Exilian

Off-topic and Chatter: The Jolly Boar Inn => General Chatter - The Boozer => Topic started by: Jubal on October 18, 2019, 10:35:28 PM

Title: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on October 18, 2019, 10:35:28 PM
I think we used to have one of these but it's buried in the dim and distant past, so here's a new one. Post nice and cute and sweet and good things  :)

Firstly, a few more Frankfurt photos I found whilst editing the piece I just posted:
(https://i.imgur.com/k6bMqD3.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/csDMaDj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4qFf2fi.jpg)

And a couple of things I thought were cute from The Webs:
(https://i.imgur.com/06omS39.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lrLSap0.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Tusky on October 20, 2019, 08:10:24 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/0GbKKts.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on October 25, 2019, 09:07:18 AM
Awwwh, excellent cats :)

Some hallowe'en wholesomeness:

(https://swordscomic.com/media/Swords322t.png)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on December 23, 2019, 11:18:12 PM
I believe this is what is usually referred to colloquially as "squad goals":

(https://i.imgur.com/s44tAWI.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Tusky on January 06, 2020, 10:10:47 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/mg5QekP.gif)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Gmd on January 07, 2020, 11:08:52 PM
cat should fear my minions
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on January 09, 2020, 11:32:05 PM
Meanwhile, some of GMD's more specialised agents spotted in North Norfolk recently.

First, teal:
(https://i.imgur.com/unsLpMW.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Cl1eiy5.jpg)


And also shoveler ducks:

(https://i.imgur.com/0Peyl3S.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/MqI5VoG.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Gmd on January 15, 2020, 12:10:25 AM
Always nice to see pics of the family
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on February 03, 2020, 09:51:51 PM
Two offerings for today:

A Very Good Comic:
(https://i.imgur.com/LoPnlbV.jpg)

And a cute rat I saw recently:
(https://i.imgur.com/3ieR1jf.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on May 17, 2020, 11:02:23 PM
Did this walk on the 8th but only just got these online, a bit more Danube-side wildlife :)

The tortoises are painted, I think, the feral north American species. The middle right picture isn't actually a butterfly - it's a latticed heath, a day-flying moth.

(https://i.imgur.com/pyyBgcV.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/KlhZ5eO.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/E3RBTwc.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/PA9DUUE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hcYNU5j.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/ARGDua6.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Leafly on May 18, 2020, 10:15:35 AM
These photos are fantastic Jubal! The beginnings of warmer weather sure looks great doesn't it?!  :)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on May 18, 2020, 10:04:48 PM
Thank you! It's increasingly become a hobby in the last couple of years - it's good to have something that gets me away from my desk now and again :)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Tusky on May 22, 2020, 03:27:32 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/oZcgg7g.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on May 22, 2020, 04:52:45 PM
It's a CAT-CAT :D
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Leafly on May 25, 2020, 02:20:01 PM
Tusky, that's so nice! That kitty looks so lost in thought there, like what on Earth is going on here?!
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on June 12, 2020, 10:11:50 PM
Recentish ones (about 10 days ago) from the Vienna woods :)

This I think is a female blackcap, just a cute shot:

(https://i.imgur.com/vzRv6YE.jpg?1)

Two battle tanks of their kind - a lesser stag beetle (or possibly a female greater stag), and an absolutely humongous boar:

(https://i.imgur.com/lgkdq7j.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/AhM5iqc.jpg)

On the floral side there were some nice columbines around the place:

(https://i.imgur.com/s5Ufc4n.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/JWrYVa9.jpg)

And some other fun flowers as well:

(https://i.imgur.com/pGUUG03.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/WCPsYrG.jpg)

Possibly the real treat of the trip was this black woodpecker which was bizarrely unfazed by me taking a ton of shots of it - I guess not much would really threaten them, they're the size of a crow almost and not many animals will want to take on something that big armed with a very large drill on its face. It was happily hopping around poking into bits of dead wood for food.

(https://i.imgur.com/CGzGbET.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/600fwIL.jpg)

And also some of the nicest kestrel shots I've ever managed to get, this one was also quite obliging and did a bit of preening while I watched.

