At last a little bit of sunshine, so I quickly took advantage and made my way to the nature reserve. Unfortunately for me everyman and his dog were also out enjoying the sun. But at least you can always rely on these little chaps to provide a photo opportunity. This one followed me around for quite awhile, before eventually leaving to see off another male Robin trying to get on his patch. 
Just a humble Starling that has taken a liking for the fatballs in the feeder by our kitchen window. I had just done the washing up, after our Boxing day dinner when I noticed the light behind this Starling. The orange background was the bright sunlight lighting up the brickwork on the houses behind us, with the movement of the bushes and shrubs making the whole background softer. Using a wide aperture, handheld and shot through the kitchen window, has helped soften the background as well.
Had a bit of fun with this pic on photoshop. I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy New year, and also to thank everyone who has followed my blog, and taken the time to leave encouraging comments. I look forward to posting more pics in the new year.
I didn't get the chance to get out this weekend, so had to content myself by trying to take pics of the Goldfinches on our back garden feeders. I think the Goldfinch is probably my favourite garden bird because of the colouring. It took quite awhile to actually get them to visit the garden, but now they regularly visit, sometimes up to 8 or 9 at a time. 
I found this really good specimen of Magpie Inkcap at Oversley Wood yesterday, I was going to give the Fungi pics a miss for awhile, so not to bore people, but I could not resist this one. If you look at my earlier posting of a Magpie Inkcap it shows a younger one, as it emerges from the ground, while this one is full size and in the process of opening up and then auto dissolving. It was actually dripping away as I took the pics