Monday 30 September 2019

Teleconverter test on Terns

I bought a 2 times teleconverter this week and took it out for testing on a pretty poor day, which was dull to say the least, and windy. I was originally at Carnoustie and then Inchcape Park in Arbroath, where the terns have taken to sitting on the concrete pillars, despite the camper-vans. It was high tide on a spring at 5.7 metres.

Unusually for me, I used my tripod for many of the photos and for some video of a young Arctic Tern and juvenile Little Gull, the video was over-exposed, must read up sensible settings!

All in all, I think the teleconverter proved better than I expected, although focusing in the poor light wasn't always good or first time.

Little Gull juvenile continually moving on the terns from it's preferred perch, click for video

Arctic Tern juvenile at Inchcape Park, Arbroath, click here for video

Check out this paper from British Birds on Tern ID, click here for pdf file  It helped me out as I'd never really tried to ID juveniles. Birdguides also has a Tern ID page with photos.
Birdguides Tern ID, click here



Arctic Tern moulting into winter plumage before migrating, the jet black beak suggests an Arctic, the commons have a red base on the lower beak. This is a resize with no crop











Common Terns


Common Terns





Common Tern juvenile


The Little Gull from the video, who likes it's own space


Hand held Black-headed Gull, and not bad for the light and distance


This Guillemot was quite far out at Inchcape


Camera rested on my scope, which was on the tripod


Knot and Turnstone


Same Knot


Pied Wagtail male


Rock Pipit, always difficult to get a decent photo of these guys


Turnstone, not the one still in breeding colours I was trying for


Turnstones, flushed by one of the many dogs on Carnoustie beach





House Sparrow, hand held



Tuesday 24 September 2019

Gannet Fest - and a Spotted Flycatcher at Scurdie Ness, Montrose

Apologies if you don't like Gannets, I've posted far too many below! Many, many Gannet photos, the first I've had this year when they were close to shore. There are birds scanning, stooping and on the water, I couldn't decide which to leave out so I've left them all in. You may notice on some of the adult photos that they have white lines down the front of their legs and feet, I've never seen that before, or never paid enough attention!!

Also seen along the track to Scurdie Ness where the Gannets were fishing, a Spotted Flycatcher and another migrant, a small un-identified warbler, perhaps a Yellow-browed but we'll never know. Both found by my winter stalkers who I hardly see in summer.


Spotted Flycatcher with a very white breast, and it wasn't the cameras doing, it looked very white to the eye and binoculars





Further down is a photo of some of a large flock of Kittiwakes sitting on the beach at Glaxo. That came to an ubrupt end when this juvenile Peregrine flushed them all





Probably the best photo of an adult from Scurdie Ness on Monday, and probably the closest in


Just before the wings get folded in and the bird becomes torpedo shaped. Or are torpedos Gannet shaped?










And now the juveniles, three or four present with three adults
























One of the juveniles was trying to dive from its position on the sea but was too bouyant, might have been this one?






Looks like a Common Gull left and a Herring Gull right, which had just flown up and out of the way of one of the bigger waves at Scurdie Ness


Adult Common Gull



Herring Gull



Eider female, looking good with a new suit! Just the tail a bit tatty



A young Eider male beginning to grow out of its "orra" stage (Scots for untidy!). I like this one as the photo worked even though I was far from the bird



Kittiwakes on the beach in front of Glaxo. This shows perhaps a third of the Kittiwakes on the beach and there were at least 100 on the estuary, easily 500 - 600 in total, with a few Black-headed Gulls with them. Alas, as I said above, they were flushed by a Peregrine and most didn't return




Saturday 21 September 2019

Hugh, Pugh and Barney the Shrew (Trumpton)

Photos from an Angus Coastal Festival walk along the golf links at Carnoustie where I found the unfortunate shrew below. Mind you they only live between 12 and 18 months, having a very fast metabolism and heart rate and need to eat their body weight or more each day. I know someone like that! Further down a mixture from Montrose Basin where the Navy scared everything off, Westhaven and a spug in my garden.





I believe this is a Pygmy Shrew, I measured it relative to the meal worm which was around 18mm after I had prematurely put the shrew on my garage roof and the size fits. It was also my first instinct so I'll go with that. The shrew was found dead on Carnoustie Golf Links and it put on the roof for the gulls or crows!






Mating Common Darter Dragonflies, the red one is the male



One of very few birds in the middle of the day at Carnoustie



Curlew at the Lurgies



Another Curlew at Westhaven


Dunlin at Westhaven



Pink-footed Geese at the Lurgies, an adult on the left, juvenile the right, if I've interpreted the neck markings correctly, and size



I still have a few House Sparrows showing a wee bit of juvenile gape at the beak base, more pronounced when viewed side on



Thank you Royal Navy, you flushed all of the birds at the Lurgies with a direct and very low flyover, come on it's a nature reserve!




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