This is perhaps my favorite shot from Florida earlier this year. I just can't stop looking at that eye! I have to admit though, I've processed the image poorly, so I may go back and have another go at it sometime.
Wood Stork, Gatorland, Florida, January 2015. Digiscoped with a Nikon V1, Swarovski ATS 80 HD and 25-50x eyepiece.
This Whitethroat is giving a passable impression of a Lesser Whitethroat amongst its usual song. This bird was found originally in 2014 by Roger Hicks in a similar area but wasn't really pinned down until last week when he relocated it.
I haven't yet look up how frequent mimickry is in Common Whitethroat, but this bird not only includes Lesser Whitethroat song in its own, but also Swallow, Common Tern and several other common species (although a devil to catch on video!). It joins a select group of species I've heard give copies of similar species songs - Firecrests that sounds like Goldecrests, and Willow Warblers that sound like Chiffchaffs - both of which I have now come across several times.
Summer is here. Or at least the Spotted Flies are back. This year I've been fortunate to have a pair appear just behind my house - certainly not a bird I ever expected to have from my garden in the house I am currently in! These birds aren't those, but they were taken not too far away. They are a fantastic bird to practice taking images of. The Panasonic GX7 really pulls out more detail than I have ever experienced from a digiscoping camera - I am exceptionally pleased with it. So if anyone is dithering about what new digiscoping camera to get, look at one of these and the 20mm f1.7 pancake lens - awesome!
Lives in Bedfordshire, loves digiscoping, local patching and county birding. Also enjoyes the odd trip to far away lands to seek out mystical forest dwellers.
