rARsh!

Minsmere

Minsmere was brilliant - it’s the first time I’d been there (although I’d passed close by when I went to Dunwich last year) and it’s a shame. Well worth a whole day out in the future.

I’d left Aaalburgh under a glorious blue sky but as I headed east (and slightly to the south) the sky gradually clouded over and by the time I arrived it was a dull, overcast day. Fine for watching birds. Not so good for photographing them through a scope (especially as it’s going to take me a while to find out how best to do so).

From a bird watching point of view it was a resounding success. The scope was great for anything that was stationary (the field of view’s just too small to find something that’s moving - but that’s just as expected) and I’m delighted with my “present”.

I saw my first hobby, my first bittern, my first reed warbler. I could go on (and on) but I shalln’t. I just wish I could show you photos to prove this.

All I can offer you are the rather poor results from my snapping. They’ll improve … I hope.

In my defence I feel that I should point out that the marsh harrier must have been at least 80 yards away.

On my way back to the car I re-entered an area with mobile phone coverage and caught up with some twitters which had been sent my way. I took Alan’s advice, called in to the visitor centre and picked up a bag of nyjer seeds plus a nyjer seed feeder then headed home via the garden centre (as I now needed a bracket from which to hang said feeder.

I rearranged and topped up the food station, set up the camera and sat and waited for the flocks of goldfinches to arrive.

And waited.

And waited for any bird to arrive.

And waited.

Eventually I was visited by collared doves (hoovering up the finch seed that I’d spilled when refilling the finch’s feeders), a blackbird (checking on the contents of the ground feeder) and a starling (who got confused by my having moved the fat balls to the other end of the garden - I’m sure the ruckus they create when feeding is scaring off more timid birds).

No goldfinches, though. Not yet.

I sat there until seven o’clock but then had to choose between waiting for the goldfinches and going in to watch Doctor Who. Who won.

I mean “Who” won.

There’ll be finches tomorrow (I hope) and I’ll be ready (I hope).

Exciting, isn’t it?

Happy Birthday to me (just a few days late)

There are benefits to being diagnosed bipolar. I won’t go into them all now, but one is that Happy Me can buy Sad Me birthday presents … or is it the other way around? It doesn’t matter. Whichever it was that made the purchase had splashed out on a Kenko field scope kit (70mm scope with x20 and x20-50 eyepieces plus tripod) from Ace Optics in Bath and the Kenko photo adapter from WarehouseExpress.

8:45 this morning saw Mr Citylink arrive with - fortunately - both packages. Excellent - no need to hang around for a second delivery chap.

Sp let’s set the scene:

Take a special note of the position of the feeders and of the roses at the base of that (wind-damaged) trellis-type-thing in the background.

While I was waiting for the first delivery (or so I thought), I was sitting at my post n the sitooterie, snapping away at whatever visitors there were to the feeders. Here are the best of the photos, both reduced from full size and cropped to 1600 pixels or so.

1. A young starling is faced with the dreaded suet, seeds or nuts decision:

2. This female greenfinch was stocking up on seeds:

3. An adult starling chooses to nibble on my nuts:

Once the scope had arrived it was time to try it out. I was faced immediately with a slight problem - with the 400D, the minimum focussing distance is way past the feeding station. If I’m going to use the scope+400D combination at home, I’m going to have to move the feeders further back in the garden. Much further back.

The photo adapter sits on top of the eyepiece and connects to the 400D body via a T-mount. Unfortunately the adapter doesn’t screw onto the scope and just sits there with a fairly loose fit so I’m a little concerned about the possibility of the camera simply falling off - especially as the battery pack adds a fair bit of weight to the 400’s body. I’ll clearly have to be very, very careful. Another unexpected effect of this set up is that the Canon reports an aperture of 0.0. From the digiscoping calculator, though, it would appear that the 400 plus scope combination gives me the equivalent of 1600mm/f14 lens. I may have miscalculated, though, as I’m not sure what value to enter for the camera’s focal length given that there’s no lens attached.

