BIRD NEWS:602

 

Alas, as soon as I used the first zoom, instead of getting a closer shot - I got a blurrier shot of the sparrowhawk. On full zoom, instead of being closer still....a blurry blob was the result. iI definitely do NOT recommend buying yourself a Kodak camera these days - it used to be a good make, but not any longer.

I then tried automatic instead of manual....with a similar poor result.

My next excursion was a solo hike up Swillage Lane - I did not go very far as it was puddled and wet. My camera surprised me by taking a fairly good shot - for once - of Goggles with the mallards.

Although not the usual clarity of my Fujifilm camera, the Kodak was at least capturing reasonable images on this occasion...

I took several shots of Goggles & his mallard pals, in case the camera misbehaved, as it generally offers up blobs and blurrs.

Goggles stayed around and even chattered to me a little bit today - maybe he is getting used to my visiting, stopping briefly near his pond and holding a box-thing to my face a few times in passing...

Very unusually, on this trip most of my photos came out fairly well. As the one below illustrates - close up birds using zoom come out ok - as do far off birds not using zoom. I would rather they all came out with or without zoom as they did on my old camera though...

HERE is an article about birds and happiness...

HERE is an article from WWT - of which I am a member and used to visit monthly pre-Covid.

BIRD NEWS:601

 

I managed ONE decent shot of the blackbird - out of a dozen or so. On my former camera, I would have gotten 4-5 good shots and a half dozen fairly good ones with maybe 1-2 duds.

My new camera continues to disappoint me. This blackbird should be clearly in focus - not a blur.

Above you can see a shot of the bird area in my back yard - feeder poles, bird baths, and pond. It came out OK, unlike most of my shots. It is not lack of practice - just a poor quality camera. It only takes decent shots at a specific distance on a specific zoom. I need a camera that takes what it sees - without the need to be fussing about or obtaining blurry blobs as the subject. I am not a professional that needs to sell my shots, but I like the pictures to be quick to take and good quality. My old camera was great....sigh.

You can see the sparrows in this shot - taken on partial zoom. But I cannot always take a picture from the coffee lounge at a semi-zoom or zero zoom....birds move and go all over the place, after all! My old camera caught what it saw and I could simply change the size of the picture and crop it on the computer afterwards to have perfect shots....

Using full zoom, this sparrow is a blur - showing I cannot take photos on full zoom in the back yard on THIS garbage-camera.

I really do not like this camera....This should be a great shot of a wren at the bird bath... On my lil pink box it would have been perfect, but on this blue thing - nope.

There was something large on the garden fence...for once, the camera decided to get an average shot...

A sparrowhawk methinks.

BIRD NEWS:600

 

Bye bye Goggles - maybe by the time I take my next trip I will have figured out how to get the camera to act the way I want it to!

I was in the garden pulling out the former pond liner which I had wrapped into a huge heavy heap. I was going to cut a chunk off to take down the alotment and place underneath the weed bin. Mr Bob spotted my activity - and that a few bugs and worms had moved on to the liner....

I took several shots - but he kept turning his back. The piece I wanted had been cut off and I was waiting on Mr Bob to finish his meal before wrapping it up to take with me to the plot.

My new camera is really annoying me. My old one just turned on, zoomed or not, then I pressed to take a picture, this one.....well, I DO NOT like it. I hope I can find a better model and dump this one asap. I liked my old camera...if I took bad pictures on that, it was me to blame, not the camera.

Mr Bob kept turning aside as I clicked....He was not helping me take great pictures either!

I managed a reasonable photo - which would have been excellent if taken on my old camera.

I spotted a blackbird on the edge of the pond a day or to later - but once again, the new camera let me down. I shall start searching for the same model as my old one as soon as lockdown lets me get out and about again. Even if I manage a few good shots - my old camera rarely let me down, and I am fed up with being disappointed more than 50% of the time with this model.

BIRD NEWS:599

 

This is a show pigeon spotted on 'peacock house' chimney as I progressed up the lane...that came out fairly well.

Alas, this camera does not seem to like Goggles very much. I never had difficulty taking focused shots of Goggles on my 'lil pink box'...but this 'blue thing' is difficult - and it doesn't weigh enough to hold steady even if it did focus properly.

