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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent content by Mike D

  1. M

    Carnivorous Blackbird

    A few weeks ago a friend asked me if the birds which were feeding in my garden only ate seed as this is what I am feeding. I told him, no, because many eat worms, grubs etc. I did not realise until today that a British Blackbird would attack and eat a frog! The frog was obviously a 2007...
  2. M

    Bombardier Beetles / Pepper Bugs in W Africa

    Thanks for your information Jörn. I did a web search for the Pauxidae as you suggest, but came up with no hits. I'll do some more searching, the answer must be out there somewhere! Mike
  3. M

    Bombardier Beetles / Pepper Bugs in W Africa

    I have just returned from working in Angola, West Africa, where we were sitting some distance offshore on an oil rig which had a steady influx of 'Pepper Bugs', AKA 'Acid Bugs'. These little beetles have the ability to spray boiling fluid from their abdomen as a standard Bombardier Beetle, but...
  4. M

    Spindle Tree Berries

    I photographed this Spindle Tree on the Nature Reserve near Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire on 12th November this year. I have never seen so many berries on this type of tree before - anyone else seen similar?
  5. M

    Some microphone Q's

    MP3 attachment?? HouseFinch - how did you attach the link to the MP3? I have run your recording through a programme called Audio Cleaning Lab and got some good results and would like to post the result. Looking at the permitted attachments MP3 is not there, so I'm a bit stumped. Most of the...
  6. M

    Mutant Daisy

    Thanks for replies, Yaffle - Weedkiller is a very slender chance. I had a gardener come in last year do some lawn maintenance. I don't know if he applied any weedkiller. Dave - likewise, on Forsythia. Another question I throw in - are multi-leaved Clovers suffering the same sort of...
  7. M

    Mutant Daisy

    Seen growing on my lawn. Is this a common occurence? Mike
  8. M

    Wood pigeons nesting

    Hi Helen, Sorry if this is a bit delayed in posting, been out of the country - I believe you will find that the reason pigeons can breed over such a long period in the year is that they feed their young on 'Pigeons Milk', the semi-digested food from the crop. So, provided the parent/s can find...
  9. M

    Birds and Bamboo

    I have been working in West Africa for a couple of years now and realised only during the last trip that, although we have a large stand of bamboo just outside the office, there are no signs of any birds' nests. The canes have a trunk diameter of about 5 inches (120mm), and are around 40 feet in...
  10. M

    Interesting thought

    I have the perfect solution - see a jpg I have posted, a genuine photograph taken in Cabinda, Angola, West Africa. Nice One! (sorry to all the cat lovers) Mike
  11. M

    Newbie question bird identification

    Many thanks to all for a really interesting thread.
  12. M

    Interesting

    Sorry, but I do not understand what frequencies below 20 Hz have to do with Microwave radiation. Your microwave oven works at around 4,000,000,000 Hz (4GHz), UHF TV works at around 500,000 000 Hz (500 Mhz) and the National Grid domestic supply in the UK is 50Hz. The frequencies in question are...
  13. M

    magpie trouble

    Hi, I don't know if Alaskan magpies are the same as British ones, but an old CD with a hole drilled in the outer edge and suspended from a tree has kept two maggies at bay for me. This was, apparently, a suggestion from someone in the RSPB. Sounds like Snake Oil, but it seems to work.
  14. M

    Pale washed out photos re digiscoped pics.

    Hi Christine, Looking at your original pic my first thought was that you have a dirty or fogged lens. Have you checked you don't have a dirty fingerprint on the lens or condensation inside the lens construction? Sorry if you think I am teaching grandma to suck eggs, but it is a possibility.
  15. M

    the incredable skua

    Just as an aside and while on the subject of Bonxies - I was working at RSPB Strumpshaw reception on Sunday afternoon, 27th and a Bonxie flew over, persued by 4 or 5 Lesser BB Gulls! This sighting (by myself and another member of this forum) was later confirmed by another 3 independent birders...
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