(https://i.imgur.com/STMYQdC.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/rM2RsB0.jpg)

All in all a good trip :)



Also from today, spoilered in case any arachnophobes are reading, I found a SUPER cute little zebra/jumping type spider on my terrace:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Leafly on June 18, 2020, 09:45:39 AM
These photographs are brilliant :) So many animals and plants, how cool!! What type of camera do you use Jubal?
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on June 30, 2020, 05:36:21 PM
I use a Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ90. It's a very nice little compact camera - not too big and heavy, decent automatic systems. I rarely if ever play around with settings much, I probably should do: generally I'm just reliant on getting fairly close to the animals.

Another walk, this time on the Donauinsel at the north end of the island:

(https://i.imgur.com/po7gdtw.jpg)
Essex skipper. V similar to Small Skipper, but this has black antenna tips so is Essex.
(https://i.imgur.com/QAuqUVl.jpg)
Frog, probably pool frog though I can't tell pool and marsh frogs apart easily.
(https://i.imgur.com/NIp8dSF.jpg)
Silverwashed fritillary, one of the bigger butterflies around.
(https://i.imgur.com/P4Npg5d.jpg)
A great banded grayling, Brintesia circe: this was a new species for me. Very goth looks.
(https://i.imgur.com/XO9cjKG.jpg)
A Marbled White butterfly: these were very common & on the wing everywhere.
(https://i.imgur.com/wXWyxiC.jpg)
A nine spotted moth, also known as yellow-belted burnet. Not something I was v familiar with: very chic "modern household" looks somehow.
(https://i.imgur.com/QUgxHhH.jpg)
The nest of a penduline tit, probably the young have some time since fledged. These are really beautifully crafted hanging structures that the birds make. Sadly I didn't see any penduline tits whilst there, but it's nice to know they're around.
(https://i.imgur.com/wA6CzQv.jpg)
A self explanatory mute swan. There was a flock of about fifty on the side-stream of the Danube when I was there. Fifty birds isn't a big flock for most things, but fifty swans is an impressive looking flotilla.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Leafly on July 01, 2020, 03:42:36 PM
What a fantastic amount of animals and wildlife that you can see without travelling too far! The photos do look great, high quality and professional. You can see a lot of detail of these animals and insects. Great work Jubal! You take some awesome pictures and the ways these were presented on the white/grey background looks cool too!  :)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on July 17, 2020, 10:18:18 AM
Highlights from another trip to Perchtoldsdorfer Heide, mostly butterflies:

(https://i.imgur.com/70RPucx.jpg)
A scarce swallowtail. One of the largest butterflies I've ever seen in the wild, and very impressive.
(https://i.imgur.com/zpwMojP.jpg)
A clouded yellow butterfly.
(https://i.imgur.com/i2hiQkr.jpg)
A rock grayling or wood grayling, hard to say which.
(https://i.imgur.com/JUZi2Hm.jpg)
Another rock or wood grayling, sharing its flower with a bee.
(https://i.imgur.com/BBNMu5b.jpg)
A hovering kestrel - they tend to hang very still in the air and drop rapidly to catch small mammals.
(https://i.imgur.com/Eev9JIA.jpg)
A landed kestrel observes the landscape below.
(https://i.imgur.com/CmKQmSG.jpg)
I think this is a smallish silverwashed fritillary.
(https://i.imgur.com/y2cCgvr.jpg)
A speckled wood butterfly.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on July 23, 2020, 01:44:17 PM
I feel like I have kind of taken this thread over with wildlife photography. Should I make a separate thread for that?

Anyway, I went to Meidling cemetery and there were HAMSTERS! They're very visible, I went at 5pm and saw plenty in the hour and a half after that, mostly wandering around foraging. They're not super easy to photograph given that they're often moving, quite skittish, and tend to forage near to their burrows so can disappear rapidly and easily. However, with patience some will stay relaxed enough for one to get within a metre or so at which distance even my camera can get some pretty good shots. They also have a taste for grave candles on top of their standard diet of grass seeds and suchlike, presumably because of the high fat/oil content.

