Lancashire Birding (1 Viewer)

[derekg]

Hahahaha I found it mate so not to worry. Also my first 2 pics taken at my mother in laws below.

Loving The male House Sparrow shot. Shows well the plumage pattern and colours (even if not bright) of a much ignored bird. Don't get many near me so good to see.

Derek

 

[Neil UK]

currently on marton mere again at the crack of dawn 6:45 i was here hahaha. Trying out the camera/lens, got buzzed by a barn owl, dont know who freaked more or the owl. Why is it I never had the camera ready!!!

 

[Neil UK]

Quiet this morning, like I said the Barn Owl was the show for me, just gutted I didnt have the camera ready. Anyhow a few shots below, if anyone can help on the unnamed ones as I find it so hard to work out what warbler is what!?.

Also Cliff, the lens works very well, realised now why you all mentioned putting some money together for a larger zoom lens... well thats next on the cards.

 

[derekg]

Quiet this morning, like I said the Barn Owl was the show for me, just gutted I didnt have the camera ready.

You'll find that happens a lot Neil.

Great subjects for your first outing :t:

Derek

 

[WyreWader]

realised now why you all mentioned putting some money together for a larger zoom lens... well thats next on the cards.

|| You're getting the bug already then Neil, & talking about bugs, just wait 'till you want to photo a Dragonfly or Butterfly, you'll be after a macro lens then too.

Re. the "unnamed photos", 2nd left could be Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler & extreme right has got a bit of a Whitethroat pose to it without the white throat so i dunno?

I had an hour at the Mere myself today, main sightings were a lot of Sedge Warblers & Reed Buntings, 2 x Whitethroat, 1 x Chiffchaff, 2 x Great crested grebes, 1 x male Ruddy Duck, 2 x male Gadwall, 4 x Greylag, 3 x Long tailed Tits & 1 x Swift.

I've attached a few photos

Regards

Cliff

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

hello and welcome to LIVE report from a very wet Marton Mere. Currently taking shelter in the feeding station hide and its throwing it down.

Sightings currently are, masses of great tits, blue tits, dunnock, robin, magpie to to feed from the feeders (very funny sight). Also a stoat/weasel just ran into the wooded area.

And help is needed, grey capped head, whitethroat, brown body. Was this a qhitethroat or a warbler....?

More to come..

Great spotted woodpecker - having his fill of nuts
Reed bunting
Greenfinch

On far side hide now back to de vere; shoveler, great crested grebe (alot), ruddy duck, tufted duck, long tailed tits, canada goose, coots, moorhens, swallows, solirary bewick, cormorant, grey heron, shelducks, lapwings, blackbirds.

Rain eased iff and very cold hands


Dd

I was there yesterday morning as well, having picked the wrong day for a Fylde birdrace effort. The yellow billed swan was actually a Whooper, not a Bewick.

Regards,

Stephen.

 

[gradders52]

Hahahaha I found it mate so not to worry. Also my first 2 pics taken at my mother in laws below.

Great pics. I'm a complete novice. What kit should I be buying?

However dunno if you know about the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), to the point, Lancashire has one (Lancs BAP) ... including a number of threatened species, reed bunting and song thrush being among them. They appreciate recording any sightings so a better understanding picture is kept and we might 'save the environment' prevent/save the urban domination etc.. Seeing your thrush reminded me. Just a thought.
see
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/ecology/bap.asp

 

[WyreWader]

Great pics. I'm a complete novice. What kit should I be buying?

What's your budget Gradders?

 

[WyreWader]

Another quick trip to Marton Mere on my lunchbreak today, I went with the intention of trying to photo Whitethroats so didn't pay much attention to what else was about, the only notable sightings being 2 x Great crested Grebes, at least a dozen Swift (probably twice that but they wouldn't keep still whilst i counted them), lots of Sedge Warblers, I heard a Grasshopper Warbler, & 3 x Whitethroat.

Also, what I think was maybe a Willow Warbler quite aggressively chased off a Whitethroat at one point, I got a dodgy record shot which I've attached along with a few Whitethroat shots, can anyone confirm the id of the first one?

Cheers

Cliff

 

[mikfoz]

Great pics. I'm a complete novice. What kit should I be buying?

However dunno if you know about the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), to the point, Lancashire has one (Lancs BAP) ... including a number of threatened species, reed bunting and song thrush being among them. They appreciate recording any sightings so a better understanding picture is kept and we might 'save the environment' prevent/save the urban domination etc.. Seeing your thrush reminded me. Just a thought.
see
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/ecology/bap.asp

If you're on a budget get a superzoom bridge camera. They're as easy to use as a compact and you're not fiddling with lots of bits and bobs.

The Panasonic Lumix ones are good and I believe the Fuji ones are not so bad either.

This one I attached is from a while back. I'd borrowed my son's camera - a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 - while my old camera was in for an ill-fated repair job and was pleasantly surprised by the results. It gives a 35mm equivalent zoom of over 500mm and later models do better. You'll never get the sharpness of a SLR, but for record shots they're more than adequate if you're on a budget.

Make = Panasonic
Model = DMC-FZ18
Exposure Time = 1/400"
F Number = F5.6
Exposure Program = Normal program
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Metering Mode = Pattern

Not bad for a totally automatic setting.

 

[gradders52]

What's your budget Gradders?

Budget, what'sabudget (said a certain Mr Darling), like him I don't have one. I'll save up... rather buy the right kit (but only once) than try and scrape by with whatever... appreciate everyone's help and comments.
I'm guessing some sort of 12mb Nikon with a 500mm lense at about £3 grand! (Snowball chance!) But then again believe you can get a Sigma 5000mm for about the third of the price... but is it any good? Keep putting the pennies away?

