Weekend Wandering.

Saturday started off with Pete and I heading for Branston Gravel Pits. Two Wood Sandpipers had been reported on Friday and we hoped they were still there. It didn't take long after our arrival to start picking out various waders. 11 x Curlew, Little Ringed and Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Redshank and eventually we spotted the Two Wood Sandpiper thanks to a fellow birder who located them and called us over. They were too distant to photograph but we were both pleased to have seen them.

Wood Sandpiper

Took a couple of snaps on the walk back to the car.

Comma Butterfly

 

 

Sunday morning and I decided it was about time I revisited the Moors. It's been a while due to how quiet the birding has been during the nesting period, combined with how overgrown certain areas had become. The fields have now been cut and access is again much easier.

There is nothing new to report bird wise, but there was a lot of bird activity. Highlight of the morning was probably a very good looking juvenile Willow Warbler.

I took a few pictures and Taz and I enjoyed the walk.

A few pictures of the Moors this morning.

 

And finally, a bit of experimenting with camera angles.

Meadow Cranesbill

 

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And it's Good Night from Me........

The morning was already planned in advance as I am making the most of my holidays. I would take Taz for her morning walk, I decided on Borrowpit Lake, then I was picking Pete up and we were going Chub fishing on the River Anker.

As I walked Taz around the pit, another Heron allowed me to take some reasonable pictures of it.

As I haven't really fished properly for a good while now, I was looking forward to a bit of angling when it happened. An email arrived to my phone reporting a Night Heron! A life tick for me, and not too far away.

I needed to get that tick, but it was too late to change plans now as I wouldn't let Pete down after we had made firm arrangements.

I dropped Taz at home, Picked up Pete with his fishing tackle, and we set off. I told Pete about the Night Heron, and we decided to fish until about lunchtime and that would still give me time to go for the Tick if it was still being reported.

We arrived at our chosen venue and set off across the field to the river. It was running high and well over the fishing pegs. An omen? We decided to abandon the fishing and reschedule when conditions were better. I dropped Pete back at home and was heading for Thornton Reservoir and an appointment with a Night Heron by 10.30am.

I have never been to Thornton Reservoir before, but I will certainly be going again. A very picturesque place.

The Heron was still about. It had moved to the shade of a big Willow tree. Although it was on the bank I was walking on, it could only be viewed from the other side of the reservoir. It was now very warm, as I set off to the other side of the reservoir.

I estimate the distance of the bird once located between 200 - 270 yards. I'm pretty good at judging distance, but for some reason this width of the reservoir made distance judging difficult. Not sure why, strange really.

The Night Heron was roosting in a nice shady area provided by the willow tree canopy. Good views through the scope, but pictures as usual were going to be difficult to obtain. A combination of distance, the bird being partly obscured by foliage, combined with the fact I was facing into the sun were all factors against a good picture. However, I would settle or a rubbish one just to record the fact I had seen my first Night Heron. I started off with the iPhone through the scope.

And the Canon Bridge camera.

And finally, the Panasonic Digisoping kit.

 

 

None of the pictures are great, all are acceptable record shots though. What's going to turn up next in the locality?

 

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Staffordshire Birding Mega Tick

The day started well. Picked up Pete and we headed off to a local venue Jon had told me about in search of Spotted flycatchers. I have visited The Chase twice with no luck, so had high hopes for this local woodland.

It was cool and dark under the tree canopy. There didn't seem to be much insect life showing and I was going to have to drank the ISO up on the camera to get an acceptable shutter speed. I suppose a grainy image is better than a blurred one.

It took us about a Hour to locate a Spotted fly, I was over the moon with another year tick.

In hindsight, I was a little disappointed yesterday evening that I didn't rearrange my plans and head off to Rudyard Reservoir for the Caspian Tern that was reported several times during the day. So, when it was reported again this morning, I started thinking that maybe I should make the effort. After all, it is a Staffordshire Mega!

So, fuelled with the success of my Spotted Flycatcher, I set off to Leek and Rudyard Reservoir.

I set off at about 11.30am and due to Saturday traffic and several tractors, it took me a hour and a half to get there. I hoped the Caspian was still about. I parked t the visitors centre as I am not familiar with the venue and set off with armed with my Binoculars, Scope and camera. The first thing I realised is that the Dam wall I was now standing on was a good way from where the reported sightings were.

I took this on arrival from the Dam wall. You can't even see the other end of the reservoir. But that distant out of sight bank is where the Caspian was reported. I set off.

It was a fair walk in beautiful surroundings, and eventually I located a grop of birders scopes all pointing in the same direction. A good sign! I joined them and pointed my scope in a similar direction. A quick scan and there about 250 yards out was the Caspian. It was sat on the mud looking very impressive. A life tick.

