BIRD NEWS: 807

 

We are still at Leonardslee taking bird-related photos of Surrey Sculpture exhibits. A penguin...

...and a kingfisher. I took too many pictures as I am accustomed to a poor camera. I need to relax and just take one shot of things knowing this camera performs properly.

Now I have the Leica, I can rely on it.....at last!

Next, we came across a mirror-metal heron, standing by a lake.

I took two shots...

Finally, for this excursion, a one legged owl.... We were not sure what to make of it - if it had had two legs, we would have liked it more was our conclusion.

Now, if you were womndering about Naboo - yes, he is still here with me as I write the blog - destined to go to his new home with his old master mid November.

BIRD NEWS: 806

A few more pictures of the city-show pigeon cross that was ambulating along the metal platform in the River Arun.

I was trying all the settings again....

It finally decided to be stationary, accepting its moment of potential fame...

...as I tried the last couple of settings.

I took a shot of what might have been a heron - but may only have been a wood pigeon - some distance away.

Next, we visitied Nymans and Leonardslee. There were several new sculptures in situ, many of which were bird related...

So I took some shots of anything bird related - such as the birdwatcher depicted below - as well as the autumn colors on my new camera - which pleases me.

BIRD NEWS: 805

 

Practice, I did - on the show pigeon located on the side of the main Arundel Bridge.

Getting used to my new camera - which I find far, far better than the terrible THING I last worked with.

This is definitely BETTER than the Sony - which wouldnt start and was not able to point and shoot, BETTER than the Kodak which broke down after a year or two of mediocre photography, and BETTER than the Agfafilm which made noises and took 10 seconds to focus and went out of focus when it did settle.

I eventually stopped taking pics of the pretty show pigeon. I need to learn to trust this camera to take it first or second shot.

Liz spotted another city/show pigeon cross wandering along while I was busy on the pure white.

So it too had a turn at being subject to camera trials.

It was more mobile, so made more interesting pictures as I tried out various settings.

BIRD NEWS: 804

This was the same subject - yet again - using zoom. Yes they have come out zoomed - but in the actual picture it doesnt look like it - only when cropped.

You can now sigh with relief - that was the last of the camera practice shots of the mute swan family! Next we came to the railway bridge at Ford...

Some seagulls and an egret. There were city pigeons under the bridge....so I tried to get a shot of them too - alas, the big black clouds made the light poor. For once the weather and not the camera were to blame!

The little egret was not under the bridge itself, so came out clearly....

I fiddled about with the camera to see if I could change the setting and get a shot of the city pigeons...but only that one stood out against the gloom.

You might just see a couple more in this attempt.

Never mind, when we got back to Arundel we spotted another pigeon to practice my new camera shots on - a show pigeon!

BIRD NEWS: 803

 

I continued to take pictures of a family of mute swans on the River Arun, testing my new camera's functions.

I am very pleased with this camera. It takes excellent 'point and shoot', which is what I need for birding.

Our trip was from Arundel, hiking along the river into Littlehampton and back this day, due to their being no car park slots on our original intended trip. Seeing this family of wild mute swans was excellent practice for me with my camera, though, so I was not dissappointed.

Forgive the incessant pictures of the same topic...I was exploring options for camera setting while I had subjects not likely to vanish.

They eventually went up the mini-estuary, from which we later spotted kingfishers emerge - but i did not get the kingfishers on camersa, as I wasnt quick enough to ID the flash as kingfisher before it was gone.

I just kept trying the camera on each setting - and everything went wonderfully extra I still havent mastered the zoom.

Swans, swans, and more swans....as I mastered my new camera.

BIRD NEWS: 802

 

The last shot from my trip to Brighton also depicts pigeons on the pier. Next, Liz and I took Muku to WWT Arundel. Here are the pelicans...

and Muku...

Then we saw the Nenes...

and fed a robin

and chaffinch that were at the gate

She enjoyed watching them eat some of the seed, but very few birds were eating it today - so we assume they had just been fed.

Our next trip was to Arundel again, but this time not WWT.

BIRD NEWS: 801

 

The cormorant is a big bird, but it was dwarfed by the giant trees around the lake at Leonardslee Gardens. We walked further around, passing the chickens opposite the wallabies on our way towards the exit.

There were a lot of them, and I attempted to photograph them en masse as well as a duo...Alas my camera went all grainy on me on the close up - as usual. It seems to only allow me to take distant shots without using the zoom.

Our next trip was a day spent in Brighton. Despite being a city, it was still a place where we could walk along the coast, and spot some birdlife as well as giant colored sheep on an art trail, along with popping into a store to purchase a better camera and my favourite shop to stock up on Indo-Asian groceries.

Above a specimen of birdlife - a pigeon! Below, a specimen of the artsy sheep statues with a pigeon - apologies to the gent also taking a picture - I have blanked his face out for privacy/permission reasons as I do not know him to ask permission to show the picture as is.

Just strolling the streets of town, I came across ample supply of pigeons for photography. This duo were hanging out on a windowsill.

Another 3 were wandering beside a small pond at the palace-dome gardens, along with a seagull.

There were loads of pigeons on the pier...I did not risk a zoom shot as I knew they would blur on THIS camera. Thankfully, I now have a new to me second hand Leica to experiment with.