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Sharpes of Nottingham: (YJ16 EMX) a Van Hool EX16H, painted in silver, black and blue fleet livery and captured here parked up at Donington Park whilst attending the 2017 Showbus event there.
© Christopher Lowe.
Date: 17th September 2017.
Ref No: DSC_20270/PJ.
Pocket Knife
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On April 29th I started my day at 2:45 am. I drove with three friends to a lek in Southern Alberta. We had to be in the blind by 5 am. It sure took a long time before there was enough light to take photos. We could hear the grouse. They were making many sounds and we could see their outlines in the dark. It was another great day. The last time I was out there was two years ago.
This one seemed to be the alpha male. He took a minute to survey the field of birds and gave us a very nice view of detailed plumage that they sport.
I was using a brand new camera so I had many photos to delete and of course far too many photos over all. Most photos were only cropped. I didn't adjust any colors. Some photos are not even cropped.
Thanks for your visits and comments. They are all greatly appreciated!
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Safety razor Merkur 25C - made in Solingen, Germany - loaded with a platinum plated Personna blade, made in Israel. Very sharp... ;-)
Is on explore - thank you all!
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A White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) with the very sharp look was judging surrounding fish movements for the snapping. Pics was taken from Santragachi, W.B., India.
#BioCup2018 round 1 entry.
With his bristly black mustache, stylish hat, and his trusty revolver by his side, this sharp-shootin' desert succulent plant was unstoppable in his day.
Theme was fusion, sub-theme was Western.
My YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCb3RekZ8vQDRahrsvGd-cvg
I decided I'm going to start posting my shots in the morning. Since the weather is becoming nice, I want to spend my afternoons after work getting out to get some pics. In the past, I would go out and feel rushed when I got home to comment and post, so I think this is a good solution. It seemed to work good yesterday, so that is probably what I will do from now on.
This is Sharp-lobed Hepatica. I didn't get a shot I really liked of this species last year, so waited a whole year to get another chance. I was happy with the outcome of this one. :^)
I hope everyone enjoys this image! :^)
The scientific name for this species is: Hepatica nobilis.
ex Dublin Volvo B7TLs make up the bulk of Sparpes of Nottingham's double decker fleet with a few older Volvo Olympians, also from Dublin as well.
This sharp shinned hawk likes it hang out in the trees near our’s and our neighbor’s bird feeder. Quite the handsome bird.
April 9th_2019
Forgive me when I post too many photos of the grouse!
On April 9th 3 friends and I drove south of the city to a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek. This was my second visit to the lek in a number of years and I might not be back there again!
Thanks for your visits, comments and faves! They are all appreciated!
This one was an accident with assistance. I had driven Dolly Brumfield-White, a former player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, back to her home in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
She was showing me things in and around her home when we noticed there were no birds at or near her feeders. It was too quiet. Then, we spotted the reason just several feet away. He posed quite well for the camera.
During White's stint with the Kenosha Comets, she was managed by the legendary Jimmy Foxx (HoF 1951). Naturally, we talked a lot of baseball in this league, which was the brainchild of chewing gum magnate P. K. Wrigley.
Member of Nature’s Spirit
Good Stewards of Nature
We had a male sharp shinned hawk buzzing around our feeders.
He spotted one bird and they swooped around the yard.
He missed but kept coming back.
Based on its hunting skills I think it was a young bird.
Shot through a window.
Accipiter striatus
Female Sharp-shinned Hawks are about a third bigger and heavier than males. This is a typical pattern for many hawks and owls, but otherwise rare in the bird world.
Sharpness station (S&Y Joint). The original station here was a simple terminus at the end of a short branch line from Berkeley Road. It was built by the Midland Railway and opened in 1876. When the Severn Railway Bridge was opened, a new station was built in 1879 for through traffic. In 1894 the line and bridge were sold to the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway who then formed the Severn & Wye Joint Railway. Passenger services ceased in 1964 and freight traffic in 1966.
10/09/1967 [GB 972].
It feels a bit unusual for Sharpes to have a plain white coach. Perhaps this is one they've just bought, or possibly more likely one they're about to sell.
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
8.2.25
Eleven days ago, on 13 April 2015, I was fortunate enough to witness around 24 or 25 Sharp-tailed Grouse displaying at their "lek" or communal dancing ground. On this particular day, five of us went to see this "secret" location on private property. Perhaps a trip of a lifetime!
