So That's The Way To Do It!! - March, 2024

This post is a bit technical and, if it is not of interest, you might just want to scroll down to the pictures - I will not be in the least offended!

It is almost exactly a year since I bought my current camera set-up. My kit was getting worn out, and in need of service, but it was also getting a little too heavy for me to carry about over long distances, so I looked into going mirrorless. Having been an avid Nikon user for about twenty years, that is where I first looked. I had been using a Nikon D7200 body with a Sigma 50-500 lens. I found that if I wanted to go down the Nikon route it would cost me a small fortune, and save me virtually nothing in weight. This caused me to look at Canon. I found that there was a suitable alternative from Canon in the form of their EOS R7 with their RF 100-400 lens. This came in at about a third of the price of the current Nikon offering! Yes, the lens was not quite as versatile as was the 50-500, but the set up came in at half the weight of my exisitng Nikon set-up. Furthermore, the 32.5 megapixel cropped sensor of the R7 versus the 24.2 megapixel cropped sensor of the Nikon, made up, somewhat, for the loss of reach of the lens.

Although I was immediately impressed by what I had bought, it took me quite some time to get used to the switch between Nikon and Canon. I now feel that I'm fairly well accustomed to it.

If there is a downside to the set-up it is that the largest aperture available with the RF 100-400 is F5.6 at 100 mm (F8 at 400 mm), meaning it's a little more difficult to use at low light levels, although the lack of noise at high ISOs is rather good, and compensates for this to some extent.

One of the features of the Canon R7 is the AI driven focus facility. This can be set to recognise animals (including birds) and focus on the eyes. In servo focus mode, once the focus has been achieved, the focus will track the item, no matter where it moves to in the frame. I found this to be very useful, but I was having difficulty in achieving that initial focus, especially when the subject was a fast-flying small bird at a distance.

We now come forward to 4th March this year. I was aware of the facility to set up the R7 with three separate custom settings (C1, C2, C3), easily accessible from the dial on the top of the body. I had briefly played with this in the early days of owning the camera, but kept putting of actually using this facility. On this day, I decided that it was time to do something about it.

I frequently take photos of birds, etc. that are in confusing backgrounds or have intervening foliage in front of them. I therefore have my camera set for 'spot focus' for most of the time. It was only when reading up about the facilities of the camera that I found a recommendation that for moving subjects in an open background (sky, for example), the thing to do is to use 'whole area' focus. The AI looks for the nearest object in frame that conforms to the target focus (animals) and locks onto it.

I then set up C3 to incorporate this focus facility together with servo focus, which takes changing distance into account.

So that I can quickly get back to my static subject in a confusing background, I set up C1 accordingly.

C2 is not yet set up but I am reserving that to potentially use in the dragonfly season with settings more suited to photographing dragonflies in flight with confusing backgrounds.

The very next day, I went out specifiacally to put the C3 custom setting to the test. This is what I found.

Tuesday, 5th March          Sence Valley Forest Park

I set off in the ealy afternoon with Sence Valley Forest Park being only ten minutes from our home. Having parked my car, I entered the site, stopping to photograph a pair of Canada Geese beside the path by Goss Water. Here's one of them.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Sence Valley FP

Out on the water, but fairly close in, were some Black-headed Gulls. This one was transitioning into summer plumage

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

The tern rafts, installed by the excellent Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society (LROS) were occupied by Cormorants. I love the punk 'hairstyle' of a Cormorant in 'courtship' plumage.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax Carbo) - Sence Valley FP

As  I approached the northern end of Goss Water, I saw some gulls in the air in the distance. I quickly flipped the dial on my camera round to C3 and sharted shooting. To say that I was impressed by the results is an understatement. If only I had used this setting before. Here is a heavily cropped shot - not the best in the world but it will illustrate the situation.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

- and here is the image that it was cropped from. The camera has found the subject and followed it  until it was way off centre.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

Here are a couple more shots from that short session. The first is in winter plumage and the second in full summer plumage.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

I made a short diversion up to Usbourne Pool, seeing nothing of interest, and then retraced my steps a while and wandered on to the ramp that leads down to the water's edge of Horseshoe Lake. A Mute Swan was here, hoping to be fed.

