Monday 6 December 2010

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS


I took this photo of the Christmas lights on the bungalow opposite my house without a tripod, just holding my breath! Down the centre the dark bar is part of the window frame so couldn't avoid that. There won't be any Santas on the roof or twinkling words wishing us all a Merry Christmas, only this rather nice display. Normally I'm not enamoured with outside decorations but these are just enough. Perhaps I'll be able to manage a pile of books as a tripod substitute and take a better picture but that doesn't take away the need for a careful pressing of the button...
Today, in Holland, is when St. Nicholas arrives on his white horse with Black Peter, his servant, in attendance. I wonder if my daughter will have any photos of the event to spare...?I'll have to email her and ask.

There's a heavy frost again this morning, though the snow has gone - aaah! shouldn't have said that, it's tempting fate! I noticed these cobwebs on next door's fence looking like delicate crochet
as I got out of the car - I wish the fence was a different colour so they showed up more.




I was in two minds whether to use this next photo or not but - here goes. The other day I saw half a dozen red kites swooping over a garden at the end of the lane, about 600-700 feet away from me. Normally they soar around on the thermals, gradually moving down the countryside. But these birds were actively flying and diving, concentrating on themselves; blackbirds which were also around took no notice. The kites have a 6' wingspan, and are impressive birds, especially on sunny days when you can see the redness in their feathers and the barring on the wings. They were re-introduced round here on to the Getty Estate at Stokenchurch and have successfully bred and moved out and down the valleys. During the summer you can hear them calling, a once heard never forgotten cry.


I've never seen a kite land in a tree, either, let alone five of them. It's a shame my camera is only 3x zoom as I miss lots of bird pics because I can't get close enough. Perhaps I should go back to my SLR with the telephoto lens???


1 comment:

Kath said...

Well that answers my question about black Peter. I took some frozen cobweb photos today, dont they look magical?