(https://i.imgur.com/XnmRkxa.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/DfZwXAd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cgD7SKb.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/4l4vWN2.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lFc3rZD.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/gIZOeUi.jpg)

I also got a video of one foraging on the ground:

And of the one I saw having a go at a candle:
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Tusky on July 23, 2020, 02:05:11 PM
Awwwwww. They are very sweet looking critters.

Nice shots!
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on July 27, 2020, 03:08:26 PM
Yes! Unfortunately their populations are collapsing globally. They recently got IUCN red listed as critically endangered with some estimates suggesting the species may not survive into the middle of this century :(
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Leafly on July 28, 2020, 09:02:36 AM
Beautiful! They look so cool!!! :)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on August 01, 2020, 11:17:25 PM
Hard to follow the hamsters, but a few things from a walk to the Danube wetlands:

A photogenic heron who was good about staying still while I took this:

(https://i.imgur.com/XFv0IGi.jpg)

A dryad butterfly, which as the name implies is a woodland species - fairly big, somewhat understated in colouration but pretty all the same and impressive when flapping around the place in decent numbers:

(https://i.imgur.com/J78Vdsq.jpg)

And some European pond tortoises. I'd seen painted turtles, a feral species common in Europe, on the Donauinsel in the past, and I'd seen tortoises in the Danube wetlands once before but hadn't clocked what species they were at the time, so it was nice to confirm that this native species was present in the near part of the wetlands. (To tell the difference - painted turtles have stripy faces, as do the other main feral species, the red-eared slider, whereas European pond tortoises have the spotty colouration shown).

(https://i.imgur.com/4utTzGH.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on August 14, 2020, 10:58:14 AM
Aaaaand time for another dump of cute animals :)

First, from home - this greenfinch visited my birdfeeder quite a bit recently. It's a juvenile, as shown by its very streaky/spotty breast colouration.

(https://i.imgur.com/1SaJfhF.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/oAUJf4E.jpg)

The rest of these are from a walk up through the vineyards and woods north of Vienna which I did yesterday. Didn't get many birds - one frustrating sighting of a woodpecker which was too quick to get the identifying details, and occasional common small birds - but this nuthatch while I was having lunch was nice to see.

(https://i.imgur.com/IoYZSG9.jpg?1)

I had a range of butterflies on the walk - brown argus, meadow brown, silverwashed fritillary, and a very ragged (half-dead honestly) scarce swallowtail coming to the end of its life.

(https://i.imgur.com/4cVE710.jpg?1)(https://i.imgur.com/JKXx8DV.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/1B0YCJ0.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/IfjViGG.jpg)

There were a few interesting beetles too - some sort of shield bug, and some rather larger beetle (beetle ID is not something I know where to get started on for the most part).

(https://i.imgur.com/aoRY0EQ.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/TlqSfVT.jpg)

Back in the lepidoptera, people often think of moths just as night-fliers, but there are some big impressive day flying ones too - this is a Jersey Tiger, similar in size to most butterflies and very impressive.

(https://i.imgur.com/uZ3mwPC.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/YwWC6Wn.jpg)

This was perhaps the nicest thing of the day though: some sort of underwing moth, with fantastic tree camouflage as you can see from the first picture. The first three are all the same individual, I think the last might have been a different one but likely the same species, and you can see the eponymous bright underwing section which is hidden under the dull camouflage of the upper wing.

(https://i.imgur.com/27n1oQF.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/yU0TC1l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7jtjDce.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/EErbHU1.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Leafly on August 14, 2020, 11:40:18 AM
These are some quality photos and all of your previous ones. It must be so cool to see all of these creatures on a walk and totally awesome that you can tell which species are which. Always the coolest photographs, thank you for posting these they're lovely Jubal!!  :)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Gmd on August 15, 2020, 03:29:25 PM
love all thes widlife pics
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on January 16, 2021, 04:42:06 PM
I recently realised I hadn't posted in here in months, so here are some highlights from the later part of 2020:

