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

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  1. ColinD

    Wheatear, Great Orme, North Wales 22/10/2023

    I'd be interested in any thoughts on this wheatear I photographed on the Great Orme yesterday. Before I begin though, apologies for the blue tint, my camera was playing up with the white balance. I'm not sure if I can fix it now. The bird was on the limestone pavement at the northern tip of the...
  2. ColinD

    Digital zoom v optical zoom and crop

    I've often heard people say that using digital zoom in the field is the same as using optical zoom and then cropping the image when I get it on my laptop. Is this really the case? Are there any advantages, however slight, to either option? I wonder if the digital zoom option might be marginally...
  3. ColinD

    How is the Google Pixel7 Pro for digiscoping?

    Hi, I'm on the verge of getting a Google Pixel 7 Pro. How is it for digiscoping? I've read some mixed reviews. I currently use a Samsung A52 with a Phoneskope lollipop adapter. Thanks for any help
  4. ColinD

    Viking gull? Ullapool, Scotland

    In July I saw this gull several times in Ullapool harbour in the North West Highlands. I've been calling it a 2nd summer glaucous gull but I've had a few nagging doubts since the first day I saw it. I'm wondering if it's actually a Viking gull? The first three photos below are all from July...
  5. ColinD

    House martins landing in a bush to feed

    Anybody seen anything like this before, a flock of 200+ hirundines, mainly house martins but also a few swallows, perching on wires and then dropping into a bush to feed on insects. I watched them doing this for about 30 minutes at Nata, Cyprus today.
  6. ColinD

    Gulls, Akrotiri, Cyprus 18/08/17

    These juvenile gulls were at Akrotiri, Cyprus today, with about 40 YLGs. They seem a bit small to be juv YLG to me, with long wings and shortish bill. I wondered if they might be Baltic gulls, which are now starting to pass through Cyprus. They looked dark enough on the upper wing when they...
  7. ColinD

    Wader, Akrotiri, Cyprus 08/08/2017

    Can somebody please put me out of my misery and tell me what this wader is from Akrotiri today. It seemed larger than a little stint, more like dunlin size, but the bill and plumage seem wrong for what would surely be a juvenile if it was a dunlin. To me it looks more like an adult something. I...
  8. ColinD

    Heuglin's gull? Lady's Mile, Cyprus

    I posted photos of a couple of gulls from Lady's Mile, Cyprus on the Facebook group "Western Palearctic Gulls" yesterday. I realise that some folk on here are also on that FB group, but I thought it might be worth posting the photos here as well for those who aren't. Apologies if you've seen...
  9. ColinD

    Lark for ID, Mandria, Cyprus

    I'm having trouble identifying the lark with the white underparts in the attached photos. Can anybody suggest what it might be? It really stood out in the flock of mainly skylarks and seemed bigger than the rest, but I can't get it to anything other than skylark. At lark corner, Madria, Cyprus.
  10. ColinD

    Rough-legged buzzard? Lancs, UK

    I'd be interested in opinions about this bird which I photographed as it was being mobbed by crows. The carpal patch and pale head look good for adult (female?) rough-legged buzzard to me, but I see relatively few rough-legs and most of those I do see are juveniles. What do you think?
  11. ColinD

    Ageing of desert wheatear, Lytham, Lancashire

    Does anybody know how to age desert wheatears? I've had a quick look but I can't find anything which conclusively seperates adult male from 1st winter males. I've admitedly not got a great amount of experience with the species, just the occasional vagrant in the UK, but I wondered if the bird...
  12. ColinD

    Rough-legged buzzard, Donna Nook

    I was at Donna Nook today, hoping to see the rough-legged buzzard which has been present for a couple of days. The only sighting I had was a long distance view of a bird on the opposite side of the re-alignment scheme, viewed through 7x binoculars. At first I thought that the bird was a marsh...
  13. ColinD

    Ageing of Redstart, Easington UK

    I took this photo of a redstart in Vicars Lane, Easington today and I'm just wondering about the age and sex of the bird. My initial reaction was adult male, but now I think it's a 1st winter male, but if so it looks really bright to me. Any comments? I note that there was a possible...
  14. ColinD

    White-winged black tern High Rid Reservoir, Manchester

    I'd be interested in opinions on this marsh tern at High Rid reservoir near Horwich in Greater Manchester today. I went to the reservoir at lunch time to see a juvenile black tern which has been reported there for the past couple of days, only to discover myself looking at what appeared to be a...
  15. ColinD

    Leech for ID from Anglesey, North Wales

    Hi Can anybody help me out with the attached leech I found on Anglesey today. There were several of them in a pond and they were about 10 - 15cm long. Thanks Colin
  16. ColinD

    Grey geese, North Lancashire

    I'd appreciate any opinions on these grey geese in Lancashire. There were thousands of pink-feet in the area today, but a small flock flew over with two birds that were quite a bit larger than the others. I managed to get a few flight photos and then watched them land and got more photos on the...
  17. ColinD

    International Space Station hype

    So on the day when the British media is going OTT about the first Brit on the International Space Station, I wondered what the general feeling is here? As a conservationist / ecologist, should I be for it or against it? Personally I believe that Humans will never achieve manned space travel...
  18. ColinD

    Falcon from the Ribble, UK

    Any comments on this falcon from the Ribble Estuary today? Superficially like a juvenile peregrine, which is perhaps what it is, but notice the eye stripe, the (apparently) contrasting underwing with dark underwing coverts and the dark rump all possibly suggestive of juvenile lanner? On the...
  19. ColinD

    Wader from Port Douglas, Australia

    Here's another one from north east Australia about 3 week ago, this time from Port Douglas. I can't see anything other than whimbrel here (of which there were plenty), but this one seemed odd. What's going on with the rump, it doesn't look particularly white, but neither does it look right for...
  20. ColinD

    Wader from Cairns Esplanade, Australia

    Anybody got any idea what this wader might be from Cairns Esplande about 3 weeks ago? The one in the foreground I mean! Thanks
  21. ColinD

    Crested v Lesser crested terns, Queensland, Australia

    I've just got back from a holiday to eastern Australia. We spent a morning on Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier Reef, where there is a seabird colony of common noddies, brown boobies and a variety of terns. I thought that I had crested v lesser crested terns sorted, but recent query has made...
  22. ColinD

    Just back from Eastern Australia

    I've just got back from a holiday to Eastern Australia, taking in Sydney, Blue Mountains, Atherton Tablelands, Port Douglas / Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. We saw lots of great wildlife, from duck-billed platypus to beach thick-knee, from mudskipper to Olive-backed sunbird and from...
  23. ColinD

    Albatross sp., Sydney, Australia

    Can anybody help me with the I'd of this albatross offshore from Sydney yesterday. I think probably black-browed but I think Shy might also be a possibility. Thanks.
  24. ColinD

    Pelagic advice from Sydney

    I'm off to Australia in about 3 weeks, starting in Sydney for a few days. Unfortunately I've managed to miss the October pelagic which goes the day before I arrive. So I'm stuck with whale watching tours or no sea birds. Has anybody had experience of these tours? They seem a bit touristy...
  25. ColinD

    Possible juv. honey buzzard south wales

    Any thoughts on the attached photos? Looks very like a pale juv. Honey buzzard to me, even more so in the field, but I can't reconcile the carpel patches.
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