I forgot one

I forgot to mention the Starlings - many, many Starlings - How I could forget them I do not know because they are eating all the food as usual! It costs a fortune.

My day

Well, although it has been a busy day for me I have still managed to catch my favourites in the garden: Firecrest, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Robin, Long Tailed Tits, Bullfinch (M), Coal Tit, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Gull. I also heard a Song Thrush this morning and saw Carrion Crows high in the trees.

Hope to visit Stithians tomorrow, but the dog is sick so its touch and go.

Newlyn Harbour.

Male Bullfinch is visiting the garden again. He has fed several times this morning.

The Real Deal. Beware of Imitations

The extent of my birding today:-
am - garden - 3 Robins and 6 Blackbirds.
Lunchtime - garden - 2 Blackbirds, 1 Robin.
Work - 4 wet Pigeons, 2 wet Gulls!

Taken in the grounds of Laycock Abbey on the Fuji Coolpix

Who does this remind you of?

Scarecrow!!! Photographed in my Uncles garden Norfolk.

Red Grouse Yorkshire Moors

Red Grouse . Yorkshire Dales

Favourite fishing water.

A word about the equipment we use.

The scope is an Opticron 80 GA ED/45 with a 20-60x HDF eyepiece. Images are bright and clear and the controls are user-friendly.
Next came the camera... the Nikon P6000 with a dazzling array of shooting modes and options that will have to be mastered.
To join the scope to the camera required an Opticron adapter with a special diameter tapered insert sleeve for locking down and a screw in Nikon sleeve fit with a step down ring.
A shutter release cable and attachment were also purchased to stop camera shake.

My weekday birding day

Unfortunately, unlike Trevor I have to work! My birding for today was minimal, as usual.
I stocked the feeders before it got light as I always do. I sat and watched the Robin, Blackbirds and Starlings arrive whilst drinking my cup of tea. I always sit on the doorstep in the dark. They know I am there, but don't seem to mind. I do it every morning without fail. Of course it is better in the Spring and Summer when the birds get up before me and I can sit outside in my favourite spot. They tend to get very close when I am there. Its very special.

Lunchtime, I popped home to re-stock the bird table with their favourite Fruit Suet Pellets and Sunflower Hearts (as I do every day!) and before heading back to work I catch: 2 Blackbirds, 6 Starlings, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, House Sparrows, 2 Long Tailed Tits, 2 Great Tits, Dunnock, 2 Wood Pigeons, 5 Magpies and a very brief visit from the Firecrest. Not bad I suppose for a 20 minute lookout!

I will be taking the scope and camera to work soon to see if I can get a decent shot of a Grey Wagtail, as they visit the roof tops outside my office window (along with Pigeons, Gulls and a very naughty Buzzard who hunts the Pigeons. He has been known to leave a kill and come back the next day to finish his meal! Maybe I will catch him with the camera one day, but may have to stay late for that! He has been caught on a mobile phone, so it is possible.

This one is untouched with the exception of a crop.

One of our friendly Coal Tits.

Midday views from the hide yesterday.

The Great Tit was one of our better shots. The photograph was taken later on in the afternoon when the light seemed a little more agreeable.

The weather was not kind to us on our digiscoping experiment. The overall opinion I have got from today is failure. The majority of photographs were out of focus especially the Cormorant and Coot 70 yards or so out on the water.
Maybe we need to go to Specsavers!

The lake was very misty and I was expecting some maidens to appear on a dusky barge...alas we had to settle for Tufted Duck.

Test Card Today.

550 mile round trip to the Midlands.

Hopefully normal service will resume tomorrow.

We will publish the *warts and all* during our digiscoping adventure. The rather good ,the really bad and the ridiculously ugly will all grace the pages of this blog. If you think it cannot get any worse ..be prepared to be surprised!

A rather motley collection of morning garden visitors. The Firecrest looked like he had a night on the tiles and all of them photographically leave a lot to be desired.

Technically, most were shot with a very high ISO of 800 to get a reasonable shutter speed. The trees are very dark (woody copse) and we are shooting at close range.
I think on reflection I should set the camera on exposure compensation to compensate for the dark backdrop. The metering mode used was centre-weighted average and the camera settings ranged from Auto ,P,S, A and Macro.
Naturally we need to explore the many functions of the Nikon camera and find out the best overall settings for camera and scope.

A COALTIT for Mr Stiths !!

Wood pigeon

The Woodpigeon is our best shot yet.

This lively little Firecrest has been visiting our garden feeder for a few weeks. We have to put him up, just in case he decides to move on, but we hope to get a better quality shot if he stays with us !

Well this was the best (okay ...we know it is awful) of Angies close range garden shots, but with a few tweaks and a little more experience, I am sure we will be appearing on the Stithians blog.

Finally the last piece of the digiscoping setup has been purchased. Will the results justify the expense? All the theories and advice from newsgroups and individuals will soon be put to the test in the field.

The Abbot and I are now in competition! I have to stay in the lead with my life birding list! I am in it to win it!

Golitha Falls. An area of ancient oak and beech woodlands.

Two views from the hides at Leighton Moss on a cold and wet October day .


Hoping to see a Bearded Tit but unfortunately dipping.

We hope to swell the ranks of Digiscoping next week.

Norfolk . Brancaster Staithe if I remember correctly. After having refreshments at a surprisingly good hot food stall on the marshes we proceeded to what must be one of the premier RSPB sites in England at Titchwell .

An annoyed Dunnock. Our first Digiscope picture hand-holding the camera against the scope.

View from the Hide..

Branscombe Devon

Approach to Mousehole

Tichwell RSPB Nature Reserve (Norfolk)

The Lake District

Lakes