Camera Testing

Sunday October 28

Another wild day. Strong wind throwing hard, semi hail showers bouncing off the patio. Stir crazy after a day indoors yesterday, we drove to Walcott with two aims in mind. Sea watching and testing my new camera. Three if you count watching a stormy sea, which we both love.

We stayed an hour, by which time my gloved hands were numb, eyes running and my face buffeted. 

Most of the birds seen were flying north into the bitter north easterly wind, enough passage to keep me interested.  Sea watching at Walcott is not the best as the birds are usually distant, as they were to-day. The hard horizon line foreshortened the view until the size of the passing Gannets emphasised their distance offshore. The most distant were adults, out numbered by the all dark 1cy birds a little nearer, along with a few piebald 2cy.

Small groups of Brent Geese hugging the waves,  fast flying Eiders and Wigeon

One really needs to know how far the horizon is at Walcott.

Twenty Knot clearing the near troughs, three Red-throated Divers, 1 Great Northern Diver and several Auks. The latter, frustratingly, too distant to identify with any certainty, appearing intermittently through the heaving, tumultuous, white cap swell. A small passage of Kittiwakes too.

A true test of the camera (a Canon DSLR 5D series IV ) was a small ship ploughing south at the very horizon. With my trusty 300mm lens what difference would  the increased megapixels make to an enormously enlarged section of the photograph ?

A thoroughly enjoyable hour.

Lewis Hamilton became world champion for the 5th time at the Mexico Grand Prix. 

And.......Man U beat Everton 2-1 despite Paul Pogba's show boating (keeping the nautical theme going).

At Last

Friday October 26

A scheduled eye check-up at Cromer Hospital was the first chore - I was out before my appointment time. Maybe early morning is a good idea. It didn't seem to be at the time. 

Then we had to sign our amended wills at the solicitor's in Sheringham. Would sea watching be worthwhile? 

East cliff car park is a bit high but gives reasonable views under or over the railings. Movement was slow. We ticked off Gannets, Red-throated Diver and Brent Geese before I tentatively suggested trying for the Stejneger's Stonechat at Salthouse, which has moved from 'possible' to 'probable'. Pam had decided not to drive Meadow Lane yesterday as there were already at least four cars parked at the turning place.
A positive answer. I contained my pleasure as we had yet to pass the Meadow Lane test.
Yes !! 
Only one car parked and a small knot of people watching from a distant gate. We lurched up the deeply rutted lane, long central grass sweeping the car's underside - but easily passable with care. At the gate, three tripod mounted long lenses were pointed in different directions. I swept the area using bins, seeing one Curlew. I then tried again using my scope. Pam went off to talk to the four birders, not something she enjoys. She was soon back with the information that the bird was in a patch of long phragmites, sheltering from the blustery wind, occasionally appearing on the bent post to their right. Then, the probable Stejneger's Stonechat appeared on top of the post before dropping down in front of them. The second time, it lingered long enough to give me extensive scope views,  before flying off east and out of sight. Brilliant. 

THIS IS NOT MY PHOTOGRAPH  - it is the same Meadow Lane bird

Photo taken by David Bryant

 It was too small and far too distant for my 300mm lens. This is exactly how I saw the bird.
James Lowen's photos are the best I've seen, published on the RBA website.

Mike's tip that the bird had a white throat was very useful when I looked it up in the two volume, Hadoram Shirihai, photographic guide to the world's birds. When will the next volumes appear? Guy Kirwan has guided him on many of his photographic safaris, therefore being able to show many of his excellent photographs at Yarmouth Bird Club.

Whilst we were waiting in the hope that the bird would return, almost as good was the sight of an enormous flock of Pinkfeet in honking waves overhead. Blue sky and fluffy white cumulus helped. Several thousands in total. I took lots of photographs before finding that I'd put the memory card in the wrong space - there are two in my new camera. That's the second error. Very irritating. I am very unlikely to repeat those errors, I hope.
Why are all Canon cameras so different from each other? Different sized battery I can understand, differing amount of power needed. It's  the need for a differently placed replay button for example that I can't understand.