(https://i.imgur.com/rZ6TI4L.jpg)
A young boar (late August)
(https://i.imgur.com/M1XRyoS.jpg)
A hamster with acorns (September)
(https://i.imgur.com/MMLIlzF.jpg)
Hamster peering round a grave (September)
(https://i.imgur.com/KK39h7R.jpg)
A green woodpecker (September)
(https://i.imgur.com/Wb5xjGk.jpg)
A spotted flycatcher (September)
(https://i.imgur.com/aGlbcNC.jpg)
A kingfisher (September)
(https://i.imgur.com/eHY4o1f.jpg)
A little bittern (September)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZxmEYa1.jpg)
A tree sparrow (October)
(https://i.imgur.com/jQdl3sI.jpg)
A crested tit (October)
(https://i.imgur.com/sw5oLrq.jpg)
A female black redstart (October)
(https://i.imgur.com/z1cCju6.jpg)
A lesser-spotted woodpecker (November)
(https://i.imgur.com/S9Om1h0.jpg)
A roe deer (December)


And a wholesome but non-widlife image in the form of the tiny snowman I made on impulse today since we had a decent snowfall here in Vienna :)

(https://i.imgur.com/EQITuVn.jpg)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on February 27, 2021, 12:08:59 PM
Update! Yes, it's a ton more wildlife photos, what did you expect?

Two favourites from recently and then I've spoilered a bunch of the rest in case I'm making this thread hard to scroll (in which case apologies). I now have two cameras which is nice - the new one is a rather heavier-duty model, offering 65x zoom, a big advantage over the 30x my old one has. It does have some drawbacks: unlike my little camera which has a touchscreen and tap-point focus, the focus on the big camera is a clunkier procedure which is quite tricky when trying to get smaller bird pictures sharp. The angling of the screen is also less good so for shots where I'd need to crouch for a flower or invertebrate the little camera still has uses. However, the new one has come into its own rather for much of this update, because January and February is waterfowl season on the Danube as all the winter migrants are here, so being able to zoom for much better pictures of mid-channel birds is a big advantage.

And thus, pictures.

This is probably the most special bird of the winter: I did what will probably be my last winter-waterfowl walk of the year back on Tuesday, and I'd been umming and aahing over whether to do that or head to somewhere more inland to see if the warmer weather had awoken some flowers and sousliks yet. I eventually decided to have one more go at the Donauinsel walk and was rewarded with a sighting of a male smew, the first time I've ever seen one. I saw a female paddling around with some goosanders a week or so earlier which was the first time I'd seen the species (interestingly the German name for them is pretty literally "dwarf merganser" which makes more sense looking at the females next to one another). The male is really very distinctive anyway, as you can see, with an extremely fancy looking head crest. I was quite pleased with the picture given it's quite a small duck and was in the middle of the channel so right at the end of where my zoom could get even with the new camera.
(https://i.imgur.com/0J6xROy.jpg)

This is less interesting for the bird and more just for the light on the water - the bird in silhouette is a little grebe, which are very small and fluffy denizens of the Danube, here all year round I think but much more visible in winter. The light quality was just really nice, I thought.
(https://i.imgur.com/zXwTzwT.jpg)



And if you want yet more from recent months, here they are:

JANUARY
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

FEBRUARY
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on February 28, 2021, 12:15:10 PM
A non-wildlife cuteness found on the webs:

(https://i.imgur.com/WsessAf.png)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on August 13, 2021, 07:18:46 PM
Not posted any wildlife shots in ages, so here's a bit of Viennese summer :) These are from several walks and locations around the city & in no particular order:

(https://i.imgur.com/pcJlZjE.jpg)

A Brown Argus butterfly
(https://i.imgur.com/2kJ7Sg7.jpg)

A wall lizard, seen at a small ruined castle in the hills
(https://i.imgur.com/EzvBYdh.jpg)

A Lesser Purple Emperor - the incredible blue sheen is iridescence & visible only at some angles
(https://i.imgur.com/fPWWmBQ.jpg)

A young wild boar in the woods near the city.
(https://i.imgur.com/vaMvJDn.jpg)

Brintesia circe, the Great Banded Grayling butterfly. I don't actually know why it's named after the witch of Odyssey fame.
(https://i.imgur.com/tay3Spv.jpg)

A male red-backed shrike, known as "butcher birds" for keeping larders of impaled insects on thorn bushes.
(https://i.imgur.com/nCHQO77.jpg)

An alpine longhorn beetle, very strikingly blue, found in the Lainzer tiergarten.
(https://i.imgur.com/vy3poLP.jpg)

