Category: Animals

Pigeon Takeover

More pigeons!

Last Friday (3rd May), Piccadilly Gardens, an area in Manchester city centre, got evacuated due to a suspicious package. The police and bomb disposal squad were called, did their thing, the device was not viable, nothing bad happened and the culprit was arrested. So what has this got to do with pigeons?

I went out on my lunch break to see what Piccadilly Gardens looked like when it was empty. It was empty of people, but not of all living creatures, as you can see on these shots.

This wasn’t more than half an hour after the evacuation. It’s amazing how fast they took over once people were gone. But that is more of a topic for my Gloomscapes series.

You Are The Great Cat

Behold the Egyptian Deity.

You are the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; you are indeed the Great Cat.

inscription on tomb in the valley of the kings

It’s actually my cat Pepper. But all cats think they’re gods so who’s to say she isn’t?

Please, if you’re reading this and and are looking to adopt a cat from a shelter–consider a black cat. They are the ones that are most difficult to find home for. People still have some prejudices about them (though how can you claim to be a cat lover and have prejudice about black cats, I don’t get) and also, I read somewhere that, apparently, another reason is that “they don’t photograph well so they don’t look good on Instagram.” If that is true, then… well, check out my blog.

As you can see, it is perfectly possible to take nice pics of black cats. And that was taken with just my smartphone, not a DSLR camera. You just need a lot of light. I was really lucky to get that shot, it was Saturday morning and sunlight was pouring into my bedroom and she was sitting on the window sill. It’s probably my best picture of her.

Click here for the rest of my feline photos!

The Pigeon Conferences

You see them everywhere.

You live in a city, you’re familiar with the sight of them.

Yeah, I know.

The above three photographs are from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester.

I took this from the bus, as you can see. Somewhere in Salford.

This is the statue of Edward The Black Prince in City Square in Leeds. From my trip to Leeds.

Speaking of pigeons on statues of royalty, there is a statue of Queen Victoria in Piccadilly Gardens (which I’ve never taken a picture of) and, well, let’s just say Her Majesty would not exactly be happy.

What can you do but shrug? Pigeons gonna pigeon.

Why you lazy?

It’s the 7th day of the new year and by now, I should have posted a photograph of something to do with sky–sunrise or sunset or perhaps a moon, as I usually do at this time of year. I’m not doing that because I have no such picture; I’ve not taken up my camera this year yet. So, instead, here’s the photo of my cat Pepper, being a, well, cat.

How are you holding up in 2019?

More Ducks!

Because you can’t ever have too many duck pictures on your blog.

These images show a mother duck with her four ducklings, following her into the water. This is the same Heaton Park pond that featured in my previous duck post.

ducks formation1ducks formation2ducks formation3ducks formation4ducks formation5ducks formation6

I can’t believe how lucky I was, having had an opportunity to take these photos. And it just proves that no matter how many times I go to Heaton Park, there is always something new to discover!

Unexpected Encounter

I saw the cat on my way to the tram stop. No doubt the feline is beautiful, but I never expected the pictures to look beautiful too. I took them with my phone.

cat encounter1

cat encounter2

cat encounter3

cat encounter4

The cat looks possessed on the last pic–but that’s just the way the sunlight fell!

Any cat lovers out there? Do you go kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty when you meet a strange cat? Tell me in the comments!

Geese in the City

Geese time!

As I said in Ducks Are Awesome, geese also deserve their own post. So here they are.

geese four

All the photographs in this post are recent, taken in the past month. Above and below are both from Salford Quays, Manchester. In the below shot, geese are feasting on seeds that a kind lady was throwing them and as you can see, some pigeons helped themselves as well.

geese food

One evening in May I went to town to take pictures and look what I spotted near one of the canals:

geese goslings

How cute are goslings?

geese family

A little family taking a swim near Castlefield in Manchester.

geese lovebirds

Love birds. They even form a heart-like shape. From the the right angle, I mean.

geese goose

All these hoomans with their cameras.

So, tell me. Do you live a city and encounter any ducks or geese in local rivers or lakes or other bodies of water?