 

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - Sence Valley FP

Although the majority of gulls present were Black-headed Gulls, I am relatively positive that these two, sitting on posts out in the water, were Common Gulls - but I'm not very good at gulls! Common Gulls are not a species that I'm used to seeing in these parts.

 

Common Gull (Larus canus) - Sence Valley FP

Here's another shot of a Black-headed Gull, part-way through its transition to summer plumage.

 

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

I then headed to Stonebridge Pool and made a circuit of the pool, stopping in at the hide on the way, but seeing little of interest. The only thing I photographed was a Tufted Duck at the northern end of the pool.

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (male) - Sence Valley FP

I was on my way back to my car when I heard the distinct call of a Common Buzzard somewhere. One of the problems of wearing the sort of hearing aids that I do is that I have no sense of direction of what it is that I'm hearing. However, I soon located the Buzzard as it emerged from behind trees and made some circuits high above Horseshoe Lake. I quickly turned the dial on my camera to C3 and was back in business again!

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) - Sence Valley FP

Switching back to C1, I took a few more shots as I passed Goss Pool once more.

 

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Sence Valley FP

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Sence Valley FP

I was, of course, highly delighted with this newly-found facility on the camera - my only regret being that it took me a year to find it! I suspect that there are people out there that are astounded by my ineptitude - I'll use my age, and the many distractions I have had over the past twelve months as my excuse!

My next blog post might feature another local visit - one that did not give me the ability to exercise those new settings. Or it might not!

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

 

Local Observations - 3rd to 13th September, 2023

Header image (while this post is current) - Common Buzzard - Thortit Lake on 6th September, 2023  

With this post I am, at last, reporting sightings in the same month as they happened!

Sunday, 3rd September            Garden  :  Donisthorpe Wood  :  Saltersford Valley Country Park

In the morning, I spent some time in the garden doing some general tidying up, during which I was keeping an eye open for wildlife on any items I pruned. This resulted in me finding a number of shieldbugs of three different species. I am rather fond of shieldbugs, so this was very pleasing, although I know little about them. All but one of the shieldbugs found were on the sunflower heads.

Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale) (adult) - our garden

Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) (adult) - our garden

Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) (3rd instar nymphs) - our garden

On this day, I was booked on an afternoon walk organised by Groundwork Five Counties in conjunction with The National Forest. This was billed as a 'Bug Hunt'. I turned up to the news that the designated guide had called in sick with Covid. However, a well-experienced substitute had been found. What I was not prepared for was the nature of the walk, which largely consisted of swiping sweep-nets through tree branches and ground vegetation, and examining what was in the nets. This was not my thing really, as I much prefer to seek and photograph items in their natural habitat. 

There were, nevertheless, some interesting items found and a few photos taken.

Beside the entrance to Donisthorpe Woodland from the car park was a fine example of Robin's Pincushion. Robin's Pincushion (also known as the 'Bedeguar Gall') is a gall caused by the larvae of a tiny gall wasp, Dipoloepis rosae. It is quite common.

Robin's Pincushion - Donishorpe Woodland

There were a few grasshoppers around.

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper (Chorthippus albomarginatus) - Donisthorpe Woodland

One of the items swept from its resting place was the beautiful caterpillar of the Pale Tussock moth. Unfortunately, this creature was still suffering from the shock of being displaced and didn't straighten itself out from its defensive curled state.

Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda) (larva) - Donisthorpe Woodland

One of our eagle-eyed participants - a fellow dragonfly enthusiast - spotted scars on a willow that was overhanging an isiolated remnant of the Ashby Canal. These scars were left by the oviposition of the Willow Emerald Damselfly. This species is rapidly expanding its territory in UK and was first reported in our county in 2019. This damselfly bores into branches that are above water and lays its eggs. When they hatch, the newly-hatched nymphs drop into the water to start the aquatic stage of their life

Oviposition scars of the Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis) by Donisthorpe Woodland

Although a Migrant Hawker dragonfly was seen beside the canal I didn't manage any photos. There were, however, Common Darter dragonflies seen in several locations.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Donisthorpe Woodland

There was an element of hilarity created when a Common Darter landed on the cap of the dragonfly enthusiast that had found the Willow Emerald scars.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Donisthorpe Woodland

Saltersford Valley Country Park is only about a mile (1.6km) from Donisthorpe Woodland, and is one of my favourite dragonfly spots. My new pal, Lance - the fellow that had found the damselfly scars, and owner of the dragonfly magnet cap - was not aware of this place, so I took him there after the walk.

Surprisingly, there were more Migrant Hawkers than there were Common Darters - and they were landing. Lance was delighted as he got his first Migrant Hawker photos of the year.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (male) - Saltersford Valley CP

Wednesday, 6th September          Thortit Lake

A mid-afternoon visit to Thortit Lake - my nearest dragonfly hotspot - turned out a little different to what I was expecting.

I was not surprised to find Brimstone near my entrance point, off Willesley Woodside.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (male) - by Willesley Woodside

Although I saw several Migrant Hawker and a couple of Brown Hawker dragonflies, I was seeing Ruddy Darters almost everywhere - it was quite remarkable as, until this time, I had seen very few of this species this year.

I have been a little uncertain about showing the first shot, below, as it is not a good photo, but there's something about it that I find pleasing.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Thortit Lake

This next one's for my good friend David.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male+femal in cop) - Thortit Lake

At one point I noticed a juvenile Moorhen that was running with ease across the dense algae covering on an area of the lake. Look at the size of its feet!

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (juvenile) - Thortit Lake

. . . . .and another shot of a Ruddy Darter - this time, side-on.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Thortit Lake

On my way back to the car, I was alerted to the presence of Common Buzzards by their distinctive calls. There were four of them together, high up and distant. However, they broke away from each other and one came close enough for some photos.

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) - Thortit Lake

Thursday, 7th September          Garden

It was around this time that a male Sparrowhawk started to make a nuisance of itself. So far, we have not seen it catch anything, but we are alerted to its presence by the sound of warning calls from the birds and the occasional thump as a bird, in panic, strikes a window. We have lost a few birds in this way over the years, but on many an occasion I have gone out to a bird that has been stunned, and wandered around the garden with it in my warm hand for up to an hour before it revives and flies away. 

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (male) - our garden

Wednesday, 13th September          Thornton Reservoir and Brown's Wood

It had been a week since I had been out and prompted by a message from my new pal, Lance, who had been to Thornton Reservoir and seen "lots of Willow Emerald Damselflies and lots of Emerald Damselflies at Brown's Wood", I thought that I'd check it out as I'd not yet connected with Willow Emerald Damselflies this year. I was uncertain as to what my chances were as it had been a day of torrential rain the day before.

I arrived at Thornton Reservoir to find the car park all but full. Fortunately I was in our very small Smart, so was able to find a parking space. 

From the car park, drawn by an unusual call, I found an alien! It was, I believe, a Chinese Goose, the origins of which were, of course, extremely dubious.

Chinese Goose (Anser cygnoides) - Thornton Reservoir

As I approached the cafe area, a juvenile Moorhen scuttled down the slipway.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (juvenile) - Thornton Reservoir

Outside the cafe, there is a Willow that ovehangs the water. Here I saw a Migrant Hawker dragonfly and an emerald damselfly that settled but I couldn't get focus on before it flew. I am 95% sure that it was a Willow Emerald Damselfly. I waited patiently for a long while, but it didn't return.

The shape of Thornton Reservoir reminds me of a human double tooth, with the dam forming the biting surface and the two inlet arms being the roots of the tooth. The path to Brown's Wood leads off from just past the first inlet. My target was the two ponds that are in Brown's Wood. I had not been there before, and I soon found myself a little lost. In the end, I had to resort to finding my position on Google Earth, and chcking my progress as I went.