The view through my Little Opticron GS52 ED was very good considering the distance involved and the heat haze. I didn't feel I was missing out by by not bringing my bigger scope, and the long walk was not spoiled by a heavy scope.

Obtaining a good image through the scope and trying to capture that image digitally are worlds apart. Anyway, I wanted some sort of record shot so I took pictures of it with everything at my disposal.

This is the best I managed with my iPhone through the scope. Not great but you can see what it is.

Then I attached the Panasonic FS10 compact camera to the scopes eyepiece using Opticron's custom push on adapter. A little better.

Finally, I used my scope and tripod to steady my Canon SX40 bridge camera by just holding it on top of the scope. Went into the lower end of the digital zoom and rattled off plenty of pictures. This one being the best of the bunch.

I can't make up my mind if the FS10 digiscoping kit or the Canon SX40 produced the best picture. However, all three ways produced an acceptable record shot of a memorable twitch.

 

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Cannock Chase

It's a hot sunny Saturday morning and Pete,Taz and I headed for Cannock Chase. We were hoping for Spotted Flycatcher and as the stepping stones area seems to provide a lot of reports of Spotted Flys, we went there.

 

No sign of Spotted Flycatchers, we did manage a Grey Wagtail and a Tree Pipit.

Taz enjoyed cooling down in the stream.

 

Once the crowds started arriving, we left. I hope to return soon looking for Woodcock and Nightjars one evening.

 

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From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

It's been quiet for a while now. There is still plenty to see and a lot of interesting things going on in the locality nature/ bird wise, just no new ticks.

I set out on Sunday looking for a Corn Bunting. Whitemoor Haye has produced the goods in previous years. No luck this time though. What did catch my eye was the fact some idiot had fly tipped a load of old tyres at the edge of the road.

It was still an enjoyable walk in excellent surroundings. Why people have no respect for these green areas is beyond me.

With no luck at Whitemoor, I set off back towards home and a more local patch. The far end of Amington Moors and the lake by the Pretty Pigs Pub.

Taz likes looking for Squirrels in this area and it's usually good for tit flocks.

I managed a couple of decent Long Tailed Tit pictures considering the poor light values and light rain.

So there is the sublime.

Now, the ridiculous. On my way to work on Wednesday morning, I stopped off to drink my McDonalds Coffee at the side of Bodymoor Lake. Had woken up with a headache and was hoping some fresh air might help get rid of it.

I scanned the lake and was looking through the large number of Canadian geese and Greylags, when an odd looking goose caught my eye amongst them.

A Bar Headed Goose!

 

Not sure where this escapee originated from? But it looked very settled amongst the geese on the lake. An interesting find.

 

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Struggling for a local Tick

With Spring Migration over and Nesting in full swing, getting a new local tick is proving difficult. I still haven't heard a Grasshopper Warbler this year yet. Now they will be nesting so no reeling calls for a while anyway.

I did manage a bonus Hobby the other day. I was stood looking across a lake at the Water Park, when it almost flew into me in its pursuit of a Swallow. I felt the air pushing from its wings it was that close. Nice tick. Watched it continue to pursue the Swallow across the water until it was out of view. A very exciting chase.

Been snapping some the wildlife on my travels.

Common Tern

 

Great Crested Grebe

 

Taz Posing

And Swimming

 

Banded Demoiselle

There have been a few reports of Garganey, but usually when I am at work. They seem to become ultra elusive at evenings and weekends. Will keep looking.

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A quick experiment.

I can't make up my mind what I feel is best for bird photography and record shots. So, I decided this evening to carry out a quick experiment with the photographic and optical equipment I have at my disposal.

I have only cropped the pictures, all to the same size. This allows an appreciation of the magnification achieved with each method.

The female tufted duck was a very cooperative model, and maintained a steady distance throughout the photo shoot. Unlike the male, who was all over the place. The female Tufty was approximately 40 yards away throughout the process.

First off, iscoping. Opticron HR 66 ED with 40809 (x27) eyepiece. iPhone 4S hand held.

Not bad! Colours a little dark.

Next, Panasonic FS 10 compact camera through HR66 ED scope, Simple push on adapter. Manual shutter release by hand.

Very nice.

Finally, my Canon SX40 bridge camera on full optical zoom which is 800mm (Approx x17)

 

Not a good as the above two shots?

So, what have I learnt here?

Well. It seems there is no "best" method, it depends on conditions. For real quality shots with fine detail if you can get close enough, or for constantly moving subjects. The Canon Sx40 is the best tool for the job.

The iPhone through the scope also does a very acceptable job at distance. It is also convenient as it is always in my pocket.

However, the Panasonic compact through the scope has clearly produced the best shot here. It has the most detail, best colour rendition and highest magnification. This is something that I will need to look into a little more.

It's interesting stuff.

 

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