Digiscoping with the P4

My trusty coolpix 995 has been developing the odd fault in recent months, including persistently failing to focus on anything (but acting like it has). This has meant some priceless photos have been ruined so it was time to look for a replacement. On paper the P4 looked a good bet but it had only just arrived in the UK so it was a bit of a leap of faith.

So far I'm very pleased with it. It doesn't focus as close as the 995 but as recent moths photos show it is more than OK for the macros and I think the 8 megapixels will provide enough resolution for smaller subjects too.

Of course it needs to perform as a digiscoping camera too and that looks to be very good. Early days yet but with a superb 50 pence adapter initial results are encouraging. The Grebe here was taken in bright conditions with the sun in cloud and the Great Tit was on a very dull and wet day.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77


Coolpix P4 handheld to 32x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Great Tit (Parus major)


Coolpix P4 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

The Satellite

The weather finally changed at the end of last week and with the much warmer, but wetter conditions came the first of the spring moths. A smattering of Hebrew Characters, Common and Small Quakers and a first for the garden: The Satellite. Unlike the Orthosias which are just emerging from pupae, The Satellite over-winters as an adult so can in theory be seen at any time between the late autumn and early spring. It gets its name from the two tiny white 'moons' orbiting the large white spot on the forewing.

The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)


Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)


Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)


Nikon Coolpix P4

We Saw a Rail

Another very early start for another extremely rare american bird (others being Grey-cheeked Thush and Green Heron). The 4:30 start was worth it though as Mike, Tony and I got great views as the bird fed in a frozen ditch at dawn. It was rather too dark for photographs really but its nice to have these record shots.

Sora Rail (Porzana carolina)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Eggs on Birch

I was checking the birch trees in the garden for early stages of moths like this one but only found these eggs. No idea what they belong to at the moment but hopefully someone will know. They were fairly abundant.


Nikon Coolpix 995

Nuns on parade

I rather dislike the nickname 'White Nun' given to the adult male Smew - but then I generally dislike most of the nicknames birders give to birds. But you can't argue that they are impressive beasts. This party of four adult males and two 'redheads' (the females or immatures) were showing very obligingly near the perimeter road at Eye Brook Reservoir today.

Smew (Mergellus albellus)


Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Sewage Works Birds

A lunchtime bike ride along the North Bank of the Nene east of Peterborough - a place I have neglected recently. The warm outfall from the sewage works along here often attracts birds during cold spells of weather like this but the numbers today were quite low.

Redshank (Tringa totanus)




Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Bean Goose makes it 198

What a sensational morning! A report of an Arctic Redpoll in Lord's Holt was the lure. But the sights and sounds from the South Bank of the Nene Washes west of Eldernell were more than adequate compensation for the non-showing finch.

A Barn Owl had already shown well at the playing field on Eldernell Lane and another then flew over the carpark carrying what looked like a small bird - perhaps a Reed Bunting.

Bewick's Swans were already leaving the roost area and flying east past the carpark in small flocks before dawn and in the half light a couple of Black Swans passed with them. Then I noticed two geese heading straight for me and got the scope on them. I thought they were Pink-footed Geese at first but as the sun rose behind me I could clearly see the upperwings were largely dark and they were in fact Bean Geese. Watching one very closely revealed a limited pale band on the bill indicating these were probably of the Tundra race (rossicus). This is another welcome addition to my list of PBC area finds.

Shortly after Weedon's World of Nature arrived also drawn by the Arctic Redpoll report and I called him over to see a herd of 5 Roe Deer I had just noticed distantly over on the north side of the washes just west of The Decoy Wood. One of them was a stag with a full set of antlers.

There were still at least 40 Whooper Swans there by the time we reached the floods where I had brief views of a Water Pipit and a Stonechat before we turned our attentions back to the wood. Further highlights included the noisy threesome of two males and a female Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Lord's Holt and the calls of the Swans as they continued to leave the roost for about 2 hours.

In the end only 5 Lesser Redpolls showed in the Holt and they didn't stay long.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Velvet Shank Again

A fairly unproductive trip to the west side of Milton Park from Salter's Tree with a whole batch of photos of a cooperative Green Woodpecker in the bin. At least this fungus doesn't move but it looks very different from the previous examples of this species (see here).

Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes)



Nikon Coolpix 995

First Moths of 2006

A good week earlier than in previous years these two were attracted to an actinic trap on Saturday night during this mild spell.

The Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)


Pale Brindled Beauty (Apocheima pilosaria)


Nikon Coolpix 995

Popular Crossbills

What a difference a bit of sun makes. Today Southey Wood was host to at least three digiscopers and a couple of DSLR photographers. We were all after the Crossbills that Eugene had noticed were drinking at a puddle in the main carpark. Luckily a drinking session coincided with our visit and although I didn't manage to get any pictures on the ground these are very satisfying indeed. At least 14 birds were there today.

Weedon's World of Nature photos
And some others here

All photos are clickable for large versions.

Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)




Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

The sun comes out

Not for long mind you but this is the first sun I've seen for a while. The bike ride along the north bank of the Nene is one of my favourite lunchtime jaunts. Green Sandpiper, Tawny Owl, Grey Wagtail, etc. all showed. The birds below were in a field with Redwings and Starlings near Padholme Pumping Station.

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)



Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrelli)


Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Velvet Shank

A pleasant walk through Little and Great Morton Sale woods today revealed a good number of Marsh Tits but few other birds. This fungus is one that survives hard frosts so can remain in good condition through the winter. You can't see it clearly in the shots but the stems are dark and velvety.

Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes)



Nikon Coolpix 995

Southey Crossbills

This was a great find by Richard Astle and an excellent target for a lunchtime dash with Weedon's World of Nature. We soon located the flock a little way along the main track just before the power lines. There looked to be eleven birds present and this was confirmed as they all flew off noisily towards the carpark where they gave excellent views.

These birds feed noisily in the tops of the pine trees but you may have to examine quite a few squirrels making a similar noise in the treetops before finally locating the 'bills.

The picture is a miracle of digiscoping in the dark against the sky: it hardly felt like it got light today. This shot of a male holding a cone in one foot and working it with its specially designed bill is the best I could manage.

There are now better pictures on Bogbumper.

Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)

Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77

Winter Moth

There are not many insects around at this time of year, especially with temperature keeping fairly low at the moment. Winter Moth is one of a few exceptions. The females are virtually wingless but males fly around on milder evenings in mid-winter. This one was attracted to the kitchen lights.

Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

Nikon Coolpix 995

Barney the Cool Goose

An escaped goose?! There are a few individuals that hang around with the Greylags and Canada Geese. This one is regularly on Heron Meadow at Ferry Meadows CP with Canada Geese. Where they come from originally is anyone's guess but the large feral populations in Bedfordshire and Norfolk/Suffolk is now deemed self-sustaining and may well account for some of our birds.

Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 and Leica APO77 with 20x eyepiece

Shag

A nasty strong freezing wind originating in the north had me thinking it was worth checking the Dog in a Doublet on the off-chance an Auk had made it up to the tidal limit of the Nene. A good choice as there was this Shag sitting on the rocks very close to the sluice. It was hard to pick out at first, especially through the snow flurries blowing across, and I nearly missed it all together. It was perishingly cold in the wind but these shots aren't too bad. At one point a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail were next to the bird alongside the fish ladder.

The Dog in a Doublet is the place to see Shag in the PBC area. They can often stay for a while: the last one arrived on 18 Dec 2003 and stayed until 5 Jan 2004. See here for pictures.

This is the 197th species I've found in the PBC area. Roll on the 200!

The brownish plumage with prominent pale tips to the wing coverts age this as a first-winter bird.

Click on pics for a larger images.

Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)




Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 and Leica APO77 with 20x eyepiece

Hardy Dragons

Common Darters are hardy chaps. The weather has been bitterly cold with hard frosts now every night for a week but the sunny calm days are providing warm pockets in places exposed to the sun. This is perfect for the few remaining dragonflies on the wing but even these can't expect to last much longer now. This one was basking at Stibbington GP.

Click on pic for a larger image.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

Nikon Coolpix 995

Green Wood again

The male Green Woodpecker was back again on our front grass feeding most of the morning under the birch trees. It has excavated some significant holes in the grass surrounded by neat, long, whitish pellets that reminded me of the bizarre Wryneck poo collecting crowd last year (see here!).