A curious baby field hamster, from Meidling cemetery.
(https://i.imgur.com/Inieqei.jpg)

Some more hamsters, watching some humans pass by a few metres away,
(https://i.imgur.com/TeMdXNq.jpg)

A red squirrel - probably young given its lack of ear tufts.
(https://i.imgur.com/yuJr1XG.jpg)

A sugary pink water-lily at the Alte Donau Wasserpark.
(https://i.imgur.com/SRJTYlz.jpg)

A cygnet. Most baby swans are grey (hence the "Ugly Duckling") but this one was a striking white more like the adults.
(https://i.imgur.com/PLVSQv3.jpg)

A European pond tortoise. Smaller and spottier than the bigger painted turtles that are now more common in Europe's cities.
(https://i.imgur.com/HRzo45f.jpg)

A yellowhammer, at Perchtoldsdorfer Heide, singing raucously.
(https://i.imgur.com/w8rhI5A.jpg)

An orchid, at Perchtoldsdorfer Heide - probably a Woodcock Orchid.
(https://i.imgur.com/x2EwhEU.jpg)

Orobanche, or broom-rape, a parasitic flower (hence the lack of green) that taps into the roots of another species.
(https://i.imgur.com/9eQJSF6.jpg)

A burnt orchid, at Perchtoldsdorfer Heide.
(https://i.imgur.com/nABdPNh.jpg)

A meadow brown - common, and very variable in exact markings - with Perchtoldsdorf in the background.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Pentagathus on August 16, 2021, 02:54:12 PM
Wall lizard is cool lizard
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on August 22, 2021, 10:57:21 AM
Wall lizard is cool lizard
Yeah, they were living in the two remaining walls of an old castle tower up in the forest. I quite liked the idea that once the knights had gone, the little dragons crept back in :)



Also please enjoy this small kobold with big hat:
(https://i.imgur.com/nYDibna.png)

Source: https://twitter.com/siggymcc/status/1428391033419620358
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on December 28, 2021, 04:00:48 PM
Time for a dump of my autumn and early winter pictures from Vienna, I think :) More of the usual really when it comes to wildlife, but I think there are a few nice pictures in there and I hope you enjoy them.

(https://i.imgur.com/c059GuG.jpg)
A painted tortoise (feral pet species) at the Old Danube Wasserpark.
(https://i.imgur.com/HjdPFVK.jpg)
A male black redstart at Perchtoldsdorfer Heide.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZJTiMyN.jpg)
Autumn gentians at Perchtoldsdorfer Heide.
(https://i.imgur.com/2w55da2.jpg)
A hovering kestrel at Perchtoldsdorfer Heide.
(https://i.imgur.com/taB5gTr.jpg)
A wild field hamster at Meidling cemetery.
(https://i.imgur.com/07gxa02.jpg)
Another field hamster at Meidling cemetery.
(https://i.imgur.com/W5vyq50.jpg)
A goldfinch at Vienna's central cemetery.
(https://i.imgur.com/rt5rW3b.jpg)
A green woodpecker at Vienna's central cemetery.
(https://i.imgur.com/nz3URIC.jpg)
A female house sparrow, near the Neue Donau Ubahn station.
(https://i.imgur.com/wHgNqql.jpg)
A red squirrel at the Old Danube Wasserpark.
(https://i.imgur.com/CygkEgH.jpg)
A wren foraging atop a beaver's dam on the Donauinsel.
(https://i.imgur.com/YmnDqYB.jpg)
A kingfisher at the Old Danube Wasserpark.
(https://i.imgur.com/z6TVVx3.jpg)
A nuthatch in the Volksgarten, central Vienna.
(https://i.imgur.com/uwl2wIW.jpg)
A red squirrel at the  Erholungsgebiet Wienerberg.
(https://i.imgur.com/GeCjSXm.jpg)
A brown rat at the Erholungsgebiet Wienerberg.
(https://i.imgur.com/646YjwI.jpg)
A jay at the Erholungsgebiet Wienerberg.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Silver Wolf on January 27, 2022, 05:43:45 PM
(https://scontent-prg1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/271983246_348273763784233_4537073215347150303_n.png?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=mRCHVSO9Lx0AX-gmJl5&_nc_ht=scontent-prg1-1.xx&oh=03_AVIhYw4h1CsAF6IO1qUAT5fz1pL5Wzr_N8ghI9kgFnMIWQ&oe=6218D1A0)
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Pentagathus on January 27, 2022, 05:54:33 PM
He has a mole on his hand
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on January 27, 2022, 07:43:22 PM
I think that's a fairly newborn echidna puggle rather than a mole?
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: dubsartur on January 27, 2022, 09:28:23 PM
Do you bring a camera with lens that can move back and forth, or just a cell phone camera?  You make good closeups.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on January 27, 2022, 09:45:11 PM
Do you bring a camera with lens that can move back and forth, or just a cell phone camera?  You make good closeups.

