Aaah!

Li'l red robin.

Mumbles Lighthouse

Mumbles lighthouse is near Swansea. The Kittiwakes lined up for their portraits.

Graffiti

Taken on the South Bank.

Swan getting airborne

Like bees, swans were never meant to fly, but they do.

Eventually.

Javelin

Duxford's Gloster Javelin.

Aussie Lizards

Bearded Lizard (Amphibolurus Barbatus) from the Australian deserts.

Raven cruising

There must be quite a large brain in that domed head. It was using the updraft from cliffs to search the shoreline.

Piece of Cake

Willy Hackett? Of course he will. Mr Hackett was the pilot of this 1930's Dagling training glider at Old Warden in October.

Old Cogs

I tried this pic in both colour and B&W. Colour and bit of posterization seemed to suit it best.

Coal Yard

The coal yard at the Black Country Museum, Dudley.

Car Park

Creative car park colouring on a Sunday.

Lantern

A light-box treatment of a frail seed pod.

Breaking Rock's Halloween Gig

Breaking Rock: Jo on vocals, Pete on keys, Matt on guitar, Sean on bass and Ann on drums

More Shuttleworth Birds

The light was dramatic at Old Warden this afternoon and got better as the sun sank. These are the Hawker Demon and the Gloster Gladiator.

King Vulture

One of the Shuttleworth birds.

Fulmar

Another image from Hunstanton earlier in the year. As the bird turned, the sunset was reflected from the ochre-red cliffs onto its underside.

Walking on Water

It's just the shallows on Wells-next-the-Sea beach that make it look as if Olly is running on water.

Jupiter Engine

A cylinder head and valve gear of the Bristol Jupiter aero engine at Shuttleworth.

Scary Spider

Must be dangerous to something with stripy legs like that. From the other side it looks like a burger bun.

Willie

By 'eck, did ah really say that? Ee bah gum!

Winnie

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all babies look like Winston Churchill. Young Finley is doing his best to live up to the tradition. Once he had belched a few times, he looked more like William Hague.

Red 'Kite'

Sorry about the ancient slang! I just like the colours of this picture.

Red Kite

This kite with the fancy tail and missing wing feather was a frequent visitor to the Black Mountain site. I love the curiosity in this look at the flickering mirror of my camera.

Lunch Control

These flying cats just try too-oo hard ....

Launch Control

One of the eagle owls at Shuttleworth leaving his perch. Talk about "flying cats"!

Frog

A friendly neighbourhood frog in our pond.

Lapwing

A chiaroscuro of one of my favourite birds, with lovely iridescence on the wing.

Stone Age Electrician

A combination of textures, colour and era seen in sculptor John McGill's garden. I didn't notice the dragonfly on the statue's head at the time.

Canon Can

An amusing photo opportunity at the preserved prefab at Duxford.

Twiggy 2

Time for a change from black and white to .. er.. black and white (with a touch of red). This bird deserves the 'twiggy' title more than our kindling-collecting kite. Aerial elegance.

Beyond Repair?

Probably.

Miner's Bedroom, Blaenavon

This view is from the miners' cottages at the Ironworks Museum at Blaenavon.

kite art

This is one answer to the question of what to do with the less well-focussed pictures.

Nora No.5

Nora is one of the exhibits at the Big Pit Museum at Blaenavon, where black and white was again suitable. Not so suitable was a photograph of Margaret Thatcher under a sign saying 'Mines Rescue Service'.

Twiggy

Another of the snaps of this handsome bird. We were spoiled for photographic opportunities, and I remembered my 1982 trip to mid-Wales with Gerry Cotter where we had a only a couple of sightings of far-away kites.

Dudley scene

The broad streets of Dudley town centre have more than their share of empty shops.

Blue Sky Buzzard

This is a dream image for a bird photographer - beautifully-marked buzzard, every feather, leg and eye sharp. Mid-Wales, 300mm lens, 1/2500th sec. at f/9.

Red Kite

After yesterday's rain at the Black Mountain Kite Site, today brought better light. The sky was full of thermalling kites and buzzards, but we had to wait more than two hours from the official feeding time before the birds came down, and by then everybody else had gone. Autofocus worked better when the kites came towards the camera and were big in the frame.

Black and white cows

After using a DSLR for ages, I discovered that you can take photos in black and white. And add filtration. So I chose a suitable subject. The oil refinery in the background is at Rhoscrowther.

Sparrowhawk

While photographing peregrines and kestrels on Ramsey Island, a sparrowhawk appeared and hung in the updraft long enough to be snapped. No idea what it was doing there - it's a woodland bird and there wasn't a single tree or even a bush on the island.

Museum of Speed

Parry-Thomas's restored car 'Babs' at the museum overlooking Pendine Sands, where the speed records were made.

Catching Kittiwakes in Flight

While fishing off Mumbles Pier, this young fisherman caught a kittiwake flying past. Ann held the bird while two fishermen untangled the line and the cross bird flew off unharmed.

Kittiwake Capers

This juvenile kittiwake was refused permission to land back on Mumbles Pier by the older generation.

Ann in cafe

For two days now I've been reminded to get out of the 180 degree view of her fisheye lens, so I took this flattering pic of her with it, but as usual it turned out nice again! Barry Island.

Stuffed Crufts

Surprisingly real toys from Crufts 2009

Oystercatchers on the Orwell

Two oystercatchers who waited for hours in the same place to have their photo taken.