Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Rather drab, but I liked it.

That is the western end of Taggs Island.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

These were spotted & snapped right by Hampton Court Bridge.

Gulls get a bad press, but I love them, beautiful, acrobatic, flyers, but very aggro & territorial. So many different types, too, no idea what these are.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Those are the sea variety of gulls known as sea-gulls if I'm not mistaken.

Quality reply, & typically, great brevity, but actually, "Sea Gulls" is a generic term, don't think there is such a species. Mr Paradise will rule accordingly in due course, or even Gatters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull

[tikay]

37 attempts to snap a goose, eventually, I got there, sort of. Now, I just have to get the technicals sorted.

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Click to see full-size image.

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[Rod Paradise]

Can anyone identify these, please?

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Top 2 pics - Egyptian Goose (as in Tom's Dairy (the real ornithological diary ) a couple of weeks back. Decorative introduced species.

Bottom 1 had mallard-like colouration but the bill's too short - I'd reckon a mallard hybrid. Mallards can & do mate with many other duck species & so there are a lot of hybrids especially in parks, probably got a bit to do with them being a bit 'rapey' as well.

Seagull picks (in post above) are black headed gulls in winter plumage, differences could be down to changing to summer starting - or just individual differences. Must confess to googling to double check that.

[RED-DOG]

Rather drab, but I liked it.

That is the western end of Taggs Island.

Click to see full-size image.

Cropping is a great tool. It was around long before digital photography was ever thought of. (They used to do it with scissors).

Click to see full-size image.

[Karabiner]

37 attempts to snap a goose, eventually, I got there, sort of. Now, I just have to get the technicals sorted.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

The bottom one of those looks like a very nice snap to my untrained eye.

[Laxie]

These were spotted & snapped right by Hampton Court Bridge.

Gulls get a bad press, but I love them, beautiful, acrobatic, flyers, but very aggro & territorial. So many different types, too, no idea what these are.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Those are the sea variety of gulls known as sea-gulls if I'm not mistaken.

Quality reply, & typically, great brevity, but actually, "Sea Gulls" is a generic term, don't think there is such a species. Mr Paradise will rule accordingly in due course, or even Gatters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull

Kinboshi and I already had a debate about them a couple of weeks back on another thread.  Whatever about Gatters, Kin will deffo side with you.  Not arguing with you, but Kinboshi's wrong.

[tikay]

What must this stunning beautiful & majestic house-boat be worth? A million?

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Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

I bet it would be cheap for a million.

[tikay]

Thanks Rod. I was pretty sure the "third duck" was a specific species, guess I got it wrong.

The Egyptian Goose, what a goose I am - Tom & I saw these at Luton Hoo last spring, but I never recognized them this time round. Damn memory.

Tom - thanks for the cropping. Yes, "much better". Still seems like cheating though.

Ralph - thank you & your untrained eye. 37 attempts & I got there!

[tikay]

I bet it would be cheap for a million.

It has got no land with it though, that must cut the price. Comes with a nice boat, though!

[SuuPRlim]

And?

Lovely photo, that. Proper cool.

That was my APAT Chairman introductory photo. Bit of water gone under the old bridge snce then.

How is Vegas going? Crushing, are we?

A picture of two people who's company i'd very much enjoy one evening, for very different reasons ofc.

Vegas, poorly played 3 times lost huge each time then got food poisoning, am i L.A now have just finished a rather pleasing little session at $20.$40 plo where I stacked Freddy Deeb in a hilarious hand, eating a pretty poor sandwich then off to play the $2k plo, remember ofc you have a 10% share in this tournament! gl me! glad to have you back on grid loving all thw wildlife

 

I;ve always liked these things, Heron's, no idea why. I remember when I was about 9 I went to visit my great aunt in alnwick and there were Heron's near where she lived, she took me looking to try see one all weekend and we never did. I was gutted.

[Rod Paradise]

Thanks Rod. I was pretty sure the "third duck" was a specific species, guess I got it wrong.

