For anybody who is kind enough to read this blog and have enjoyed the content, I would like to introduce you to a new blog I will be writing in the future - link below.
http://thecowboybirder.com/
If you take a look at this new blog there is a brief explanation and the reason behind the new idea - I hope you enjoy my new alter ego!
My plan is to continue to write about nature conservation and environmental issues and topics on here, with 'the cowboy birder' aimed more at my birding exploits and the birding scene in general.
All comments welcome.
Friday 22 June 2012
Sunday 17 June 2012
'Ickle Bittern'
After writing about my first steps into digiscoping in my last post, the perfect chance came about this week to use the new equipment and finally get some decent photos on this blog, with the news of a Little Bittern near Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire on the river Colne, apparently giving very close views.
My first attempt to see this small Mediterranean cousin of our Bittern came on Wednesday evening after work, but this ended in failure as the Little Bittern was playing hard to get, having last been seen in flight around 3pm. I stayed until 8.30pm looking for the bird up and down the river but eventually had to give up and headed back to the car, where I found I was lucky not to have my car locked in the car park overnight, as a park warden was locking the gates for the day!
With no further news on Thursday or Friday, I thought the bird had moved on or had possibly been predated but then on Saturday morning I heard it had reappeared back on the same stretch of river apparently giving exceptional views. A quick check with Mrs Brown and I was off! Forty-five minutes later I was watching the bird catching and feeding on stickle-backs, less than twenty metres away from me - what a little stunner! And fully justifying its name, although 'Ickle' Bittern would be a more appropriate, standing less than 40 cm tall, half the size of a Bittern!
Here now was my opportunity to get some great photographs, good light conditions, barely a breeze and with a willing subject I quickly set up my tripod and scope, I fumbled through my bag feeling for my camera and adaptor ready for some amazing digiscoped images, pulling the camera from the bag I realised in my haste to get away I had left my adaptor at home!! I think b*llocks was the word I muttered under my breath as I was surrounded by long lenses and the sound of clicking cameras - once again left green with envy I would just have to enjoy everyone else's amazing photo's on their blogs!
Although a lesson learned in terms of 'less haste more speed' when exiting quickly to see a bird, the most important thing on the day was that I did see the bird, not at a distance, briefly or deep within cover, but excellent, close up and obliging views, which surely is the primary objective whenever you go birding.
You can enjoy many good photographs of the Little Bittern on any of the blogs I follow but if 'nice' scenery is more your thing, here's a photo of the River Colne!!
My first attempt to see this small Mediterranean cousin of our Bittern came on Wednesday evening after work, but this ended in failure as the Little Bittern was playing hard to get, having last been seen in flight around 3pm. I stayed until 8.30pm looking for the bird up and down the river but eventually had to give up and headed back to the car, where I found I was lucky not to have my car locked in the car park overnight, as a park warden was locking the gates for the day!
 |
| Nice man unlocking the gates - Sorry! |
With no further news on Thursday or Friday, I thought the bird had moved on or had possibly been predated but then on Saturday morning I heard it had reappeared back on the same stretch of river apparently giving exceptional views. A quick check with Mrs Brown and I was off! Forty-five minutes later I was watching the bird catching and feeding on stickle-backs, less than twenty metres away from me - what a little stunner! And fully justifying its name, although 'Ickle' Bittern would be a more appropriate, standing less than 40 cm tall, half the size of a Bittern!
Here now was my opportunity to get some great photographs, good light conditions, barely a breeze and with a willing subject I quickly set up my tripod and scope, I fumbled through my bag feeling for my camera and adaptor ready for some amazing digiscoped images, pulling the camera from the bag I realised in my haste to get away I had left my adaptor at home!! I think b*llocks was the word I muttered under my breath as I was surrounded by long lenses and the sound of clicking cameras - once again left green with envy I would just have to enjoy everyone else's amazing photo's on their blogs!
Although a lesson learned in terms of 'less haste more speed' when exiting quickly to see a bird, the most important thing on the day was that I did see the bird, not at a distance, briefly or deep within cover, but excellent, close up and obliging views, which surely is the primary objective whenever you go birding.