These mallards were slightly blurred, but you can see what they are...

Long distance, non-zoomed photos seem to come out better, it seems. Pity...mind you, it may just need the picture size altering; if so I should soon be getting better results.

Sigh - another blurry shot of Goggles - but hey - give me 9.5/10 for trying!! I did not give up.

Finally, a shot I can be proud of. Alas, it was not far away. It seems I will not be able to take photos - only blurrs - of distant birds with this camera.

This duck decided to stay near my feet and let me practice! Well - until it decided food was better than feet!

BIRD NEWS:598

 

I spotted the bird of prey again as I made my way homeward, but, as earlier, was not close enough to determine if it were a red kite or kestrel, though I could rule out buzzard.

I will go with kestrel - as the tail did not look much like a red kite, although they are the more frequent species in the area - but I honestly could not tell from such a distance. I should have spent more time observing and less fishing in my bag for the camera, perhaps!

Another shot of Goggles signifies the end of my stroll at the end of the first week of November. It was also the end of my camera - because although it still takes pictures, the screen is dead, meaning I can no longer see what I am taking or have taken until I get home and load the card into the computer. That alone would not worry me too much, however I can no longer reach the commands on the camera - so cannot turn from still to video, nor erase photos from the memory card, etc.

As you can see I need more practice with the new camera. I took it on a repeat walk of my former ramble...and this is how it treated Goggles!

Well....you can see it is a goose, but... I am NOT impressed with the new camera. I used to be able to aim and press the take-photo button and get some great shots, but not so on this model!

Finally, a shot that shows Goggles rather than 'a goose' or a white splodge!

It is hopeless for taking shots of birds in the distance. This was a red kite and I could see it much better with my own eyes than the camera - for once! I am about to call this camera model BLIND - partially, at least!

This shot of the red kite would have been perfect if it had been taken on my old camera...but my new model appears to see everything with a blurr.

Meanwhile, I would like to share an article I read today about benefiting Turkeys... HERE

BIRD NEWS:597

 

Here is one of the coots that decided to watch me as I watched the birds on the lake. I took another picture of the multiple species on the isle.

That brings us to the end of my final birding hike for the month of October 2020, but not to my final photo. At home, I have had much activity on the feeder poles - recently, mostly the suet balls, peanuts and mixed seed have been going down rapidly. On the windowsill in my bedroom, a magpie has joined the usual crowd - of Pidge, Mr Bob and Mr Black.

Whilst not as tame as the others, Mr Madge did not fly away instantly upon spotting me - although he did not stay around very long.

The destination of my next excursion should be obvious to regular readers if they look at my next picture - Goggles the farm goose.

I was off up Dappers Lane and onto Swillage Lane for another woodland walk. Sometimes I go up to the first turning after the peacock house, and sometimes I go much further into the woodland.

On this occasion I was just taking a half hour stroll, so only went a few minutes along before turning around and returning.

I spotted a bird of prey hovering over the fields to my left - it did not look chunky enough to be a buzzard, but I could not tell if it were a red kite or kestrel or newcomer to our area, so had hoped the photograph might tell me... Alas, it did not come out close enough to tell.

I was likewise disappointed by my next photo - I was wondering if it were a blackbird, goldfinch, swallow....but it did not come out large enough to distinguish. However, this was taken after I had turned around and was making my way homewards.

BIRD NEWS:596

 

The pigeon flutter ended up with most of the gang settling in the pigeon tree.

That brings us near to the end of our late October trip to WWT Arundel. We stopped off for a coffee at the cafe on our way homewards, passing this prelude to the new exhibit on our way to the cafe.

My next trip was a solo hike to Mewsbrook Lake...aimed at spotting some swans, which alas did not appear to be there any longer.

There were plenty of other waterfowl however, even if the mute swan family had moved onwards. Coots, moorhen, ducks and gulls predominated the waterfowl present.

I took a few general shots of the mixed birdlife while searching for the absent swans.

I then took a couple of shots of the mallards, gathered on the edge of the island, as some of them had funny coloring.

My last shot today shows a few isle-edged birds taking a sip of water.