrennt, handelte es sich doch schließlich um ein anständiges Haus. Was allerdings die Patienten nicht davon abhielt, sich des Nachts gegenseitigen Besuch abzustatten. Wie? Irgendjemand hatte wohl mal die – fahrlässigerweise unverschlossenen, aber natürlich nicht öffentlichen – Versorgungsgänge unterhalb der Gebäude entdeckt. Beelitz muss also eine zeitlang ein recht reges Nacht- und Partyleben gehabt haben. Bis zu dem Zeitpunkt, als jemand von der Krankenhausleitung das bunte Treiben bemerkt und dafür gesorgt hatte, dass die Versorgungsgänge nunmehr stets verschlossen zu sein hatten.

Vielleicht ist also dieser Butzemann gar keine finstere Kreatur, sondern ein fideler DJ, der zur Geisterstunde die Platten zur allnächtlichen Sanatoriumsparty auflegt. Wie heißt es schon im bekannten, evtl. bis dato falsch interpretierten Kinderlied: "Es tanzt ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann in unserm Haus herum, fidebum. (...) Er rüttelt sich, er schüttelt sich (...), es tanzt ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann in unserm Haus herum." Vielleicht haben wir hier gerade wieder einen Mythos entzaubert ;)

Smile on Saturday

on Pure White

Challenge on flickr

Object/High Key

Ford Falcon - San Nicolas de los Arroyos - Rio Parana - Buenos Aires Province - Argentina - 26/8/2011

Canon Powershot A710is

Fiat 500, Mehetabel Road, Hackney

A mum and her two young lamb's resting in a field in Eryri national park in North Wales

:-)

Amazing how the big the wings of the brown Pelican can fold down into a very compact flying torpedo. The brown pelican can dive head first into water to catch a meal. And seagulls often try to steal their catch out. I hope to catch the seagull getting away with the theft on camera soon.

Macro Mondays

Theme: Plastic

Size: Less than 3x3 inches

There are 2 kinds of plastic here ....a section of clear sticky tape folded over a few times resting in the middle of a CD ( Compact Disc ). There are 3 light sources, the room down light, at 12 o'clock, an incandescent light at 11 o'clock and a LED torch light beneath the CD. Back ground colours are from a blue cloth and my trusted yellow physio stretch band.

Many thanks for your visit, comments and favs....it is always appreciated.

HMM

Shooting in RAW with the Lumix DMC-TZ80 compact camera is especially important in making black and white conversions. It is possible to select a monochrome jpeg option in camera, but I always want to have full control over my conversions. That way you can get a richer tonal range.

Hooded Merganser {Lophodytes cucullatus } @ Kenny's pond St John's NL,,Canada

Samsung WB700 compact

Situated in the picturesque Forest of Bowland stands Parlick Pike (right, 1,417 ft) leading to Fairnape Fell (left, 1,706 ft) captured on a glorious mid-September day.

There has been evidence since the Bronze Age of the elevations being part of a chain of ‘beacon hills’, used to signal warnings, such as an impending invasion.

This was done via a bonfire being lit at night (or smoke created in the daytime) at the highest point of the hill. On seeing the alert, the person charged with being the ‘lookout’ would light their fire and the signal would be communicated along the chain.

This particular spot is a haven for fixed wing gliders, hang gliders, paragliders and modellers. Indeed, the airfield of the Bowland Forest Gliding club is just out of shot on the right.

If you squint hard enough you can probably see a few paragliders in the photograph.

The prevailing sea breeze and steep inclines create great conditions for the skilled pilots, and when the sun shines, columns of warm air, known as thermals provide extra lift. Which I’m sure is much appreciated both by the pilots and the local birds alike.

Ricoh GR

Active qualities

Inhabited meaning

Function spectacle

Uses ultra-compressed fluid good for roughly 60 seconds of expulsion per canister.

Erin, doing what girls do, by the window.

Me, doing what I do, by the window.

To everyone that has left a comment or has graced the photo by faving it, thank you, thank you, thank you...

Taken during my afternoon promenade using my good old compact. Shot in raw and processed in LR.

View from the hill (near the church of Saint George) on the Old Town in Piran :)

Piran is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. The town is known for its medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses and it's one of Slovenia's major tourist attractions. Architecture of Piran resembles the Italian Venice, to which it belonged in the past, together with Istria. Most of the buildings, as well as the medieval walls separating the city from the rest of the mainland, also come from this period. In the middle of the town is the Tartini Square, with a monument in memory of Giuseppe Tartini. Nearby are located various important buildings, such as Tartini’s house, first mentioned in 1384 and one of the oldest in town, the Municipal Palace. The area of Piran has been inhabited since ancient times. The name of the town most probably originates from the Greek "pyros", meaning fire, due to ancient lighthouses which were supposed to be on the edge of the marina. From 1283 to 1797, the town became part of the Republic of Venice and then was annexed to the Austrian Empire. In 1954 The town was annexed to Yugoslavia.

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Widok ze wzgórza (przy kościele św. Jerzego) na starówkę w Piranie :)

Piran – miasto w Słowenii, siedziba gminy Piran, położone na skalistym cyplu, jest jednym z najatrakcyjniejszych turystycznie miejsc nad słoweńskim Adriatykiem, słynnym ze ze średniowiecznej architektury z wąskimi uliczkami i zwartą zabudową. Swą architekturą o przypomina włoską Wenecję, do której wraz z Istrią należało w przeszłości. Z tego okresu pochodzi też większość zabudowy, a także średniowieczne mury, oddzielające miasto od reszty lądu. Reprezentacyjny plac Tartiniego powstał pod koniec XIX wieku, po zasypaniu wewnętrznego basenu portowego (1894). Mieści się przy nim ratusz i budynek sądu oraz zachowana z obwarowań brama św. Jerzego. Obszar Piranu był zasiedlony od czasów antycznych, a nazwa miasta wywodzi się od greckiego "pyrá", oznaczającego ognisko, ponieważ na krańcu półwyspu zapalano ogień jako punkt orientacyjny dla statków płynących do portu Koper. W 1283 wraz z wybrzeżem Istrii Piran przeszedł pod władzę Republiki Weneckiej, zaś po upadku potęgi Wenecji (1797) Piran przeszedł pod panowanie Habsburgów, zaś w 1954r. znalazł się w granicach Jugosławii.

There have been quite a few new benches installed at the John F Kennedy arboretum, all this same design; really dark stained wood & just about long enough for 2 people to sit side by side. Perhaps they will be solo benches in the event of another covid type social distancing event? Who knows what the thinking was behind making them so compact & bijou.

Anyway, the colourful forsythia bushes & variety of distant trees caught my eye, so I took a quick iPhone shot HTmT!

Photo 31/100 : My 100x photos this year will all feature benches or chairs. Catching up with uploading my 100x as I was (am) way behind. I promise to intersperse some non-bench photos too.

View large on black

After a bath Stella poses in the driveway during golden hour,

I like Steveston Harbour because I can always find my favorite reflection.

This is an archive picture and below is the original story posted.

It is close to the end of year. The new year of rabbit starts on Thursday.

This is time for reflection.

Did I have too much fun with my Fuji compact?

Did I do too many panoramas lately?

Did I do too many infrareds?

Should I take more color shots?

Best wishes to my Flickr friends in the new year and hope everybody is getting more great pictures!

Reflection shot in Steveston taken with my Fuji point & shoot again in the weekend.

Compact Rush plants in the snow on Hathersage Moor.