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

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  1. RobF

    GIS query

    Hi, I use the MapInfo GIS package and am looking for 1:25000 OS raster maps for the Trough of Bowland. On the OS website, Anquet have a Bowland map for £29 but I'm unsure whether I'd be able access the raster maps in Mapinfo so I could measure areas etc. I have Fugawi 1:50000 for the North...
  2. RobF

    Northumbrian Birding

    These jobs may be of interest to some of you. Upland Research Assistant Company: Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Location: Upper Teesdale, Northumberland Salary: £14-17K Sector: Conservation We seek a research assistant with a strong interest in applied ornithology and / or general...
  3. RobF

    Northumbrian Birding

    Loads of Crossbill about at the moment in the forestry blocks around Otterburn, not long now until there are chicks about. Dippers singing like mad on the Coquet. Theres a pair of Raven hanging around one of last years Buzzard nests, do they ever take over old tree nests? Rob
  4. RobF

    What should we be looking for at this time of year?

    Loads of crossbill and siskin around here at the moment. Rob
  5. RobF

    Northumbrian Birding

    Went down to Whittle Dene yesterday, but missed out on the Osprey by half an hour and the Hobby by 15mins! Never mind, had good views of Common Tern, Yellow Wag, Sedge Warbler and a female Goldeneye that presumably must be unable to fly. Had a drive over into the Kale Water today (Scotland)...
  6. RobF

    Cranberry question

    Here's a better pic. The stem is firmly attached to the Cranberry stem. Rob
  7. RobF

    Cranberry question

    I've googled dodder and I don't think its that. On the pic with the GPS, the cranberry is the thin stem going horizontally, the ? species is in the bottom left quarter of the pic. It definitely has leaves which are purply grey. Thanks, Rob
  8. RobF

    Cranberry question

    Here are the pics. I think its some kind of hemiparasite. The plants were on blanket bog at 300m asl in Northumberland. Thanks, Rob
  9. RobF

    Cranberry question

    I've come across Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) many times but today I noticed that in a couple of patches there were some strange leaves attached to the stalk. The attached bit had 8, 10-15mm purply grey leaves (the Cranberry leaves were <5mm), and was 40-50mm in length. I was wondering...
  10. RobF

    Northumbrian Birding

    I had some survey work to do this morning near Otterburn (just passerine transects), I wasn't overly happy, it being sunday, early and all, but had a great few hours. It was so warm even at 5.30, on the drive over we saw Lapwing with chicks. On the 1km walk to the first transect I heard a...
  11. RobF

    Sex (hanky panky type)

    Capercaillie will mate with black grouse, the offspring are known as 'Rackelhahn's I think. Rob
  12. RobF

    Ptarmigan? Dotterel?

    Thanks for pointing that out Caper71, I thought they might only be a bit later than Red Grouse who have just passed peak hatch date down here. You could always try the tops of the Durham Dales for Dotties, a bit closer to home! Good luck, Rob
  13. RobF

    Carrion feeders - gruesome!!

    I never knew that about raptor beaks. You learn summat everyday. Corbies are public enemy number one up here amongst the shepherds (foxes are tolerated because of the hunt), they really do make a mess. I told a shepherd about a riggwelted ewe I'd righted and he went straight to her only to...
  14. RobF

    What Is The Life Span Of Birds ?

    Not that they give us pleasure, but I had a ringing recovery from a Carrion Crow that was 9 years old. Rob
  15. RobF

    Springwatch 28 May - 15 June

    Simon King and Gordon Buchan were great, the fox footage was superb. BO puts me right off, he's so rude, butting in and looking miffed when Kate Humble has too many good lines. His spiel on putting a perch on the Tawny owl box was bonkers, saying that holes in trees usually have a branch under...
  16. RobF

    Ptarmigan? Dotterel?

    I went up the Cairngorm in October 2005 and got Ptarms in the snow, though they weren't in full winter plumage. If you look at the OS map of Cairngorm theres an area marked Ptarmigan Hill - its a good place to look. They might be a bit secretive as the females should be down on eggs, or have...
  17. RobF

    Dare I mention ticks?

    I don't want to be a bore, but, as ticks are my bag, I've done a bit of googling. There is Louping Ill in Ireland. Heres an abstract from the Journal of Virology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9603312&dopt=Abstract "Irish, Welsh and British LI...
  18. RobF

    paull holme

    Hi Steve, Likewise with the Egrets, I saw my first one last November flying up the Avon. Since then I've seen them in the Wash and now they're up here in Northumberland. Rob
  19. RobF

    bird trapped in a cage?

    On the pics of the corvids on the gravel pits, there looks to be carrion crow, rook, and jackdaw. We have large flocks of up to 50 non-breeding Carrion Crows around here. If I were in a situation like that, I wouldn't hesitate to use a multi-catch corvid trap. There was a small plot near...
  20. RobF

    Skinhead Great tit

    I wonder if it had an extra hungry brood of chicks? Rob
  21. RobF

    Dare I mention ticks?

    OK. Ticks will live anywhere, bracken is OK, but doing blanket drags across various moorland habitiats we found that young heather/grass mixes held the highest density of questing ticks, it so happens that this habitat held the highest number of sheps. The only moorland habitats not suitable...
  22. RobF

    Skinhead Great tit

    Yuk, thats hideous. Was it behaving OK? Rob
  23. RobF

    Dipper nest box protocol

    They like to use either open fronted boxes or just a flat board between 2girders under bridges. Of the local nests I know about, 8 are natural and 3 are in boxes but there aren't many boxes - if theres a box, theres a dipper or grey wag in it! Rob
  24. RobF

    Dare I mention ticks?

    Ticks are more active now we have milder winters, but they survive in Siberia. Its the fact the farmer isn't dipping his sheep properly. Try Frontline on you're pets. The ticks will be carrying disease, it may not be Lymes disease or Louping Ill but most ticks carry Tick Borne Fever. Ticks...
  25. RobF

    Dipper nest box protocol

    Keeping a casual eye on the Dipper nests in the valley, I've noticed that whoever is checking the nest boxes removes the nest material after the first brood has fledged, whereas the birds using the natural nests lay a second clutch in the same nest. Do parasites build up faster in boxes...
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