Understand Panasonic Lumix are OK for 'happy snappers' like me, not a criticism, quite the opposite great value for money, but could do with extension lense or something, Ok if you're up relatively close (60ft... err 20m in old money, or less, not always easy, real field craft!), distance is a problem... unless you can tell me otherwise.

Many Thanks

 

[gradders52]

If you're on a budget get a superzoom bridge camera. They're as easy to use as a compact and you're not fiddling with lots of bits and bobs.

The Panasonic Lumix ones are good and I believe the Fuji ones are not so bad either.

This one I attached is from a while back. I'd borrowed my son's camera - a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 - while my old camera was in for an ill-fated repair job and was pleasantly surprised by the results. It gives a 35mm equivalent zoom of over 500mm and later models do better. You'll never get the sharpness of a SLR, but for record shots they're more than adequate if you're on a budget.

Make = Panasonic
Model = DMC-FZ18
Exposure Time = 1/400"
F Number = F5.6
Exposure Program = Normal program
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Metering Mode = Pattern

Not bad for a totally automatic setting.

See, told you I don't know what I'm doing... don't even know what a 'superzoom bridge camera' is... sorry. I'm just an idiot. More research required, but need some pointers. Thanks.

SLR, 10+mb starting point huh! There's always one... sorry.

 

[Neil UK]

Another quick trip to Marton Mere on my lunchbreak today, I went with the intention of trying to photo Whitethroats so didn't pay much attention to what else was about, the only notable sightings being 2 x Great crested Grebes, at least a dozen Swift (probably twice that but they wouldn't keep still whilst i counted them), lots of Sedge Warblers, I heard a Grasshopper Warbler, & 3 x Whitethroat.

Also, what I think was maybe a Willow Warbler quite aggressively chased off a Whitethroat at one point, I got a dodgy record shot which I've attached along with a few Whitethroat shots, can anyone confirm the id of the first one?

Cheers

Cliff

I maybe wrong Cliff but looks like a Nightingale

 

[mikfoz]

See, told you I don't know what I'm doing... don't even know what a 'superzoom bridge camera' is... sorry. I'm just an idiot. More research required, but need some pointers. Thanks.

SLR, 10+mb starting point huh! There's always one... sorry.

Here's my kit.

Pentax K10D. Not in production any more but I've got some fine shots with it and they crop up on eBay fairly regularly as a secondhand/stock-clearance bargain. The successor - K20D - comes in at about £500 or so. It's a fairly good semi-pro SLR that's not too pricey.

Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG which can set you back about £1300 but if you shop about you can pick them up cheaper. Sadly, most new camera equipment shot up in price following the collapse of the pound sterling. It's a great lens but there's a much cheaper 150-500 that's probably more suited to birding only. I use it for more than birding. It's arguably less optically sound but has built in image stabilisation.

Cliff has a Sony of some sort and, I believe, a Tamron 200-500 which he takes some belting pics with.

A lot of photography is down to the person behind the lens so don't hurl money at it and expect to be taking world-beating pics within five minutes. Best bet is to get your kit then hook up with someone from here down the park.

 

[WyreWader]

My only sighting of note today was a Little Owl near Treales/Salwick which flew across a farm track right in front of me as I was driving along.

 

[derekg]

See, told you I don't know what I'm doing... don't even know what a 'superzoom bridge camera' is... sorry. I'm just an idiot. More research required, but need some pointers. Thanks.

SLR, 10+mb starting point huh! There's always one... sorry.

I have the Pentax K20D with a pentax 55-300 lens. I'd advise going for the Sigma 150-500, it's a lot cheaper than the 50-500 and and has the same reach (my next purchase and wish I'd bought it with the camera) You can pic one up for around the £600 mark, haven't seen any second hand yet.
The quality of the Sigma is very good, just check out Micks gallery.

Derek

 

[Neil UK]

On the subject of cameras/lenses... went to the lakes this week for a short honeymoon and saw a guy using this lens.

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1019142

Is it me or is that quite cheap...?

 

[oncebittern]

On the subject of cameras/lenses... went to the lakes this week for a short honeymoon and saw a guy using this lens.

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1019142

Is it me or is that quite cheap...?

The two main problem with these lenses are:

1) they are fixed aperture

2) the 'doughnut' shaped bokeh can be VERY off-putting:

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=190600&d=1239293491

They have their place, but IMHO wildlife photography is rarely one of them

 

[Neil UK]

The two main problem with these lenses are:

1) they are fixed aperture

2) the 'doughnut' shaped bokeh can be VERY off-putting:

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=190600&d=1239293491

They have their place, but IMHO wildlife photography is rarely one of them

Thanks, will keep away from this.

 

[gradders52]

Here's my kit.

Pentax K10D. Not in production any more but I've got some fine shots with it and they crop up on eBay fairly regularly as a secondhand/stock-clearance bargain. The successor - K20D - comes in at about £500 or so. It's a fairly good semi-pro SLR that's not too pricey.

Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG which can set you back about £1300 but if you shop about you can pick them up cheaper. Sadly, most new camera equipment shot up in price following the collapse of the pound sterling. It's a great lens but there's a much cheaper 150-500 that's probably more suited to birding only. I use it for more than birding. It's arguably less optically sound but has built in image stabilisation.

Cliff has a Sony of some sort and, I believe, a Tamron 200-500 which he takes some belting pics with.

A lot of photography is down to the person behind the lens so don't hurl money at it and expect to be taking world-beating pics within five minutes. Best bet is to get your kit then hook up with someone from here down the park.

Guys n Gals, y'all been great. Many Thanks for pointing me in the right direction... how long until Xmas?