BelugaEnd

Friday October 19

A last moth trap emptying. 39 in number of 14 species. The numbers have really dropped off as the effect of last weekend's warm weather has dissipated.

Of interest was a small Wainscot which we still haven't identified and, a Buff Footman. The latter so late that it could well be a migrant (according to FB posting). 

A shorter spell at Gravesend to-day with blue sky and some warmth to view the passing river traffic. No cruise liner at Greenwich Dock to-day, the Marco Polo has reached eastern Europe en route to Norway. Large ships, 

tug boats, 

dirty old barges

and the ferry. 

No Beluga Whale. At least we tried.

Passing locals have been very friendly. Many on a daily trip back from shopping to check on the whale, regaling us with stories of it swimming close by, hearing it breathe, head appearing etc. Very entertaining and reassuring that the public have taken the animal's visit to their hearts. One actually said that it would be good if it had gone as it meant that it was healthy and on its way back north. Until we pointed out that we hadn't seen it.

The Dart Crossing traffic queues were astonishing in their number and density. Pam joined the 'right' one and it didn't take us long. We were home by 4.15 having enjoyed our experiences and fired to do another moth-ing trip elsewhere on the south coast. Further west next time.

Having seen this moth, a White Prominent found in SW Ireland,  maybe there.

Last Day at Stowting Common

Thursday October 18

A very leisurely start this morning. I read in bed, Pam showered and pottered before emptying the moth trap. That didn’t take long. Our poorest catch yet, both in numbers and species. 53 0f 19 species. Cooler and rather windy, not good conditions for moths, especially the wind. The best moth was a pristine Cypress Carpet, wholesale planting of Leylandii has helped its spread. 

M de Jour always welcome. So many Nov agg moths, all over our end wall as well as in the trap.

I heard a Siskin call as it flew over, another Autumn pleasure.

We’d decided to go to Dungeness again for our final full day, not too far and with the possibility of birds as well as moths.

What were the odds of us being held up at the level crossing by a Rhomney, Hythe and Dymchurch train? Incredible. I had a card in to-day - and it was the red engine.

David, the warden, was not in. We sat in the yard and looked at to-day’s egg boxes.

Dungeness Bird Observatory. Tiny back yard through gate on the right.

Nothing new but a good chance to try and consolidate specialities such as Feathered Brindle. A man came along, saying that it was fine to go in and look in the fridge. Pam did so, finding yesterday’s goodies with nothing new.

As 4G kicked in somewhere to-day, I got emails on my phone. One of them was from David, written on the 16^th,  suggesting that we call in on the 17^th. In the morning. By sheer chance we were there yesterday the 17^th . He must have thought that it was odd that I didn’t mention the mail nor arrive until the afternoon. I left David a note of thanks and we left for the RSPB reserve.

An opportunity to take a few photos of the Dungeness area.

Both lighthouses

One of the typical cottages - a tidy one.

Very few birds around to-day. An arrival of 100+ Pochard on a roadside pit was the obvious change plus the lack of Greater Black-backed Gulls loafing on a shingle ridge off the reserve approach road. We drove the hides again, more Great Egrets with Little Egrets, a Spoonbill and Grey Herons on a distant island – but not as many as reported on the pager. 

I heard a Greenshank but didn’t see one. Another inspection of the cattle groups on Denge Marshes failed to find any Cattle Egrets.

I’d noticed an interesting shop name as we drove through this morning and managed to find it on the way home. Pam did a U turn so that I could photograph it from the other side of the road. The lights were kind to us, all I had to do was wait for a low car to pass by ! I’ll send it to our Mick when we get home. 

We’ve decided to leave to-morrow instead of Saturday. Less traffic and we feel that we’ve ‘done’ this part of England. The weather has changed and we are unable to take advantage of sites such as Howlett’s and Port Lympne. Leeds Castle etc as it would involve walking. Very frustrating.