Did some more digging - there are sites where they try to identify the mallard crosses (geeks) http://www.gobirding.eu/Photos/HybridDucks.php - they even have pics of Egyptian Goose/Mallard crosses (I'd not have thought that likely).

I now think it's a domesticated descendant of the mallard called a call duck

The Call duck is a lively, charming little bird with a small body and short bill. The name originates from the Dutch word \'kooi\' meaning trap. They have a high-pitched call which carries over a long distance. The ducks were used by hunters to attract wild ducks towards traps or shooters. The tame ducks were tethered at the entrance of the traps and the more \'calling\' the ducks did the better.

The Call duck is a direct descendant of the Mallard duck although through selective breeding they have shorter bills and a smaller body. Call ducks were very rare in the first half of the century but have recently become very popular and now win more duck championships than any other breed.

Traitor ducks effectively.

[pokerfan]

Was interested to read this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103193/The-Wembley-aquariums-Thierry-rebuilds-6m-home-make-va-va-room-storey-5-000-gallon-tank-300-fish.html Thierry Henry wants to knock down his London House & rebuild it with a 4 story fishtank rising through the building. A bit 'bling' but I must admit I'd love to have it (but not pay for it obv).



Best tanks I saw outside of an aquarium were at my mate's house in Bermuda, he'd 2 200 gallon tanks that he and his brother used to keep specimen seas fish & raise them to the point the Aquarium could use them as exhibits. Helps when you live on a small island with schools of the buggers around you though.

Eye-popping!

Do the maths stack up - does a 40' x 15@ tank hold 5,000 gallons? Does the technology exist in glass making to build such a thing? That's a hell of a sheet of glass, 40' high, 15' wide.

The biggest I have seen is in the Reception of the Mirage Hotel, in Vegas. Very impressive.

Click to see full-size image.

The height  wouldn't be a problem, a float line will run continuous for years, basically giving you an endless piece of glass.
The trouble is the width, not sure there is a float line over 3.5 meters wide.

( says in the article though that Henry's tank will actually be 4 separate tanks, made from plastic)

[tikay]

And?

Lovely photo, that. Proper cool.

That was my APAT Chairman introductory photo. Bit of water gone under the old bridge snce then.

How is Vegas going? Crushing, are we?

A picture of two people who's company i'd very much enjoy one evening, for very different reasons ofc.

Vegas, poorly played 3 times lost huge each time then got food poisoning, am i L.A now have just finished a rather pleasing little session at $20.$40 plo where I stacked Freddy Deeb in a hilarious hand, eating a pretty poor sandwich then off to play the $2k plo, remember ofc you have a 10% share in this tournament! gl me! glad to have you back on grid loving all thw wildlife

 

I;ve always liked these things, Heron's, no idea why. I remember when I was about 9 I went to visit my great aunt in alnwick and there were Heron's near where she lived, she took me looking to try see one all weekend and we never did. I was gutted.

Thanks David, but only one of the photos came out, so I have no idea who the other one is, or was. Do we have to guess? That could be fun......Was it Chompy?

Herons, almost my favourite large non-raptor bird, love them, one of my "photo-dreams" is to get a decent shot of one. Raptors, of course, are the ultimate aim. I tried up in Scotland, where a Heron nested right outside the cottage, but failed miserably, & that was almost the spur to get a camera & learn some new tricks & stuff.

Look forward to reading the Freddy Deeb stacking.

I had quite forgotten I had a piece of you in that upcoming Omaha affair in LA - good luck, get it won, I need a result, the betting degens are on my case big time. When is the "big" LA Tourney?

I think I need to make a "log" of my tourney action, I purchased a whole bunch of stuff recently in different players in all sorts, invested a good few bob, you in LA, two or three bits in an EPT in Campinale (sp?), 2 players in the Irish Open, Vienna WPT, Marbella thingie, some GUKPT stuff, some DTD £500 bits, & some other stuff I can't even recall right now. Time to formalise this stuff & keep a pukka ledger, I think.