We had to leave Calgary really early in order to be at the location before the Grouse arrived before sunrise, and we had to stay until they had all left, roughly three hours later. I had been so excited to get photos of this activity, but have to say that I was disappointed with the quality of all my shots, partly due to not the best light, heavily zoomed (Focal Length [35mm format] - 1200 mm), and also to the conditions under which they were taken. The grassy background really didn't help, lol. Still, needless to say, I am very happy to have had this chance and to get any photos at all! e(Towards the end of this mating ritual, a couple of the Grouse came closer to where we were and I managed to get a few closer photos of individuals, including this female (?).
The following 2:30 minute YouTube video by Alberta Conservation Association is very good for showing the action of these birds. Pretty amazing! The birds remind me of a child's wind-up toy : )
A few evenings ago, I came across an excellent brochure (pdf file) about Sharp-tailed Grouse on the Internet and will use some of the information from it, instead of using my own words to describe what goes on at a lek. I had seen females of this species before, on Christmas Bird Counts, but not a male.
"Sharp-tailed grouse perform spring courtship displays on communal “dancing grounds” called leks. Here, males compete for breeding opportunities by displaying their "dancing” ability to females. Most activity on the lek occurs in the early morning just before sunrise and for a few hours afterwards. The males’ energetic display includes fluttering wings, rapid foot stomping and spinning in tight circles - reminiscent of wind-up toys. The most dominant males court females with low cooing sounds and by strutting around them with inflated air sacs on their neck and fanned tail feathers. It is nearly a winner-take-all form of competition, as only a few of the males are selected as mates by the females.
Leks are found in areas with dry open ground, where dancing activity keeps the vegetation well-trampled. Leks are used over several weeks beginning in late March and are often used for years, even decades. They are an important part of sharp-tailed grouse life, and the loss of suitable lek habitat can be a limiting factor for sharp-tailed grouse in Alberta.
Male sharp-tailed grouse gather on the lek in late March. In April the females arrive, sparking increased displaying by the males. Peak attendance by females on the lek occurs between mid to late April in much of Alberta. Once they have selected a male, hens breed once and then seek out a place to nest, usually in late April to early May.
Leks are an integral part of the lifecycle of prairie grouse. Active leks should never be approached, as any disturbance to the birds may disrupt breeding activities and result in the abandonment of the lek. The locations of active and historical leks are of great interest to grouse biologists.
Native North Americans called the sharp-tailed grouse “Fire Bird” because of their reliance on fires to keep their habitat open in wooded areas. Suppression of natural fire in parkland and boreal areas reduces the amount of open grassland available to sharp-tailed grouse.
Sharp-tailed grouse were an important food source for native North Americans and they continue to be a popular game bird for hunters today.
In Alberta, the sharp-tailed grouse is listed as “Sensitive.”
While exact population numbers are not known, there is a feeling that sharp-tailed grouse have decreased significantly in numbers over the past 40 years. This trend is supported by lek counts, hunter surveys, aerial counts and Breeding Bird Survey data. Declining numbers are the result of a reduction in the quality and quantity of sharp-tailed grouse habitat, particularly the loss of quality nesting and brood-rearing habitat." From www.ab-conservation.com.
www.ab-conservation.com/go/default/assets/File/Publicatio...
Sharpes of Nottingham: (D51 LWW) a Van Hool Alizee bodied Volvo B10M, painted in black and grey livery and captured here parked up at Donington Park whilst attending the 2017 Showbus event there.
© Christopher Lowe.
Date: 17th September 2017.
Ref No: DSC_20268/PJ.
Papa-moscas-do-campo (Culicivora caudacuta).
IUCN Red List, Vulnerable.
Altiplano Leste, Distrito Federal, Brazil.
Image of animal in wildlife.
IRIX 15mm f2.4 test shot 07
Newcastle's new Courthouse complex (opened April this year) sits jauntily in the civic precinct; its abundance of acute angles and assertive shapes helping to kick the city into the 21st century.
Bristol - Cardiff train passing through Sharpness Station hauled by a Dean Goods Locomotive No.2322. On the poster board on the end of the building, one can read London Midland & Scottish Railway. The well known grain silo towers in the background. Circa early 1950s
Photo from the Real Photo/Ian Allan collection which seem to have disappeared into the NRM. Quite amazing really - in the pre digital age one could get free catalogues and order various sizes of prints for quite modest prices.
What a treat this morning. Had a Sharp-Shinned Hawk land on the bird house 15 ft from the kitchen window.
This hawk came down and took a titmouse right in front me, these are the only shots I got as he swooped in while my eye was on my viewfinder focusing in on some birds. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this shadow and the next thing I knew he was in the tree feeding. I crept as close as I could and got these shots but that was all I could capture, he flew into some heavy brush.
This was one of four Sharp shinned hawks that passed over my head.
By next week, I think, we will see many more sharp shinned hawks.