ARCHIVE 558 – WOOD PIGEON (MONO)

 

 

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Wood Pigeon at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire;  11 Aug 2010.

A close in portrait, shot against a dark, unobtrusive background.  Once again, close in use of a telephoto throws the background right out of focus.

The largest of Britain’s pigeons and a common and increasing bird – an agricultural pest and one of the few birds that can be legally shot here.  They are in our garden every day, and I love both the slow, deliberate, ponderous manner in which they waddle around – and the way they clap their wings during their soaring display flights.  I ate a couple a decade or more back but was unimpressed with both the taste and quantity of the meat.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 400 ISO; mono conversion via Capture NX2.

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ARCHIVE 511 – JUST OVER OUR BACK FENCE, IN JANUARY

 

 

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Wood Pigeon, just beyond our back fence; 30 Jan 2010.

The snowy Ash trees make an abstract, with slightly stronger and darker vertical elements either side of the bird, which is nervously looking back at me over its shoulder.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 1600 ISO.

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OUTER SUBURBS 39 – AUTUMN 8

 

 

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Autumn: leaves from a Horse Chestnut tree, and a tail feather from a Woodpigeon.  This is the towering Horse Chestnut, in Church Lane, shown here .

There are earlier autumn posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5 at 91mm (equiv); 500 ISO; flash; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 30 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 19 – MODERN HOUSING 3

 

 

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Three thoughts.

First: the cold, blank, anonymous  and often indifferent face of the Modern World.

Second: an antenna to connect the inhabitants of the Modern House with the Modern World (and, below ground, cable too).

Third: the far freer, if less secure (these days), Natural World.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 53mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 22 Aug 2018.

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OUTER SUBURBS 4: WOOD PIGEON

 

 

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Living creature on nearly new architecture.  The tall fence keeps the world out.

The first image in this series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a  larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 18 Aug 2018.
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BIRDS 106 – WOOD PIGEON

 

 

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Looking up, in Church Lane.

There are other images from Church Lane, and more context, here.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Astia/Soft film simulation; Church Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol; 4 May 2018.
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BIRDS 102 – WOOD PIGEON

 

 

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Adult Wood Pigeon amongst the autumn leaves and raggedly cut grass on our back “lawn”, photographed through the double glazing of the kitchen window – opening the window even a tiny bit would send these birds rocketing frantically away!  Here I tapped very, very gently on the inside of the window to attract their attention and, after a brief glance towards me, they carried on foraging.

A small flock of these pigeons have taken to visiting our back grass, and its a real pleasure seeing them there.

This is in fact an agricultural pest, a bird that anyone can shoot.  And this is a species that I’ve actually eaten but, well, that was nothing to write home about – and anyway I’d far rather be looking at them!

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it yet again – recommended.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Bristol; 23 Nov 2017.
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BIRDS 71 – WOOD PIGEON

 

 

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Wood Pigeon atop the cliffs west of West Bay, Dorset; 23 Apr 2015.

The tree is as important a part of this picture as the bird.  In particular, the greenery left of the bird and the “pistol barrel” it points at the bird’s head, the various bare branchlets that reach up towards upper right, and that branchlet with lichens at lower right, which starts to point towards upper right but then changes its mind and points up at the bird instead.  The tree almost provides a frame, or a throne, for the bird.  (And no, I certainly didn’t see all this before taking the shot!)

In addition to ornithological facts about this bird, a google search also provides recipes for cooking them!  And, birdwatcher that I was and bird lover that I am, this is a British wild bird that I’ve actually eaten – they were part of the lunch at a data analysis meeting >>> wowee!!! all of that seems a lifetime away now!  Anyway, getting back to the birds, I can’t say that the two of them really rose to my gourmet ideals of “a good plateful”.

How can these wild birds be eaten in our Green and Conservationists’ Land?  Well, their numbers have expanded to the extent that they are a major agricultural pest so that, with the right permission, they can legally be shot – although, 40 years ago in Somerset, I remember some country dwellers not bothering about permission and just blasting away.  We even have increasing numbers in our Bristol garden – but we feed them rather than vice versa!

D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 800 ISO.
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ARCHIVE 125 – WOOD PIGEON IN WINTER

 

 

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Wood Pigeon, just beyond our back fence; 30 Jan 2010.

The snowy Ash trees make an abstract, with slightly stronger and darker vertical elements either side of the bird, which is nervously looking back at me over its shoulder.

D700 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 1600 ISO.

UPDATE: this image was first posted not far off four years ago – which comes as something of a shock – it was amongst this blog’s very first public utterances.  Looking at it now with slightly different eyes, I’m tempted to reprocess it, perhaps with slightly more contrast and structure, although not being totally convinced that that would improve it >>>  I’m going to leave it as it is.

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BRISTOL 65 – FOGGY MORNING (MONO)

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Foggy morning along the Wells Road near Broadwalk, south Bristol; 13 Mar 2014.

The huge Plane tree in the foreground has had its branches pruned many times, including recently, giving it its bare, knobbly appearance.  At top left, a pigeon perches, probably a Wood Pigeon, gazing down at the crawling traffic below.  There is another pigeon, further right.  The tree behind retains its growth of thin branches from last year.

Canon G11 PowerShot at 63mm (35mm equivalent); 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Film Noir 1 preset.
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