Photo Contest - Fowl Play (2/17-2/23)

[ZapperZ]

Fowl Play

From Miriam-Webster definition of a "fowl":

1 : a bird of any kind — compare waterfowl, wildfowl
2 a : a cock or hen of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus); especially : an adult hen
b : any of several domesticated (see 1domesticate 2) or wild gallinaceous birds — compare guinea fowl, jungle fowl
3 : the meat of fowls used as food roasted fowl

So, your photo must have, as its main subject, a fowl or fowls.

Contest Rules:

1. Any digital photo or digitally-scanned photo relevant to the theme will be accepted within the contest period. In case there's a gray area, or you're not sure if the picture is suitable, check with me first.

2. Please resize your digital photo to no more than 800 x 600 or 600 x 800 pixels. You may also crop your picture if you wish. You are also allowed to adjust the brightness and contrast of your picture but these should not dramatically alter the look of the picture. But other than those, any form of picture editing or modification is not allowed. This is a photo contest, not a picture editing/special effect contest. You may add a watermark or your name/nickname to the photo for identification purposes.

3. Upload your photos to any of the photo servers such as imageshack or photobucket. Then post it the relevant contest thread and link your picture using the img command. PM me if you do not know how. Alternatively, you may simply upload your image file to PF, and then have the full image displayed in your post.

4. Only ONE picture per member per contest. Once a picture is posted, it cannot be changed other than a total withdrawl by that member from that week's photo contest. Exceptions will be made for modification to comply with the rules, such as resizing.

5. At the end of the contest period, I will open a poll and every PF member can vote for the picture they like best.

6. Note that in case we have a large number of entries, I will do the polling in more than one thread. If that's the case, you can vote in each of the polling threads. The photos will be assigned in the polling threads in the order they were submitted.

7. The photo of the subject must be something that you took directly, not via in intermediary medium, and not taken by someone else. Unless otherwise noted, a photo of another photo, painting, print, etc. does not qualify.

8. You can use a picture only once. Once it is used in a contest, it cannot be reused in another contest.

9. Please post only pictures meant for submission in this thread. Photos not meant for submission must not be posted in the contest thread. Posting of more than one photos by a member may result in an automatic disqualification from the week's contest.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

(the dark thing must be the crow that was sitting on the branch according to the previous shot)

What "previous shot"?

Unfortunately, it has to be a picture of an actual fowl, not a shadow, a drawing, or decoy, an apparition, etc.

Zz.

 

[Janus]

Look Boris! It's Goose and Squirrel!

 

[BillTre]

Look Boris! It's Goose and Squirrel!

Very Good!

 

[DennisN]

A western jackdaw feeding another jackdaw (perhaps a potential partner?).
Photo taken a couple of years ago, approximately 2 meters from the birds.

 

[lekh2003]

Penguin in Capetown

 

[BillTre]

Crow in flight:

 

[epenguin]

Penguin in CapetownView attachment 220534

Penguin?!

Looks like a booby to me – must be the expression.

 

[lekh2003]

Penguin?!

Looks like a booby to me – must be the expression.

Nope, a good old penguin. Living in Capetown.

 

[epenguin]

Nope, a good old penguin. Living in Capetown.

Well maybe some penguins look like boobies , but only a small unrepresentative minority I tell you! The vast majority of penguins are smart very hard-working individuals who think of nothing but the good of their families!

 

[fresh_42]

Well maybe some penguins look like boobies , but only a small unrepresentative minority I tell you! The vast majority of penguins are smart very hard-working individuals who think of nothing but the good of their families!

Does it smell a bit fishy here?

 

[Rubidium_71]

 

[epenguin]

Does it smell a bit fishy here?

How did you know?

This is my luckiest shot ever.

I remember seeing a documentary about the fishing techniques of various birds, but this was not among them. I saw it sitting on the water. From time to time it would jump up right out of the water, do a vertical U-turn, and dive in vertically. I wondered a bit whether it was energetic breakeven considering what must be the failure rate. The ≈ 2 cm fish must get some warning from the leap out. You can see the water disturbed around the bird as it has just reemerged.

I'd seen it trying a few times and tried to get a photo of it. My camera was a not very expensive electronic one, and in bright sunlight I couldn't see anything on the screen. So I just pointed it as best I could blind and tried to take the pic at the right moment. I did not realize at the time it had actually caught a fish, and was amazed when I saw the picture later.

Looking at the water you'd probably guess this is not the sea. The place? A lovely place called Rievaulx Abbey that totally fits English Heritage's words "the perfect choice for a peaceful day out" in the summer. It is one of the monasteries that King Henry VIII dissolved in the English Reformation. All of these were plundered, their very stones being removed and incorporated into the mansions of the people who acquired them and their land (and the main profits from the operation, the Kings administration not being efficient enough to net him more than a quite minority share). The destruction was often pretty complete, but here enough survives to give an impressive idea of how these institutions were, in their day, great economic power houses (so appetising to kings and other profiteers). The aristocratic owners have since landscaped the area, created ornamental streams and lakes, statues and follies, it is just perfect.

Even the bird is relaxed, does not mind me being within a few meters. So this was no hardy ornithological expedition. At least not for me, I don't know about the bird. It looks to me like a common seabird, I'm sure somebody can identify it. This is about 50 km from the sea, around Scarborough. Where plenty of seabirds are to be seen on the cliffs, but other places not far are famous seabird habitats where many tens of thousands of seabirds can be seen at a time. Yet if you go there you notice that none of this huge population ventures more than two meters inland. However, seabirds are increasingly finding opportunities inland, to the point of becoming a nuisance sometimes.

 

[DennisN]

The vast majority of penguins are smart very hard-working individuals who think of nothing but the good of their families!

 

[epenguin]

View attachment 220807

Penguin humour - not everybody understands.

 

[ZapperZ]

Hum.. since everyone is doing pictures of live birds, I'm going to go in the other direction. Here's a chicken that I had roasted a couple of weeks ago and was about to consume.

It was finger-lickin' good, if I must say so myself! :)

Zz.

 

[fresh_42]

I remember seeing a documentary about the fishing techniques of various methods birds, but this was not among them. I saw it sitting on the water.

I've seen a case in which birds didn't eat the bread crumbs they were given, but used them instead to bait fish!

 

[Andy Resnick]

Canada gosling.

 

[ZapperZ]

Final day to submit your fowl photos.

Zz.

 

[epenguin]

View attachment 220800

Looks like it went on this peaceful protest but then unruly elements intruded and provoked clash with these really brutal cops.