Getting There!! - beginning of February, 2015

My computer problems are, hopefully, now resolved.

The reason for the problem I had with running Corel is still not certain, but it seems that Corel now acknowledge a problem with Corel running under 64-bit Windows 7 - although I have been doing this for years! It's possible that an update to Windows, or even an update to my A/V software, sealed the fate of Corel on my PC. Anyway, the experts at my local facility couldn't resolve the problem.

The solution was, with any luck, the installation of a later version of Corel software. I'd been contemplating replacing my PC for a while and, as this software is quite expensive and not transferable to another machine, I decided to take the plunge and buy a new purpose-built PC to replace my 4 year old m/c. This is now with me, and I've spent much of the past five days building up the software on my new machine, and transferring files across. For those interested in the technical bit, I've had a m/c built with an Intel i7 quad processor, 16 Gb RAM, and 500 Gb SSD (solid state drive). I've had added to this the 500 Gb and 1 Tb drives from my old PC. Research and discussions with others indicate to me that, for photo processing, a high-end graphics card is superfluous so, initially, I will trial using on-board graphics only - so far, so good!.

As well as now having Coreldraw X7 (full suite), I've taken the opportunity to update other software, including Microsoft Office (it was about time I updated my 2002 version!).

Whilst all this was going on I've also been busy with preparation work for some construction work in the house which is (hopefully!) starting tomorrow. Whilst this is happening (my only involvement should be supervisory!), I should have time to process a months worth of photos, and prepare a proper blog post.

Anyway:-

It's now well over a month since I made a post with any news, other than that of woes with my photo editing software. So here goes!

The Owls

In reality, it's been a very 'slow' period for owls, as far as my observations are concerned. This is partly due to weather conditions and pressure on my time, but also partly due to concerns about the welfare of the owls. Last year I lost a number of Little Owl sites as the year progressed. Some of these were located right beside roads, where they could be observed from the comfort of the car. Whilst the owls didn't seem to be in the slightest bit concerned by my/our presence (Titus was with me for much of the time), and in reality these possibly fell victim to passing traffic, predators, or died of natural causes, there is still a nagging doubt that our observations could have contributed to their departure. I am, therefore, backing-off with my observations of birds that are close-by. I believe this to be essential, particularly as the birds are now starting to strengthen their pair-bonds prior to mating and (hopefully) breeding.

To put things into perspective, January 2014 was my best ever month for Little Owl sightings, with 52 sightings over 15 sites. January 2015 was one of my weakest ever, with only 18 sightings over 6 sites!

I do have some images, however, which I hope to be able to share with you soon. 

The Garden

2013 was a record year for me for garden birds, with a 'never to be beaten' 37 species seen - or so I thought! This, I believe, is not too bad for a small suburban garden, when I only count the birds that actually put a foot down in the garden or on its boundaries. 2014 actually ended with 38 species seen!

On the 2013 list, but missing from 2014, were Redstart, Rook, and Mistle Thrush. Seen in 2014, but not 2013, were Jackdaw, Jay, Whitethroat (all garden 'firsts') and Grey Wagtail (a very welcome first sighting since we filled in our pond in 2010).

2015 has started well, with daily visits from Pied Wagtail (also for the first time since 2010) and Grey Wagtail and, more recently, Redpoll and Brambling . We're currently up to 26 species, and regularly getting 16 to 19 species each day - yesterday it was 23 species! Hopefully, we'll be adding Siskin to the list in February (when they usually arrive).

I might have some images to share at a later date, but the light's been pretty bad!

Other Birds

Very little to report here as my only 'general birding' this year has been a very enjoyable excursion to Rutland Water with Titus on 22nd January. The highlights of this visit were five very distant Smew (2m, 3f), good numbers of (distant) Pintail, and six distant Snipe.

That's all for now. Thank you for dropping by. I'm expecting there to be a proper post with images by the end of the week! In the meantime, here's one from the garden yesterday.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - our garden on 1st February, 2015