Picture(s) of the day....

[mickthemaverick]

I think that is a:

Spoiler: show

Petasites Hybridus

[NewcastleFalcon]

I think that is a:

Spoiler: show

Petasites Hybridus

It is indeed and it will grow into huge plant, and with its pals dominate that area by the river

here's another that gets pretty dominant when it grows up and can also be used as a DIY fertiliser

A wrinkly leaf

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Is that a

Spoiler: show

comfrey

of some sort?

[myglaren]

Is that a

Spoiler: show

comfrey

of some sort?

Pretty sure it is. My dad was a huge fan and used tons of it in his allotment.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Yes that's a Comfrey https://identify.plantnet.org/ from the url of my forum pic assesses it as

Symphytum caucasicum M.Bieb. Blue comfrey 68.6%

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

POTD Sunday walk collection no3

The Rookery in the sky

No doubt I could "enhance the patterns" the branches make against the sky, but I like them straight out of the tin!

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Let me introduce you to Pete the Pigeon. He is a frequent visitor to sample the delights of our tulips but I have to snap him through the window or he flies off when I touch the door handle, so forgive the reflections!!

Pete taking stock!

[NewcastleFalcon]

One for the late evening Abstract Arts crowd

Rookery re-imagined

Neil

[CitroJim]

A bit of Salcey Forest well away from the parts frequented by the usual visitor demographic...

These parts of the forest saw lots of footfall from hundreds of hardcore trail runners - of which I was one - on Sunday

And unlikely to see a human visitor again for a while

[NewcastleFalcon]

Plucked out of Jim's blog without permission but ladies and gentlemen of the FCF faithful had to be elevated to POTD
to acknowledge a phenomenal achievement, and more importantly to get it in as a contender for the end of March POTD awards.

Jim's blog
viewtopic.php?p=794802#p794802



Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Sorry Neil but no way can that picture be deemed picture of the month, I'll never hear the end of it!!! Pete the Pigeon outranks it anyway because it is not a posed picture, in fact it could be described as a spy shot!!

[CitroJim]

Sorry Neil but no way can that picture be deemed picture of the month, I'll never hear the end of it!!! Pete the Pigeon outranks it anyway because it is not a posed picture

Yes, I admit it! it was semi-posed Mick Not taken by a pro but by one of my good friends... Tell me, is Pete the Pigeon Dutch? 'Tulips from Amsterdam' and all that

Interesting at what's going on in the background of my picture... The lady sitting in the gazebo was busy inspecting her feet with some worry and trepidation with one lap still to go... Just before I posed for the picture we had been having a long discussion about foot care, as you do, and I revealed to her my secret to maintaining healthy feet under such conditions as we were running in:D

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Falcon POTD End of Month Awards are anything but democratic, and based on my own personal preference and bias with photographic excellence not a prime consideration. The random selection Award is of course determined by the random hand without any logic, bias or personal taste taken into account. Pete the pigeon along with every other POTD original photograph submitted in March 2024 will be considered for the March 2024 Falcon Award when all contenders are in.

Still time for newcomers and regulars alike to get their entries in. Like this contender from yours truly.

The Goosander...the worlds finest duck.

The Goosander is a duck apart, a thoroughbred and a maverick. Far from being a portly, bread-ivorous consumer of benefit handouts, the Goosander is a big-game fishing duck. Instead of occupying slummy waters in the urban sprawl, this bird is at home in fast-flowing, highly oxygenated, supercharged wild rivers and deep pools. It is wild and untamed.

Many species of ducks, throughout the world, take an extremely leisurely approach to feeding. Mallards, for all their adaptability, give the impression that they are never making any more effort than we would to dig up carrots. Shovelers bulldoze the water surface, Teals pick seeds from the mud; Pochards graze underwater and sleep for much of the rest of the time; even Eiders in the sea only dive down to yank immotile cockles from the sea bed.

Goosanders, though, are birds that chase, and their prey is both fast and reluctant to be caught. They are among the very few ducks that catch fish for a living. These ducks need pace underwater, and they need unobstructed space in which to spot and snatch their prey.

The males, and only the males, go on a "lads holiday every May" to the North of Norway on a "Moult Migration", returning when their new plumage is pristine to strut their stuff in the breeding season back in the UK.

In athletic achievement they probably just trump our Citrojim!

Male Goosander bit out of focus!

Neil

[myglaren]

[bobins]

An early visitor to the garden today - a grass snake !
It was remarkably long

For those that don't want to see the scores don't want to see the snake - look away now

Spoiler: show

A slow moving grass snake - own work