Cetti's in the open!

This was so good I just had to write a post about it!  A Cetti's Warbler - digiscoped!  Broom's first Cetti's was only last october and now we currently have two birds singing around the site.  This was the first time I've really seen either of them well.  I just couldn't believe my luck when this bird paused in a flowering blackthorn just a few meters from me.  I had just enough time to rattle off about ten shots before it scuttled away again - this is about the best shot I managed.  Brilliant!

Panasonic GX7, 20mm f1.7 lens, Kowa 884, 25-60x eyepiece.

Penduline Tits

Sorry for not letting everybody know about these birds at Broom.  They were in a part we probably shouldn't have been on and which just wouldn't have coped with more than a trickle of birders.  Isn't it lucky we had that obliging bird at Priory CP late last year!  It's just a shame one certain birder has thrown his toys out of the pram for not knowing the instant these birds were found.  Can you guess who it is?

My current digiscoping setup

Not much in the way of words with this post - but I thought I'd add some shots of my current digiscoping set up.  It is the Panasonic GX7, 20mm f.1.7mm lens, Swarovski DCA adapter, and a 46mm-52mm stepping ring.

What you can see on the bottom image is a custom machined sleeve which screws on to the eyepiece mount of the 30x eyepiece.  This then replaces the Swaro sleeve I've got which only attaches to the zoom eyepieces.  The sleeve was created for me by SRB-Griturn of Dunstable and cost around 40 quid.  I'm very pleased with the results I get out of this setup - far better than any digiscoping camera I've used before, and approaching DSLR in quality - take a look at my Flickr album here.

The Wood Storks eye

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.

Penduline

Penduline Tit, Meadow Lane GP, 29th December 2014.

This was a stunning find at the back end of 2014.  Digiscoped with a Nikon V1, 10-30mm lens, Swarovski ATS 80 HD and 25-50x eyepiece.

Spotting flycatchers

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!

Beds is ON FIRE!

Wow!  What a couple of weeks Beds is currently having.  Barred Warbler, a very confiding Hoopoe, a Lap Bunt and now a Lesser Grey Shrike!  It really makes up for a thoroughly dull rest of the year (Glossy Ibis aside).

Barred in Beds!

Well, that's turned around a truly dismal birding year in Beds.  John Lynch did a sterling job a keeping on this Barred Warbler at Blows Downs today - Bedfordshires first.  Many thanks John!  But the big question is "what did you have vismiging?"

Beasts from the east

Feels like ages since I've done any 'proper' birding.  So I headed up to Norfolk on Sunday with Wardy to look at waifs and stays.

First up was this rather splendid OBP in Wells Wood.

[Canon 7D, 300mm IS f.4 and 1.4 converter]

Then some Barred Warbler action at Salthouse

Barred Warbler shots all taken digiscoping with a Nikon V1, 10-30mm lens, Swarovski ATS 80 HD and 25-50x eyepiece.

Parrots

I eventually managed a trip up to Norfolk to see the Parrot Crossbills at Holt CP yesterday.  After seeing them very briefly first thing in the morning we eventually got brilliant views around lunchtime.  Not excellent photos but I was too busy actually looking at them.  Choop choop!

Stints

These are the first Little Stints in Beds for a while.  They made a nice lunchtime treat on my usual pop to Broom GP. 12th September 2013.

Spotty little oik

After only three visits I manged to see the Bedford Spotted Crake well.

Lapo

A few shots of an obliging Lapwing at Broom GP today.  Great birds with one of the best calls around!  They even have eyes in the back of their head...

Digiscoped with a Nikon V1, Swarovski ATS 80 HD, and 20x eyepiece.

Cyprus in March

A few images from two weeks in west Cyprus in March 2013.  All digiscopd with a Nikon V1, Swarovski ATS 80 HD and 20x eyepiece.

Cypriot Yellow Wags

Cyprus in March is a great time to watch early season migration.  The Yellow Wagtails were especially impressive with a huge variety on show.  The commonest was Black-headed (feldegg) with a good smattering of Blue-headeds (presumably flava rather than beema), and Grey-headeds (thumbergi).

There were also a bewildering variety of presumed hybrids and integrades.  The more you looked at the wagtails on show the more your head melted with the sheer assortment of shades, colours, and patterns on offer.

Digiscoped with a Nikon V1, Swarovski ATS 80 HD, 20x eyepiece, and cobbled-together adapter.

Some Owls

Little Owl

Tawny Owl

I've done a bit of 'Owling'  in the last few weeks.  These are the best of my efforts so far this winter.  Both were taken within 100 meters of each other on the same evening.  They were digiscoped with a Nikon V1, Swarovski ATS 80 HD, and 20-60x eyepiece.  They're not the sharpest shots ever, but were taken without flash on a windy night, so fairly pleasing.

Kite delight

Red Kite near Southill

These things are now pretty widespread around Bedfordshire.  However there are still pricks who go out and try to poison them - take a look at the Hexton incident.  That link is particularly galling as Red Kites were becoming a wonderful feature of nearby Pegsdon Hills; one of my favourite places to go birding locally.  Both kites and Ravens were slowly getting harder to see around the hills and now we know why.  Really makes my blood boil!

Rumper

I had a quick trip up to Grafham Water this morning to see this lovely Red-rumped Swallow.  When I first arrived I couldn't see any birders or the bird.  A quick walk on to the dam and something flicked up from my feet - the swallow!  It flew around for a while and landed no more than around 8 feet from me.  It gave stunning views for around four minutes until a blundering cyclist came along to within a few inches of it and it flew off towards Plummer car park.  Luckily we relocated it flying over the road between the dam and the car park a while later, and still giving fantastic views.

Dogging

Prairie Dogs running wild at Broom

This wasn't a species I ever thought I'd see around Broom - Prairie Dogs!  After a tip-off the other day about these I was a little sceptical of their existence - I thought it was so unlikely, especially as I'd been down to try and see them a few times and only seen Rabbits.  This morning I ambled down and saw what I thought was a huge ginger rat zoom over the grass.  After a minute or so I spied two little heads peeping out of a burrow - blimey!

So, where are they from, how long are they going to last in the wild, and are they bad for the local environment?  I guess time will tell, but for the moment they're an interesting addition to the local fauna.

GWE

 

This Great White Egret was a relief to see. It is just the second record for Bedfordshire after a ten minute visit from presumably the same bird on 1st January 2012. Well played Nick Cook and Richard Bashford for pulling this one out the bag! Your next pints are on me.  Radwell Lakes, 6th April 2012.