© 2012. All rights reserved (to use please ask permission: NiblettEL@gmail.com)

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS BIRD IS PLEASE?
Taken 20 January 2012 at 10:51:00 am in Oradour Fanais France, 3 metres from my kitchen window, with a Nikon D300, The broken stem is of the giant grass Arundo donax.
POSTNOTE: Thanks to Dan (Mr & Mrs Apteryx australis in comment below) I can now add the bird's name to the title. Many thanks Dan.
ONE SECOND LATER: Another shot, takenjust 1 second after this one, though posted to flickr much later, together with information about the genus can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/lorre_01/6730388747/in/photostream/

Tags:   Birds Eurasian Nuthatch Charente France

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WILD FLOWERS IN MY GARDEN -- DANDELION
Taken 30 March 2016, Dandelions are so common that we tend not to look closely enough to appreciate their beauty.
Camera;Nikon D600
Lens: 105 mm Micro Nikkor ƒ/2.8
Exposure settings: ƒ/3.5; 1/800 sec; ISO 100
File ref: 20160330-DSC_4730©ELN

Tags:   Wild Flowers garden

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'I've never turned over a fig leaf yet that didn't have a price tag on the other side.' - Saul Bellow :)

Fig leaves emerging from bud.
Taken today, 4 April, 2017 in my garden.
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 105 mm
Manual settings: ƒ/4.8; 1/3000 sec; ISO 200
File ref: 20170404-DSC_0214

Tags:   macro Fig Fig leaf; Nature Spring growth New life leaves bud opening bud

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It's esay to see why sumacs are grown mainly for their brilliant autumn foliage colour. They can set a dark corner of a garden ablaze in October/November, especially when side-lit (as in this case) or backlit by direct sunlight. Were it not for their tendency to sucker vigorously and sprout up yards from the parent plant, (perhaps in the middle of a lawn!) I'm sure they would be more widely planted.

Here an aperture of ƒ4 was used on a 200mm lens to isolate this composite leaf and render out-of-focus those further way from the lens. The dark interior of the shrub/tree provides stark contrast to this sidelit leaf. The directional light is streaming from behind-and-right as the leaves rim-lit on their right reveal. Taken (with permission from the house owner) at 12:11 pm on 29 October, 2012, in the hamlet of Saint Coutant, alongside the main road (D740), between Alloue and Champange Moutonne in the Poitou-Charentes. Camera: Nikon D300.

Image: © Errol Niblett. All rights reserved
(to use, please ask permission: NiblettEL@gmail.com)

Tags:   Nature Trees Leaves Autumn Autumn colour Sumac Orange red

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