In the end, I found the two ponds. Little of the pond edge was accessible at the first pond and I got very wet feet and legs in the long grass. 

To cut a long story short, I got a grabbed shot of a warbler that I believe to be a Chiffchaff (dark legs on another even worse shot than this one).

probable Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) - Brown's Wood

There were a few Ruddy Darters and Common Darters.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Brown's Wood

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Brown's Wood

I also found a damselfly that had me puzzled for a while, until I realised that it was an immature female Common Blue Damselfly.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (immature female) - Brown's Wood

At the second pond, nothing was visible for a while and then a male Southern Hawker showed up. I tried for some flight shots but failed. It then flew off. I hung around for anther twenty minutes but it didn't show again. 

As I had a commitment later that afternoon it was time to head back. I had originally intended to do a complete circuit of the reservoir, but I had not left myself enough time so I headed back the way that I had come.

I saw more on the way back than I did on the way out. There were adult Moorhens out on the water.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - Thornton Reservoir

I saw several Common Blue Damselflies, and two of them were engaging in strange abdomen waving.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Thornton Reservoir

There were also young Little Grebes around, with an adult not too far away. The water disturbance in front of this chick is where the adult has just dived.

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) (chick) - Thornton Reservoir

A juvenile Moorhen looked very confident out on the water.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (juvenile) - Thornton Reservoir

After Mallard, Tufted Duck must be our most common duck, but they are rather handsome.

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (male) - Thornton Reservoir

My last photos before I left were of a Red Admiral butterfly on ivy.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - Thornton Reservoir

By the end of the visit, I had not seen a single Emerald Damselfly and only seen one possible Willow Emerald Damselfly. However, it had been an interesting visit which included new territory for me, and was, therefore, a worthwhile one.

My next post, probably in about a week's time, will bring matters as good as up-to-date.

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard

Some Highlights - 27th March to 3rd April, 2023

I am now starting to get more stable results with the new camera, although there is still a lot to learn, and I am taking whatever opportunities I can to try it out in different circumstances. Here are some of what for me were the highlights from this period, which class as such either because I am pleased with the photographic results or because I managed to catch something which, for me, was special.

Monday, 27th March                    Garden ; Saltersford Valley Country Park ; Thortit Lake

The moth trap went out on the night  of Sunday, 26th March. Technically, therefore, the results found in the trap the morning of 27th are recorded as being on 26th. The moth trap only contained 9 moths of three species - 1 x Clouded Drab, 7 x Hebrew Character, 1 x Oak Beauty. I took some 'formal' photos with the Nikon D7200 + Sigma 150 macro lens and then took the Oak Beauty outside where I used the Nikon set-up and the new Canon set up to photograph the moth on a leaf. The 'macro' shots from the new set -up were superior to those with the dedicated macro lens on the Nikon, and the moth was blowing around in a stiff breeze on a very dull day!

Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) (male) - from garden moth trap on 26th March, 2023

That afternoon I made a visit to Saltersford Valley CP. Very little was seen there. However, keen to practice the close-up aspects of the camera, I took a shot of a leaf! Strange as this might seem, I find the resulting shot aesthetically pleasing.

Leaf - Saltersford Valley CP

Not wanting to come away empty handed, I ended up with yet more shots of a Coot.

Coot (Fulica atra) - Saltersford Valley CP

Having found so little at Saltersford Valley, I decided to drop in at nearby Thortit Lake on my wy home. I found even less here, and had set back towards my car when I spotted a Buzzard through the trees, which departed away from me, but towards an open area. It took me a couple of minutes to get round to the other side of the trees, by which time it was soaring a few hundred metres away. I was, therefore, quite pleased and surprised to manage this shot.

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) - from by Thortit Lake

Wednesday, 29th March                    Garden

We don't often get visits from Long-tailed Tit, but when we do it brightens our day as they are such charming creatures.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - garden on 29th March, 2023

Friday, 31st March                    Garden

Weather-wise, it was a dull, and often raining, day and I busied myself in my study, but did pick up the camera a few times to photograph the birds.