You can enjoy many good photographs of the Little Bittern on any of the blogs I follow but if 'nice' scenery is more your thing, here's a photo of the River Colne!!
 |
| Picturesque - But not a Little Bittern! |
Tuesday 12 June 2012
Digiscoping - first steps
My first foray into digiscoping (apart from some pretty awful iPhone scoped images) occurred over the weekend. A family weekend away to the North Norfolk coast was the perfect excuse to try out a recently purchased Swarovski UCA (Universal Camera Adaptor) attached to my scope, in order to photograph waders on the foreshore.
The two photographs below of Sanderling in their summer breeding plumage, wading in a shallow salt pool left by the lowering tide were taken on Holme beach and were probably the best of a fairly mediocre cluster of photographs I took on the day. To be fair, the light conditions were poor with overcast skies and a stiff westerly breeze to contend with, which shook the tripod causing vibrations to the camera and made focusing on a moving subject quite difficult - this was probably not the best day to choose for trying to get acclimatised with the new digiscope set up!
On the positive side, I was pleased with my first efforts (you can identify the birds and they are almost in focus!) and the digiscope set up worked how I had hoped. Setting up the equipment was quick and straight forward and I liked having the option to switch between a standard digital camera or a digital SLR if I wished to. A balance rail attached to the tripod, particularly if using an SLR camera, would be a necessity to prevent all the weight being at one end, whilst also increasing stability. With time, practice and better weather conditions I hope to improve on my initial efforts, only time will tell!
The two photographs below of Sanderling in their summer breeding plumage, wading in a shallow salt pool left by the lowering tide were taken on Holme beach and were probably the best of a fairly mediocre cluster of photographs I took on the day. To be fair, the light conditions were poor with overcast skies and a stiff westerly breeze to contend with, which shook the tripod causing vibrations to the camera and made focusing on a moving subject quite difficult - this was probably not the best day to choose for trying to get acclimatised with the new digiscope set up!
On the positive side, I was pleased with my first efforts (you can identify the birds and they are almost in focus!) and the digiscope set up worked how I had hoped. Setting up the equipment was quick and straight forward and I liked having the option to switch between a standard digital camera or a digital SLR if I wished to. A balance rail attached to the tripod, particularly if using an SLR camera, would be a necessity to prevent all the weight being at one end, whilst also increasing stability. With time, practice and better weather conditions I hope to improve on my initial efforts, only time will tell!
Set up:
- Swarovski HD 80mm scope
- 25-50x wide angle lens
- Sony Cyber-shot 13.6 mega pixel camera
Apart from the opportunity to test the digiscope, I was also aware that something of interest could potentially turn up while I was in Norfolk, and I didn't have to wait too long before I received news (thanks Hawky) of a Blyth's Reed Warbler (basically a Reed Warbler with a better song) at Warham Greens. This is probably not the best looking of birds and had it not have been so close to where we were staying I may have given this bird a miss, but I'm glad I didn't, as listening to its song alone was worth the short trip.
Brief and distant scope views of a Black-winged Stilt at Cley NNT reserve, viewed from high up at the visitors centre overlooking the marsh was also good to see, it was just a shame this bird was so elusive as this would have made a great subject for digiscoping...maybe next time!
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Diamond Jubilee weekend
The four days of Jubilee celebrations have come to an end and I've hugely enjoyed sharing the occasion with family, neighbours, old friends and new friends! And despite the rather disappointing weather for the time of year, nothing could dampen the spirits of all involved and everybody I spoke with seem to have had a jolly good time - with large amounts of cake, burgers, sausages and alcohol consumed, leaving a lot of people including myself feeling a little jaded and in the need of a good detox.
Taking advantage of the additional time off, I was up early on Saturday morning and heading towards Rainham RSPB reserve and Wennington Mound (affectionately known as Serin Mound to the regular birders) to try and see the Marsh Warbler which had been singing from this location the previous day. Arriving shortly after 6am with already half a dozen birders on site, I didn't have to wait long before I heard the Marsh Warbler break into its incredible mimicking song.