For my stuff? I have two cameras, both with decent optical zooms - a 30x zoom camera with a good macro and flip-up screen (Panasonic Lumix TZ-90), which I can use for flowers and invertebrates and the really close stuff, and a heavier 60x zoom camera (a Canon Powershot SX-70 HS) which most of the recent stuff is taken on, that's very good for the longer range shots. I don't really know much about cameras, that said - I'm not someone who fiddles with settings or lens switching or anything much, I focus a lot more on just trying to get closer or at better angles to the animals.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on December 14, 2022, 08:46:31 AM
It's too long since I did a wildlife photo dump, so here are some pictures from yesterday's walk on the Donauinsel:

(https://i.imgur.com/jRLWEEB.jpg)
A swan on the Danube. Majestic and full of spite as usual.
(https://i.imgur.com/dSNCzGr.jpg)
Little grebes, tiny fluffy diving water-birds.
(https://i.imgur.com/POvrw8P.jpg)
A cormorant perches high above the Danube's waters.
(https://i.imgur.com/PYB4qmS.jpg)
A blue-tit forages for winter food.
(https://i.imgur.com/NkshT2K.jpg)
A squirrel curls almost motionless on the corner of a branch, saving energy and being a little warmed by winter sun.
(https://i.imgur.com/jK9d8NS.jpg)
A moorhen (behind) and, more interestingly, a little water rail in front - only the second time I've ever photographed one.
(https://i.imgur.com/JdcjbjR.jpg)
Water rails are named for their strangled-sounding 'railing' cries...
(https://i.imgur.com/WNe84ZR.jpg)
...but they're rarely seen, preferring to skulk in ditch vegetation or reed-beds.
(https://i.imgur.com/H9jq9IR.jpg)
Another bird I don't see much, a middle-spotted woodpecker - smaller than its commoner great-spotted cousin.
(https://i.imgur.com/XZnxKRx.jpg)
The middle-spot has a bright full red crest which can be seen here: the great-spot just has a red dot at the back of the head.
(https://i.imgur.com/dSykZXl.jpg)
Middle-spots can sometimes be mistaken for young great-spots, but the shape is quite different.
(https://i.imgur.com/WHe1mmb.jpg)
A treecreeper! Not sure if it's common or short-toed, the differences are quite subtle.
(https://i.imgur.com/cGqPvF4.jpg)
A great white egret, a large bird closely related to herons, perched high up a tree. Also not something I see often.
(https://i.imgur.com/WFGprWs.jpg)
The beaver inlets on the Donauinsel are rather pretty and good for wildlife.
(https://i.imgur.com/Wm0zK23.jpg)
It may take a second glance to spot the little grebe in the middle of this picture!
(https://i.imgur.com/sTV5MFr.jpg)
A male gadwall, one of the less common ducks that we get as winter visitors.
(https://i.imgur.com/e9bTJLV.jpg)
A kestrel lit by the evening (well, 3:30 but that's about the same thing at this time of year) sun.
(https://i.imgur.com/XqIVF5A.jpg)
On my way back I came across someone walking their pony. It was very fluffy.
Title: Re: Cute and Wholesome Picture Thread
Post by: Jubal on March 31, 2023, 10:53:41 PM
A few recent-ish bits of Vienna wildlife:

(https://i.imgur.com/XBXaGFL.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/TTJPtwd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/KolhtwP.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/gSglAkX.jpg)