Moth Bonanza

Wednesday October 17

Happy Birthday Pauline and Jim.

What a day. It started with an early trap opening ( 88 of 30+ species, Large Wainscot, Autumnal Rustic and Blair’s Shoulder-knot were new for the site) so that we could leave for Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory at 9ish. They tend to open the first moth traps at about 10. Now that we know the area a little better, we drove a few miles before programming the SatNav, and were taken on a much more relaxing drive than on Monday. No single track at all.

We arrived at 10.15 to find Stefan on the second trap already. He’d potted the ones he thought we’d be interested to see. Oak Rustic, L Album Wainscot, Feathered Brindle, Gem and a putative Archer’s Dart were all new for us. The latter might be a Spalding Dart only recorded once previously and in the west country. This Dart’s underwings are plain white – as are Spalding’s !  We’ll see.

Archer’s Dart

Feathered Brindle - a south coast speciality

Gem - top moth- photobombed by a Loonie

L Album Wainscot

L Album Wainscot

After a short foray to the bird ringing shed where there was a sizeable audience but, they were nearly finished, having started at a similar time. House Sparrows, Siskin and Blackcaps were the day’s catch. Not much movement at the moment. Unlike the moths which were blown north by the hot southerly  weather plume from North Africa.

Back to watch Andrew opening his moth trap before leaving for Dungeness, sixty seven minutes drive away via Dover. 
Pam’s never been to Dover. The view from the top of the hill as one drops down to the port is stunning. White cliffs on the right, enormous cross channel ferries anchored at the end of jetties, everything orderly and neatly laid out. No way could we stop to take photos.

Someone was definitely in at Dungeness Bird Obs. to-day. Two men inspected a moth trap roadside, four others sat in the small back yard.  Announcing on the pager that  they’d trapped a Beautiful Marbled will have been an incentive. We’d planned to come anyway before the message. Thanks Mike for making sure we hadn’t missed it. Mike had also seen the Clifden Nonpareil found at Natural Surroundings later yesterday. Good.

The warden of the last fifteen years, David, greeted us in the tiny yard, asking if one of us was Anne. Yes indeed. He’d been hoping we’d come to-day and had both kept the traps full and potted those he thought we’d be interested in seeing. The others left and we started searching through the treasure trove. Top of the list was the stunning Beautiful Marbled, The Streak, Gem, Clancy’s Rustic (Giles and Judy also had the latter on the Isle of Wight), and our first Vestals of the year. Seeing us photographing, David suggested that we take the interesting moths through to the porch where he’d set out a lump of wood as a background. And……….told us to take them out of the pot !! We only lost two (!!) but he soon caught them again.

Clancy’s Rustic

Beautiful Marbled

The Streak - unusual pose, shown as tented in books

Vestal

Palpita vitrealis

We'd already trapped a Palpita vitrealis at our cottage. This was the third after Andy's catch earlier this year.
Good to hear a Chiffchaff’s cheerful call from the nearby bushes.

After suitably effusive thanks, a very overwhelmed pair left for the RSPB reserve, where we could sit with a cup of coffee whilst reviewing the day’s moths.

Seeing the little train at the far station  again, a red engine to-day, we stationed ourselves at a level crossing and waited forty minutes. I read the paper and we both relaxed. I was happy with my photographic efforts, looked really good through the viewfinder – until I reviewed the results and up came the message ‘’no card’’.  I’d not done my usual programming where I set the camera to not work if the card is missing. Ah well.

We had sought permission to drive the Denge Marshes track again, hoping to see the eight Cattle Egrets present. I also wanted to try out my old 150-600mm lens on my new camera. The latter was a mixed success, not good at the upper limit in even reasonable Autumn light. Not bad at 400mm for some rapid flight shots of a Magpie chasing a Kestrel.

A Green Woodpecker called, before perching at the top of a bush, Water Rail squealed from the reeds and an occasional Great Egret flew majestically past. Waiting for the roost is tempting but, we were tired.