I then decided to take a photo to compare the possible results of the scope with my pocket Canon against the 400D in its Beast configuration:

Finally here’s a shot to show the relative sizes (and portability) of the two setups:

It’s a surprisingly pleasant day, though, so I’m off to play with the scope and pocket Canon in the wild. To Minsmere!

Birding competition

Two of these photographs were taken this evening at rARsh Manor (before the battery pack ran out of juice). The other two were taken on 22nd May at Titchwell March RSPB reserve.

Can you tell which are which?

Dad

An important question: Is it me, or is that hat too small for him? If so, why would someone own a hat that’s too small for himself (this is definitely the hat I’d taken in from Chateau Pops).

DigiScoping

Having read about digiscoping over at Geren’s place, I had a try at this myself - none too successfully, I must admit.

The middle photo sets the scene - yes, I was taking a photo through a pair of binoculars through a glass door. This may explain why the photos weren’t really up to much. Hand-holding the bins and the camera probably didn’t help much, either.

The first photo was the result when I just held the camera up to the binoculars while the right-hand photo was the same setup but with the little Canon zoomed to its maximum x3 optical zoom.

Having read further at Digiscope Diary I’m thinking the 400D would be more successful than the 850 but at the end of the day, I think I’ll stick to my monster zoom lens rather than look at a completely different set of kit (at £50 for the adapter and £300-£650 for the scope).

They’re impressive results from those who know what they’re doing, though.

In other news, it’s time for DoveWatch 2007 (it’s an unofficial tie-in for SpringWatch). Trouble is, the photos are pretty much identical to those from last year so this may be the only post in this year’s series

The Grand Tour - an annotated map

I’ve put together a map for some of my photos from my Grand Tour which may be of interest. It will, at least, show you where I spent some of my time.

Click on the map for the full, interactive extraveganza.

Alternatively, click on the “Continue Reading »” link below for my favourite photos from the trip - but be warned, there are a lot of them.

More »

Grand Tour I

Just a few photos for now. I don’t have an FTP program installed on this lappy so have to upload them one by one … and I cannae be arsed (Jings! I’m turning Scottish!)

First of all, here’s proof that I’m halfway through my quest - photos from Ness Point, Lowestoft and from The Lizard:

Most of my photos were taken today, though, when the weather finally improved. Here’s a selection of my favourites so far:

I’m not doing very well at following the plan. By now, I was expecting to be overnighting in Torchwood Town. Instead, I got as far as Hayle on Thursday and up beyond Manchester last night - Cornwall was just too wet but I’ll definitely return in finer weather. I don’t know what the final mileage will be but I must admit I’m expecting it to be closer to Lyle’s prediction than to ‘im oop nawth’s. Still, we’ll just have to wait and see.

One of the reasons for this - and for the sudden rush for Scotland - is a notion to follow Croila’s suggestion and see if I can catch a ferry across to the Orkneys while I’m in the area. It’ll all depend on the timetable (and the cost). Ok, just the timetable, if I’m honest. Based on the latest forecast, I think I’ve made the right decision. Tomorrow and Monday promise to be, well, promising so I’m hopeful of getting a bucketload of photos - I’ll be stopping far more frequently once I’ve passed Glasgow.

So what’ve you all been up to in my absence?

Oxburgh Hall

I didn’t make it as far as Anglesey Abbey but did get to use my temporary National Trust membership slip. I didn’t leave Norfolk to do so, having changed my mind as I passed Thetford. Rather than continue towards Cambridge, I turned north and headed for the tiny village of Oxborough, site of Oxburgh Hall.

I seem to be getting the hang of the Canon (even if I say so myself) and didn’t have any obviously duff shots, which makes a pleasant change. I’m not suggesting that all the photos are good enough for framing - not by a long shot - but at least they’re in focus!

Photos are after the jump: More »