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

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  1. Nightranger

    What is a "tick"

    For me it is a clearer line in that I feel if a person is present and has actively seen the bird one way or another then I think it is fair enough. In the OP's case, the bird was photographed so he was in the presence of the bird and not remote. The other side of the coin is that I would not...
  2. Nightranger

    What is a "tick"

    I don't see a problem with ticking a bird under these circumstances given how much we rely on optics anyway. Be honest is the OP's situation really (I mean REALLY) different from scanning the far side of a reservoir/lake/bay and resolving a Temminck's stint? Try as you might, squinting without...
  3. Nightranger

    Simon Barnes

    As far as I am aware Simon Barnes has been dismissed by the Times, what I am not clear about is whether this is with immediate effect or whether he has articles that have already gone to print. Simon wore two hats as a Times writer and as such, he may have accumulated quite a backlog for...
  4. Nightranger

    Simon Barnes

    I am not sure if this is the correct place to place this but this is a story that may have slipped by: http://nblo.gs/XVWwv I will leave further comment until anyone (if they do) makes a comment here.
  5. Nightranger

    Cuckoo's in North-West England

    There is a cuckoo on Astley Moss in Greater Manchester at present but it is rather distant and elusive for viewing purposes. I believe others have been heard at various places such as Wigan Flashes and Watergrove amongst others. Grasshopper warblers - Marton Mere at Blackpool is sometimes good...
  6. Nightranger

    Penguin sp. in Cornwall

    I am sure I saw a narwhal in the Manchester Ship Canal earlier. My colleague thought it was a tree branch after the hurricane but I am pretty sure. Disclaimer: Incident may not have happened, especially as I was nowhere near Manchester today.
  7. Nightranger

    Another rubbish book about birdwatching

    Kevin Moorhouse and Steve Watson were the crew sadly killed at Barton due to a carburetor failure...or rather the needle float that is a characteristic of the Merlin engine. It is tentatively believed that a contributing factor was that the engine came from an Avro York and may not have been...
  8. Nightranger

    Another rubbish book about birdwatching

    I think these things are a matter of taste (a la music) although some of the books recommended are the same I would choose: Bill Oddie's Little Black Book (I lost my copy some years ago) Gripping Yarns - Bill Oddie (a compilation but still a good read) The Big Bird Race - Bill Oddie & Stephen...
  9. Nightranger

    Tom Gullick: 9,000+

    Good point MJB, but I am not saying that we should not think about what we are doing in terms of eco-holidays or ordinary holidays in Greece as opposed to holidays in Blackpool, Scarborough, Barmouth or Lunan Bay but look at the real figures over CO2 emissions etc. We demand more in producing...
  10. Nightranger

    Tom Gullick: 9,000+

    A cracking post raising a number of additional points but I think it is true to say that the need for aviation travel would be generated with or without eco-tourism. I am not making a case for the support of eco-tourism so much as making the case against the half-truths being promoted within...
  11. Nightranger

    Tom Gullick: 9,000+

    :t: I noticed that even before I posted. Just to clarify though, it is not a pop at the RSPB insomuch as having an agenda but a criticism of one particular repetition because the RSPB are not alone. The WWT also randomly repeated the same mantra in a recent Internet film and as MJB it may well...
  12. Nightranger

    Is there any picticular month you don't go birding?

    I used to adapt my birding from mid June to mid August and spend more time observing behaviour until recently. After a few years going down a road in birding that I was not happy with, I broke away again and promised myself that I would get behind Birdtrack again. This has worked tremendously...
  13. Nightranger

    Tom Gullick: 9,000+

    This attitude is something that I blame the RSPB for although they are not alone and I pulled the WWT up for it recently as well. The CO2 contribution of aviation is a third of that produced by motoring and not only is this true on a global level, it holds for pretty much every reasonably...
  14. Nightranger

    Ann Chaplin

    Just a quick update to say that Loch Garten decided against naming the chicks in honour of Ann due to the huge precedent this would set. A disappointing but not unexpected response yet, as Mark Wilkie's tribute on the Sad News thread points out, Ann was about far more than ospreys and her...
  15. Nightranger

    Ann Chaplin

    Ann Chaplin : Obituary Published in the Lancashire Evening Post on 26 April 2013 CHAPLIN In hospital on 14th April 2013 ANN aged 67 years. At peace Funeral service at Preston Crematorium on Monday 29th April at 11.15am. Family flowers only please; donations preferred to Central Lancashire Age...
  16. Nightranger

    sad news

    Great idea Ben, I have emailed Loch Garten with the added suggestion that a male chick could be named 'Chaplin'.
  17. Nightranger

    sad news

    I am delighted to say that I counted Ann as one of my best friends and I have some great memories of visits to Marshside or Manchester Airport. All who knew here have some wonderful memories but I am sure Mark Wilkie will not mind me reproducing this from my Facebook timeline because it tells us...
  18. Nightranger

    Badgers v hedgehogs - opportunism or direct population limitation?

    With respect Dry ice, I did not set this thread up for it to become an anti-badger platform and I am well aware of common lore with regard to badger predation on hedgehogs. What I asked was something more specific and untested observational experience does not help. For example, I live in north...
  19. Nightranger

    Badgers v hedgehogs - opportunism or direct population limitation?

    Thanks for this summing up, it is pretty much what I was thinking about when I started this thread. As far as I am aware, this information has come from various hedgehog relocation studies, including Hugh Warwick's although I don't know of any Internet references.
  20. Nightranger

    Petition to try to save Britain's National Wildlife Crime Unit

    More to stimulate discussion than anything...why do we need a National Wildlife Crime Unit? Wildlife crime is what it says on the tin (unless Cameron and Clegg have now re-written that slogan) and every force should be aware of the laws. Is parking/drugs/theft/rape/mugging/smuggling/drunkeness...
  21. Nightranger

    Huntable bird species lists

    Oh you are so right, a local MEP (UKIP) has posted letters in local papers around here in support of repealing hunting with hounds this week. It is particularly interesting in that the arguments he submits (basically, pest control) were rejected by the hunting community long before the hunting...
  22. Nightranger

    Huntable bird species lists

    I feel sure it was after 1981 but after doing a bit of research, I cannot find a definitive date so I happily retract my point about the curlew. What has been particularly confusing is that legislation in England and Wales has consistently lagged behind Scottish legislation. True enough, again...
  23. Nightranger

    Huntable bird species lists

    Woodcock is a traditional game bird in the UK along with snipe and curlew although few if any (particularly) of the latter are shot these days. Gentleman's agreements have existed over some species for a number of years but that does not always mean the species is formally moved from what we...
  24. Nightranger

    Growing roe deer population impacting birds in UK?

    Alf, a note of caution repeating something you fired back at me...a quick Google search means nothing...there is a lot of scientific research that has not been published or abstracted online and it is wrong to assume that everything is covered in reverse lit' references. I spotted your debating...
  25. Nightranger

    Slender-billed Curlew.

    This is fairly meaningless in the light of what happened around the Minsmere bird when a number of experienced Dutch birders (not to mention a few optimistic people from the UK who saw the Northumberland bird) proclaimed it to be a genuine slender-billed curlew. We all know what happened with...
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