This prolonged visit provided me with some much-needed digiscoping practice but most pictures are a bit distorted by taking through double-glazing.

Click on pics for a larger images.

Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)



Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 and Leica APO77 with 20x eyepiece.

Twitching

Sometimes twitching gets a bad name but every now and then something turns up not too far from home that is just that bit special and you have to go for it. This Grey-cheeked Thrush was just 70 miles away near Cheshunt so a morning off work and an early start saw Weedon's World of Nature and I heading south on the A1. It turned out to be an excellent morning and we met up with several people we knew.

Although it made us search a good hour and a half in the freezing cold it eventually showed very well. It didn't help that when it stood still facing you it disappeared against the leafy backdrop of the woodland floor. I concentrated on taking notes rather than photographs (it was rather dark under the trees) but click here to see WWoN's photo.

For anyone who thinks this is just a small grey thrush think again. It is not like any bird I've seen before (this is the first Catharus species I've seen). It is small and dumpy like a Robin, has thrush-like speckling but feeds rather like a Wren. A cracking bird to watch.

Grey-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus), Northaw Great Wood CP.

Lynched

Another look for the Scoter today in better light. They often only stay for a day and these were no exception (maybe two days for three of them). In the absence of anything better we resorted to a bit of duck digiscoping practice at Lynch Lake where a Water Rail swimming along the edge was a surprise.

There are some much better duck photos from this session on Weedon's World of Nature.

Click on pics for a larger images.

Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)


Gadwall (Anas strepera)


Shoveler (Anas clypeata)


Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 and Leica APO77 with 20x eyepiece.

Common Scoter

Three female-type Common Scoter were found at Ferry Meadows on Monday and spent the day on Overton Lake. I decided to take a look early this morning but found no sign of the birds. However Ferry Meadows is an excellent site for birds and I had already seen a few Siskin, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Grey Wagtail before getting far from the car. Then I noticed an adult Bewick's Swan cruising across the lake - quite a good bird for Ferry Meadows.

The real surprise came though when I noticed a flock of ducks flying in from the west. A quick look with the bins revealled eight Common Scoter. I followed them closely looking for any signs of white in the wings (indicating Velvet Scoter)! they circled Overton Lake then headed back and appeared to land on Gunwade Lake. I made my way around there and sure enough there they were, all eight including a spanking adult male (a very rare sight in this area). Unfortunately it was still early and very cloudy and dull so photos were never going to be great.

The question is were any of the eight the same three that were present the day before or was it an entirely new flock? They are notoriously short stayers and I can quite believe the three buzzed off overnight and these arrived first thing. Terry swears there was no sign of them on Gunwade before 8am and I had been watching Overton before that. In any case this felt every bit like a find to me and takes my list of found birds in the PBC area to 196 species. Nearing that magic 200!

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra), eight including one adult male
(Click on pic for a larger image)

Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 and Leica APO77 with 20x eyepiece.

Click here for pics of the flock of 20 at Ferry Meadows just over a year ago.

Reed Bunting and Green Woodpecker

A great day for birding from the house. New to the garden was a pair of Reed Buntings flying south along the river: 96th species and long overdue. I count anything I see from the house in that list so many have not landed in the garden as such. Green Woodpecker was one of those until today as this splendid male chose to feed on the small lawn under the birch trees right in front of the house.

I could hardly tear myself away from the upstairs window today as bird streamed past south along the Nene Valley. There was also a good display of Red Kites and a couple of Common Buzzards, up to 3 Snipe flew over the Water Meadows and a Sparrowhawk lingered in the village. Most of the birds listed here were on the Northants side of the river and passed during about 2 hours in the morning. There were also more passerines involved but most were too distant for confident ID (a lot were Chaffinches).
Skylark, 64
Woodpigeon, 3,150
Stock Dove, 127
Redwing, 70
Reed Bunting, 2
Jay, 1, high south over long distance
Fieldfare, 80
Lapwing, 35
Golden Plover, 16

Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)

Nikon CP995 (too close for digiscoping!)