The list of birds which the Marsh Warbler incorporates into its song is truly amazing and one of the few birds I was happy not to see very well, as its song definitely makes up for its rather drab Reed Warbler like appearance. In the 3 hours I stood on the Mound listening, I tried to note the number of other birds songs/calls I could recognise amongst its broad repertoire:
House Sparrow
Swallow
Blackbird - A random alarm call mid song
Nightingale
Skylark
Blue Tit
Starling
Linnet
Yellow Wagtail
Greenfinch
Whitethroat
Sedge Warbler
Blackcap
Great Tit
And in addition I've heard other accounts of the bird giving the calls of Cetti's Warbler, Bee-eater, Little Tern and Quail.
The link below is from the Rainham Marshes RSPB website which has an excellent recording of the Marsh Warbler in full song - have a listen and see how many birds songs/calls you can identify?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/rainhammarshes/b/rainhammarshes-blog/archive/2012/06/02/who-shall-i-be-today.aspx
If you plan to visit the Rainham RSPB reserve to listen to the Marsh Warbler, please respect the bird by keeping your distance and do not attempt to get any closer than the arranged viewing point. The Marsh Warbler is a very rare breeding bird in the UK with estimates suggesting there are possibly only between 5 - 10 pairs in the UK and any unnecessary disturbance will scupper the slim chance of this bird finding a mate and potentially breeding on the reserve - if Marsh Warbler's were to breed at Rainham this would be a great success story for the RSPB and this east London site.
Other birds of note whilst overlooking the marsh at Wennington Mound were at least 3 Cuckoo's, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, Hobby and a distant singing Corn Bunting. Thanks also to Dominic Mitchell who got me onto a second summer Yellow-Legged Gull which would have been easily overlooked.
 |
| Jubilee street party in full swing |
Taking advantage of the additional time off, I was up early on Saturday morning and heading towards Rainham RSPB reserve and Wennington Mound (affectionately known as Serin Mound to the regular birders) to try and see the Marsh Warbler which had been singing from this location the previous day. Arriving shortly after 6am with already half a dozen birders on site, I didn't have to wait long before I heard the Marsh Warbler break into its incredible mimicking song.
The list of birds which the Marsh Warbler incorporates into its song is truly amazing and one of the few birds I was happy not to see very well, as its song definitely makes up for its rather drab Reed Warbler like appearance. In the 3 hours I stood on the Mound listening, I tried to note the number of other birds songs/calls I could recognise amongst its broad repertoire:
House Sparrow
Swallow
Blackbird - A random alarm call mid song
Nightingale
Skylark
Blue Tit
Starling
Linnet
Yellow Wagtail
Greenfinch
Whitethroat
Sedge Warbler
Blackcap
Great Tit
And in addition I've heard other accounts of the bird giving the calls of Cetti's Warbler, Bee-eater, Little Tern and Quail.
The link below is from the Rainham Marshes RSPB website which has an excellent recording of the Marsh Warbler in full song - have a listen and see how many birds songs/calls you can identify?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/rainhammarshes/b/rainhammarshes-blog/archive/2012/06/02/who-shall-i-be-today.aspx
If you plan to visit the Rainham RSPB reserve to listen to the Marsh Warbler, please respect the bird by keeping your distance and do not attempt to get any closer than the arranged viewing point. The Marsh Warbler is a very rare breeding bird in the UK with estimates suggesting there are possibly only between 5 - 10 pairs in the UK and any unnecessary disturbance will scupper the slim chance of this bird finding a mate and potentially breeding on the reserve - if Marsh Warbler's were to breed at Rainham this would be a great success story for the RSPB and this east London site.
Other birds of note whilst overlooking the marsh at Wennington Mound were at least 3 Cuckoo's, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, Hobby and a distant singing Corn Bunting. Thanks also to Dominic Mitchell who got me onto a second summer Yellow-Legged Gull which would have been easily overlooked.
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