weekly Crotal Bell 52 for 2023 Wk 52 Favourite from 2023.

Liquid: Great capture and nicely symmetrical.
Distant: the mono conversion really adds to the atmosphere. Even at a distance she looks distant :D
 
Fuji Dave said:
Sorry but I'm lost on this one for fragile, unless the red thing was a ball that popped.
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Lol it's a flower, I had an idea for a scene that depicted the fragile nature of our colourful wildlife but didn't think it would be obvious enough.
I decided that at least I have posted a composite picture and covered that for the 2 months.
 
I like this, but the look on the blokes face is what I like best, don't look to happy about having his picture took!
 
That's a big dog!
 
Not one for the quality more the theme. A small gap above the fascia seems a robust option for raising the family. Hoping to get more shots of them coming and going in future now I know it's just over the fence a few houses away.

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I've just had to evict (before they had chicks) sparrows from my roof. They had been there for twenty years, usually about five pairs, but earlier this year the rats found their way in using the sparrows homes and we had to get a pest controller in because we now had rats in the loft. Dealt with them but had to close up all the holes and the sparrows have had to find somewhere else to go. Probably just as well as I found they weren't nesting in the place I thought but were between the tiles and the roofing felt and over the years they've made a right mess that could only really be cleared by removing the roof tiles and taking all the nest material away before replacement; that's a job for another day.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I've just had to evict (before they had chicks) sparrows from my roof. They had been there for twenty years, usually about five pairs, but earlier this year the rats found their way in using the sparrows homes and we had to get a pest controller in because we now had rats in the loft. Dealt with them but had to close up all the holes and the sparrows have had to find somewhere else to go. Probably just as well as I found they weren't nesting in the place I thought but were between the tiles and the roofing felt and over the years they've made a right mess that could only really be cleared by removing the roof tiles and taking all the nest material away before replacement; that's a job for another day.
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How the heck do the Rats get up to a loft !! Never ceases to amaze me how these things happen.
Sounds like a big problem, maybe I should nip round and warn the neighbours in case they have the same problem.
 
Crotal Bell said:
How the heck do the Rats get up to a loft !! Never ceases to amaze me how these things happen.
Sounds like a big problem, maybe I should nip round and warn the neighbours in case they have the same problem.
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An outhouse with a gutter that goes up to the roofline, then they just walk along the top gutter looking for, well, anything really. They can, if they think there's something worth doing it for, do the proverbial 'rat up a drainpipe' thing. They are in turn surprising and a irritating because once established in a roofspace they are remarkably difficult to get rid of. If one lives in a semi-detached or worse (like I do) in a terrace, they can inhabit the whole row of houses given the chance.

They aren't as bad a squirrels in the loft though, they are truly a nightmare and will destroy everything (yes, in a different house, I had those too) and they can just climb up the outside walls.
 
ShinySideUp said:
An outhouse with a gutter that goes up to the roofline, then they just walk along the top gutter looking for, well, anything really. They can, if they think there's something worth doing it for, do the proverbial 'rat up a drainpipe' thing. They are in turn surprising and a irritating because once established in a roofspace they are remarkably difficult to get rid of. If one lives in a semi-detached or worse (like I do) in a terrace, they can inhabit the whole row of houses given the chance.

They aren't as bad a squirrels in the loft though, they are truly a nightmare and will destroy everything (yes, in a different house, I had those too) and they can just climb up the outside walls.
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Strewth !!

On a lighter note, I have a Squirrel that travels from the trees across the way, over the garage roofs and raids my bird feeders.
I chase it all the way back and within 2 minutes of going in the little devil is back on them again !!
4 times I charged into the garden today before he finally gave up and didn't come back.
 
Different shot for robust, which is good. Well executed shot although I might of cropped in a bit closer.
 
Fragile... a beautiful dog and ticks the box nicely for tech
Robust - despite the fact they make a bit of a mess (I had house martins above my entrance door so it was often a precarious entry/exit) Sparrows are becoming a rare species so good on you to provide them with a safe haven.
 
Founded in 1978, Bleak Hall Sports is one of only two shops on the High St that has retained it's original look. The other one is Bleak Hall Bird Farm just down the road.
Pretty sure Bleak Hall Bird Farm was first, a small pet shop selling mostly birds and fish. It closed years ago but still stays there as a storage shop for Bleak Hall Sports, with a sign on the door telling you to head along the road to the sports shop. It's a small sports shop packed out with mostly fishing gear and a small selection of air rifles. It has survived while others in nearby towns have come and gone and remains the only sports shop in Kempston.

When I was a kid, BHS was just down the road, where, like many others, I bought 50p worth of maggots and chose a new float most weekends with my pocket money and headed to the nearby river. I returned to fishing about 15 years ago for a short while and returned to the shop a few times, having moved half a mile across town where I live now it was still just down the road, albeit me now living on the opposite hillside estate. Then, during the pandemic, I returned to buy my first air rifle.

Last year Mick retired, but happily his long time serving assistant Matt has taken on the business, I called him to say how pleased I was that he is keeping the local sports shop going and wished him every success. The sport shop "nearby" since I was 11 years old.

BH Sports.jpg
 
That's a fab story :)
 
Great image this week Keith and such a wonderful story to go with it. Well done.
 
That's a lovely documentary. Good to hear something survives from our "yoof"
 
Great back story on the shop, lost so many local shops to the chains/online shopping
 
HelenC said:
That's a lovely documentary. Good to hear something survives from our "yoof"
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Yes there's nothing else left when it comes to local shops, all the other s have gone now.
nog said:
Great back story on the shop, lost so many local shops to the chains/online shopping
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Fishermen order their live bait and collect the day before the local matches, it's a lot of hard smelly work but obviously pays off, they've done it for decades.
 
Excellent story, thanks for sharing it, love the old fashioned shop look in days of "tackiness".
 
Boots said:
That's an original take on the theme!
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Well I haven't had much time to concentrate on the weekly theme this week, then I was standing in the garden and hey presto.

Good job I've been lazy and not cleared them up yet.
 
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