Caught these Mallard ducks as the sun was sinking – I thought the duck’s pose a little unusual, almost as if she was dancing.
—Stephen G. Hipperson—
“Not now, Salome!”
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Category Archives: Nature
Just Turning Over
—Stephen G. Hipperson—
Faffing About
Taken at the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) site at Bempton Cliffs, East Riding of Yorkshire in the UK. My visit was an attempt to see my first Albatross – whilst I did see a small spec on the sea which I was reliably informed was THE Albatross, I shall revisit again next year if the bird deems appropriate to return. (I’ve not claimed it as a ‘tick’.)
It’s not so exciting here at the moment so I’ve been faffing about with an image or two – probably a bit too much with one!
—Stephen G. Hipperson—
Garden Birds in the Gloom
Thick cloud here today. A couple of strangers visited our garden feeders today – a Blackcap and two female Chaffinches. Blackcaps tend to be summer migrants but during most winters we get to see a least one pass through. And Chaffinches, although by no means uncommon in the UK, rarely if ever visit our garden nowadays – must be several months since the last.
Male Blackap (puffed up against the cold).
Female Chaffinch
Starling
—Stephen G. Hipperson—
Merry Christmas
I couldn’t come up with some snow but these Robins always look a bit festive.
If you drink have a nip of something to warm you through, if not, take some extra time to make yourself a satisfying beverage just how you like it. And look after yourselves – remember, without you there’s no us.
All the best.
—Stephen G. Hipperson—
Texture
An aged fallen tree. I love the texture of dry decaying tree trunks.
—Stephen G. Hipperson—
Grey Wagtail
Azorian race ‘patriciae’ of Grey Wagtail (Motacillia cinereal).
—Stephen—
Madeiran Wall Lizard
Seen on Sao Miguel – a naturalised immigrant from the Madeiran Islands.
—Stephen—
Sperm Whale (Just)
The primary reason for our visit to the Azores was for the opportunity to see a whale – not dolphins, porpoises or the like, but a genuine whale. The first few days we were there the sea was too rough for the sightseeing boats to go out. A calmer day was forecast so we booked to go – with the chance to see a Sperm whale. Off we set in a double-decker boat. On the journey out they gave us a talk on what we might see – setting our expectations. A whale was spotted so we headed for it.
A Sperm whale has its blow hole on the front of its head which made the sight of it a little unexpected. We watched the whale for about 15 minutes as it hyperventilated before its next dive. The whale took a last breath and then upended, tail in the air, and disappeared below the surface.
Footnote: I little confession here – I was lucky to get any pictures at all, indeed it took a great deal of mental fortitude on my part. Just prior to us spotting the whale I had an attack of the landlubbers nightmare – fortunately the boat was equipped with an ample supply of ‘just the right size’ plastic bags. From what I saw, several others had similar problems. I was fine until the boat stopped and again when the boat resumed it’s forward motion back to port. I wasn’t swell in the swell!
—Stephen—
Roots II
Further to my previous, I thought it might be worth demonstrating how big the roots of this tree were. One without and another with a seeming mote of a human for scale.
—Stephen—
Stephen G Hipperson 