The most exciting visitor was a female Siskin. Siskins used to be quite common late-winter visitors to the garden, but have become rather scarce in recent years.

Siskin (Spinus spinus) (female) - garden on 31st March, 2023

We occasionally get visits by Jackdaw, but these usually arrive in one of our three mature trees and then depart again. On this occasion, one decided that it fancied our peanut offerings.

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) - garden on 31st March, 2023

Chaffinch is one of our most common garden visitors, and so tends to be, undeservedly, overlooked. It is, nevertheless, a very attractive species in plumage and character.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (male) - garden on 31st March, 2023

I have already stated my fondness for Long-tailed Tits, and we were getting regular visits from a pair of them, and came to the conclusion that they were probably nexting nerby. However, sadly, their visits now seem to have ceased.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - garden on 31st March, 2023

Saturday, 1st April                    Garden

We are still getting fairly frequent visits from Stock Dove, maybe on 50% of days. Sometimes it's one bird and sometimes it's a pair, and on a three  occasions this year it's been three. They are extremely nervous birds and depart at speed if they detect our slightest movement inside the house. This one was outside my study window.

Stock Dove (Columba oenas) - garden on 1st April, 2023

Sunday, 2nd April                    Dishley Pool, Loughborough ; Garden

The weather this day was, for a change, quite pleasant, and I was trying to think of somewhere that I could go that was not overrun with families with young children, dog walkers, etc. For many weeks, there had been reports of a female Ring-necked Duck at Dishley Pool in Loughborough, about 15 miles (25 km) from our home. As I do not do much 'twitching' these days, I had resisted the temptation to try and find this bird. However, I became curious as to what this bird found attractive in a place which is hard against a large commercial estate and, as I'd only seen Ring-necked Duck twice in my life, and both of those times it had been males, I decided it was time for a visit.

Arriving in the area, I found a large, and absolutely empty, car park and I then set off to the pool, confident in my direction, having studied the area on Google Earth. On reaching the south-west corner of the pool, there were a few Tufted Duck visible and a distant lone duck that I was not sure about, initially, as I am not familiar with the appearance of a female Ring-necked Duck having only seen an image in a book. I took numerous photos of this duck and, on reviewing them, came to the realisation that it was just a female Tufted Duck with a rather peaked crown and which seemed to have a white ring near the tip of the bill. This was confirmed when it came much closer.

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (female) - Dishley Pool

I started making my way along the north-western edge of the pool, stopping to photograph a Moorhen.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - Dishley Pool

About half way along this side of the pool, I found a fellow with a 'scope, and asked if he'd seen the Ring-necked Duck and he pointed out that it was in its usual area, right in the north-east corner of the pool, and showed me it in his 'scope. I got some very poor record shots at a great distance while we chatted for about twenty minutes, and then took my leave of him in order to take a stroll round the perimeter of the pool. Having passed the north-east corner and started down the south-east side of the pool, I found a spot where I could get a significantly closer view of the Ring-necked Duck, and in reasonable light too. I spent some time photographing the duck until it drifted further away and the light started failing. Here are a few of the shots that I obtained - probably the last time that I ever see this species!

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) - Dishley Pool

I got home just in time to witness a Sparrowhawk visiting the garden and also a Comma butterfly landing on the trunk of our elder. I was impressed that I could get such a clear shot of the butterfly through the glass of our conservatory at a range of about 10 metres.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (female) - garden on 2nd April, 2023

Comma (Polygonia c-album) - garden on 2nd April, 2023

Monday, 3rd April                    Garden

The Long-tailed Tits were still visiting at this time - I make no excuses.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - garden on 3rd April, 2023

A couple of days earlier, I'd seen reports of Bee-flies seen in the south of England. These harbingers of Spring are creatures which I find fascinating, so I was more than a little pleased when I found a couple in our garden on this fine sunny day. That long proboscis is amazing!

Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major) (male) - garden on 3rd April, 2023

 

I'll end this post here. My next post will probably feature a visit to Rutland Water. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard