Wonderful shots and this thread has to be amongst the best,if not the best, I've read. Like reading an illustrated book. Mmm.Now there's an idea when you feel you have enough photos. There's enough here already... "My friend Taz"
The sunset hare at the top..page 1..so many photos.. is a captivating image. Darned trial biker. Should be banned. Ugh.
Number 3 looks tired..is that a yawn. ? Lol.
Re. the insecticides, ref.the last photo..page 1..I think..'hare in a flower meadow' ..well, I just despair. We're losing fantastic wildlife and in the process we must lose something within ourselves. I eat salmon fillets (baked with small toms and blanched dwarf beans with anchovies..a Jamie Oliver dish) I'm a no-meat -eater.. I've just discovered that they are farmed,I think off the west coast of Scotland and they are being attacked by lice in their pens..so what do they do ? They pour chemicals into the pens,the chemicals are seeping into the ocean and being ingested by the passing wild fish population..and people wonder why there's so much cancer about.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ild-wrasse-at-risk--sea-lice-scotland-anglers
You mention that you talk to them (Taz ?) No probs. Why not ? I greet our garden birds (mainly sparrows)in the morning when I put out seed and fat balls by the large bush they spend time in and if I hear a lot of 'chatter' it's usually the local killer sparrow hawk paying a visit. They're used to me 'saving' them and go quiet when I arrive until the hawk flies off and it happens so often I haven't seen it for a while..given up maybe. We had a regular pigeon..white/grey,purple.. a bit different..we called him 'Eric' and eventually when I went into the garden with birdseed he'd fly down off the neighbour's roof and swoop just above my head and back onto a roof behind and sit and wait.. We had a racing pigeon a few weeks ago visit the garden..word gets round..Lol.. seed and crunched up fat balls on the ground next to the pyracantha, a quick retreat. It's ring number showed it came from Dudley,W.Midlands. I spoke to it in a brummy accent..Lol
Anyway, Sounds like your making a friend there with Taz..It's how wildlife photographers get such wonderful shots. Love the scratching hare above.
John,there is huge kindness in these words,i'm a humble guy mate,very very grateful,
Hmmm, a book about hares written by a nutter who has always struggled like hell with his country's language,that 'll work huh
, naturally it's being written John
. I'm faltering a bit getting my head around it all. I don't perceive millions of sales more like if any!!. What is really at play is trying to document this for me,before it is completely gone: I'll never forget this ,but details dull with time.. The images posted here are a tiny snapshot of what we have mate,we have enough,it's sorting everything choosing the best....how the hell does one do that ...sort the best? John as the kids grow they disperse in some ways this is starting to feel like past tense,with the kids it may well be i'll not recognise Taz or Blaze soon,they change so much in these early months and grow like weeds. So I'd really like to try and do my best to bang this into something,whether that might be befitting of the word book ,who knows? I'm hell bent on trying at the very least. Oh mate one other thing,inpart that is here too. Hares and you see it in the images posted,are regarded as flighty tricky animals to get close to. These posts and once I sort myself out said book,are an endevor to change our perception of who these amazing animals really are. I can't help but want others to see and photograph what I have.
Mate I grow(organic I hear you!!) ,when I say that i mean a hell of alot of what I eat. We have worked in commercial nurseries. So have a degree of understanding of what organic really means. I was born omnivore,so I do eat meat,(have no probs with folks whom have other takes on what they want to eat.) I have worked with a huge variety of birds that follks eat ie poultry and game. I suppose as the years have ticked by I have learnt what organic means...what it really means. I am working way too much at tis time so my garden once a haven for wildlife and our food is more a haven for wildlife now,but it has pretty much always been organic. everyone comments on our roses,but there are no sprays used. Mans biggest problem is mono culture,it is terribly efficient,but terribly risky. if one plant gets a disease,they all do,if one salmon gets a louse (yup i'm aware of what you said) they all do. Organic means lower production,sure of proper grub but lower production for more labour
Nature doesn't work like this,plants and animals are by and large spread about, nature has means to tackle senarios outside mono culture, inside we find other means. We put thousands of one plant in a field and have to use these nasties to grow it. It must be said here that although this land isn't organic,they do a hell of a lot,for the wildlife that lives where these hares do. That first shot I took of Taz bounding round a flower meadow,so so poignant for me exemplifies this!!
It is very simple for me John,we the human race want feeding,we the human race find ways to sort that,to the exclusion of all else. If we have to spray we do it if we have to use chemicals we do it. But honestly how many of us say to our selves, I can only have one child. I have to be part of the movement away from this all consuming population growth that basically boffins find ways...very unnatural ways to feed . It's us driving all this John ,we are breeding too fast,are too damn selfish to only have one child if we want kids. We don't all go out and get allotments and feed our selves,we use farmers. As much as I utterly need my planet organic,it is a NEED john. I can't really ask the guy growing my food to do it the hard way and make less money,I have to either pay him more eat chemical ridden food or DIY
I'm in the W mids john I'm sure he would have understood yamyam,,brummie might be a bit alien to dudley
I can declare I love brummies love their dry humour, so guess they won't mind me having a crack with them in webland ,I do that face to face and they always slay me....fair play
I have this stockmans banter going on mate. it's the quiet soft meaning less monotone that animals respond to.
John,there is some irony here that you have replied to me so kindly. Recently I spotted a couple of post from you. I started to write to you but deleted,because I know I am learning and felt un fit to say what i wanted to try and push you forwards. I'll have a crack now because simply if you like these pics,then you should know some of where more experienced folks have steered me. Their wisdom, their seflless efforts gave me these chances. Not the field craft John the camera techs stuff,the FC is mine I earnt that no one gave me that,they have helped me learn how to use the tools Push your SS mate,use ISO to do this,expose to the right get close so you don't crop that high iso image. John would you try this for me please. As I say mate I am utterly learning,I feel ill equipped to help others,but if my hunch is right this will help you. you will have to learn what your camera can do,how far you can push it. This has been a slow road for me ,but slowly I have pushed iso further and further as I got confident at each new level. You are looking at images here up to iso 5000 processed with a very basic free programe canons DPP4. Buddy please try this for me,see where it takes you. Don't expect instant results,but again a plea try it mate
Finally ,sorry long ramble mate,sitting on a species,spending hours and hours day after day both in observation and trying to grab images to me,now after this experience is utterly the way forwards, I call them mates ,but they aren;t really my friends sadly. They tolerate me being closer than usual because i've presented myself in a way that doesn't bring the flight response . I caught the kids just right this time,but it's only fair to say I failed completely at this last year. I thought about baiting, thought about how I could make them even more friendly towards me. But didn't go there. simply I have no real problems with baiting,persay,I just worried as I said in a post to Janny, that I could make them vunerable to predation by us...ie humans. I feel even now that very few humans would be prepared to crawl 100yards on these stones for a dinner. I guess I looked and thought about a way in that would allow me to be with them,but others not so much!! But I have given enough here to a guy that wants an image to try and get it. This area is incedibly tricky for me and i'm torn all ways.. I want folks to share more than these images,yet am so aware how trusting a hare can be it is really hard
trying to find a balance
I feel not know!!!!!!! there are 3 base ways on grabbing wonderful wildlife shots:
1 the above sit on them,over and over be with them until you are just an ordinary thing they see almost daily
2 total and utter chance,fluke,call it what ya like ..... always here the togs skills come to the fore,a fluke chance being nailed relies on the tog's ability to use his tools. I have emphasised this because in 1 I can go back over and over and mess up ,but learn a bit each time,so eventually pop up a nice image simialr to the results of 2 but maybe with a much lesser skillset
3 a hide or guide situation...here someone else did all the work in 1, the tog turns up and reaps the rewards of that effort
none of these is right or wrong this has to be fun as long as the beasties are cared for nought is wrong in my eyes. We are all different and should be able to have fun in our own individual ways, But for me the magic is wrapped up in one of these three senarios. The light so important is latter in my mind beautiful light and hare a mile away don't make great pics. I guess one could add ,go to a hotspot where the animals/brids are really tame. To me that just sits under 3 as the combination of many folks making images has had the same results as three,but the tog didn't do all the groundwork really,it was done by others
cheers again for the kindness mate,apologies this reply is so long, I felt a need to cover much of your reply and add a bit for you
take care kiddo
stu