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

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  1. M

    Contents insurance - nasty surprise!

    Forgive me if this has been raised before, but it is still worth raising again. I have not bothered in the past with baggage cover on my holiday insurance because I thought I had adequate cover with my contents insurance. Not so - theft from an unattended car has an absolute limit of £1000...
  2. M

    Sights for angled scopes

    I've tried the cable tie sight but found it a bit unreliable, so I use the two sights shown in the photos. The basic aluminium sight is attached using small circular neodymium magnets taped in place. (Keep well away from your credit cards - they will wipe them!) The red dot sight uses a cut...
  3. M

    Dominican Republic Mynahs?

    I did not see these birds myself, but was shown pictures on a mobile phone. They were tame birds in the grounds of a hotel. Seemed to be about the size of a grackle - all black apart from white on the sides of the face, coming down to the beak.
  4. M

    Dominican Republic - calling Bittern sp.?

    Last week whilst on holiday we heard a bird (?) calling from reeds on the edge of a mangrove swamp, most often at night. Best described as a weak mooing call, usually repeated three or four times, with a slight vibrato to it. It had the sort of quality of a bittern's boom, but nothing like the...
  5. M

    Big frogs, Tophill Low, E. Yorks?

    I was at Tophill Low Nature reserve in E. Yorkshire last week when I heard a tremendous chorus of frog calls from a smallish pond. They were not common frogs (wrong sound) but sounded really big - I never actually saw one. What species are they likely to be and how did they get there? Cheers Pete
  6. M

    Fantastic service from Intro 2020 (Velbon agents)

    I broke the cammed lever which holds the QR plate on my Velbon tripod. As soon as Intro 2020 had the part in stock, they sent it free of charge. Excellent service! Pete
  7. M

    Opticron piccolo 15-45x

    Our local camera shop is selling these for £50, including table top tripod and case. Out of curiosity I tried one and was blown away by the quality, even at twice the price. Ultra light, it can be stuffed in a pocket, so I bought one to use when out on my pushbike. Would be really good for a...
  8. M

    Flights to Tel Aviv

    Thompson have just started direct flights to Tel Aviv from Manchester. Have a look on skyscanner for prices and dates.
  9. M

    Painted lady in March

    I was at New Fancy View (Forest of Dean) yesterday and met a local RSPB chap who said he'd seen a painted lady earlier in the week. Lo and behold, one fluttered by about ten minutes later! Last week we had a couple of red admirals there as well. Pete
  10. M

    Gull gobbledygook!

    Came upon this summary of a paper. Makes our discussions of tertials and mirrors look like Noddyspeak! Abstract: Gulls (Aves: Larinae) are among the best-studied of birds, yet prior attempts to reconstruct gull relationships have met with little success. In the present study I use 117...
  11. M

    Buzzards fledged today.

    Saw our local youngsters on the wing today (bang on schedule - it's always the last week in July). Mother was flying with something dangling from her claws as the two youngsters tried to catch up with her. They also had their first encounter with the local crows. They really squawked then...
  12. M

    Getting back Peacocks & Small Tortoiseshells

    In my area (S. Cotswolds) these two species have all but disappeared, I guess it's because we've had three cold springs in a row. I know that the populations will build up again, given time, but I think it will be many years. Does anybody know a source for these butterflies, so that I can get...
  13. M

    Fairy or Wartbiter?

    Honestly, this is not a windup! A couple of friends were driving through a housing estate on the edge of our rural area (Cotswolds). It was evening, car headlights on. Jane saw something flying in front of the car, about two feet up, which flew into a bush. She did not recognise it as...
  14. M

    Feeding tadpoles

    This year the most of the spawn in our local pond was killed off by frost, but I managed to take some beforehand and put it into my newly restored pond. Result - about a thousand tadpoles in a pond two metres square! I want the maximum number to survive, so I've been feeding them on fish...
  15. M

    Egg Collection

    First thing to say is that I am a fully-paid up member of the RSPB and WWT! However, I have a collection of about 100 eggs, roughly 50 species (All British). Most of them have been given to me and a lot have come from clearouts in Biology departments in schools where I have worked. The eggs are...
  16. M

    Just Hawfinches, again!

    I don't expect much sympathy from UK birders, but here goes. Just returned from the Forest of Dean, after yet another, bitterly cold, Saturday (fourth in a row) in an attempt to see Willow Tits (my bogey bird - I've been trying to see them for the past five years). I've heard them, stood next...
  17. M

    Velbon fluid heads

    I've been looking at Velbon tripods on eBay, but it's difficult to find out the exact specs. Do Velbon make a fluid head? If so, has anyone used one? What model no. is it? The Velbon website does not mention any fluid heads at all. Thanks in advance for any info. Cheers, Pete.
  18. M

    Carrion crow in Tunisia?

    I visited Tunisia in February last year and in the north I saw what I am 99% certain was a pair of carrion crows. One was on a electricity pylon calling and displaying. It was close range. I did not even bother using my bins - it was so obviously a carrion crow. Yet, according to the BWP...
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