JPEGs vs. RAW - Now I understand.......

No birding today with more educational stuff being the order of the day. Sheena and I instead took part in a beginners training day run by Wolverhampton Photographic Society. And very good it was too.

I now know why I should always shoot in RAW, and what I should do with it after I've shot it. Unfortunately that's going to cost me more memory cards (the 2gb card I use would do just over 300 shots in fine jpeg mode, but will do just 120 in RAW - eek!).

I also now know where my histogram is, why I should be using that, and have half an idea of what I should be doing with it.

And then there was how to store your photos - which is going to cost me a copy of Lightroom (it's fantastic!).

And then there was a little basic manipulation - thank goodness I have the software for that already. I can see this all getting a bit expensive at this rate!

An excellent day, well taught, and done with the humour and friendliness that I love the club for. Can't wait for the next one.

Catching up with some Shropshire birds

When your other half ( a very definate non-birder) gets up and suggests that as it is a nice day then we should go birding, well, how can you refuse? Especially when they suggest looking for the Ring-billed and Iceland gulls reported at The Mere. Wonders will never cease, but I do wonder if it wasn't just a ploy to get me to stop wittering on about them....

Oh, and you do have to conveniently pass the Raven truck stop on the way.....so cooked breakfasts later we roll up to The Mere - hardly a gull in sight. A quick scan, and a quick change of plan, and we're off to Melverley Green in search of Whooper Swans.

Now the big sign that said the road was closed due to flooding obviously didn't apply to us and so after a pleasant run down country lanes we finally found, erm, flood water. So, progress halted (and the domestic about whether or not we should try to get through narrowly avoided) we were just checking directions when a glance left revealed, yes, swans.

They were in the left hand corner of a flooded field to start with, which made viewing a little difficult as being a little on the short side I couldn't actually see over the hedge. And then Darran remembered he had steps in the back of the van - excellent!

Good views of 7 Whoopers (along with Greylag, Lapwing, and Wigeon), turned into good views of 19 as they moved to the right, allowing me to move to a gate where I could see a wider area. In attendance were a lone Mute Swan, and an equally lone but very handsome Black Swan (Daz was impressed with this one). So mission accomplised it was back to The Mere.

And the gulls were dropping in for the roost, and yes there were several species, but no, none were the Ring-billed nor Iceland. Never mind, with a little help from Andy Latham I did manage to get on to a Yellow Legged - the first I had (knowingly) ever seen.

So, a rather cold couple of hours later it was time to head back. It did strike me though that when trying to convert a non-birder, it is perhaps not such a good idea to make them stand about in the freezing cold looking at distant gulls, whilst at the same time fending off the attempts of a guy with a placard to convert you to religion (a scope is a useful thing to hide behind and become very absorbed in the local Black-Headed Gull population........).

Er, sorry, I won't make you do it again (well, not in a hurry anyway!).

Grand Day Out

With the new year list standing at a fairly impressive 25, the offer of a day's birding in North Wales was too good to turn down.

It wasn't a bird that initially caught my attention however, but a healthy looking fox making its way along the side of a farmers field as I passed along the A41 on my way to meet Martin. After meeting up with Martin our first stop was a quick call to Colemere to look for the group of Scaup that just about every other birder in Shropshire must have already seen. Mission accomplished without having to walk far from the car, and others ticked off (Pochard, Goosander, and Goldeneye to list a few) it was time to press on.

Our next stop was Gresford Flash just outside Wrexham, to look for the juvenile Iceland Gull which has been around there for a while now. Not that it was around for us of course......But we did add Shoveler to the list, and it was good gull ID practice searching through the throngs of Black Headed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring and Common for the Iceland that just wouldn't materialise. And you can't stare at gulls for too long before you go cross-eyed (and start trying to make them into things they're not), so on we pressed again.

RSPB Conwy presented us with softcore birding opportunities with year ticks through the cafe window over latte and pasty (my kind of birding!), however not wanting to get too soft we did venture out, where the wind was strong and very, very cold, and the birds were few and far between. And you can only stare at distant waders through streaming eyes and very unstable, wind blown scopes before you get cross-eyed again (and get pneumonia).

Next stop The Spinnies, which we decided to look at even though the tide was against us, in a bid to pick up Little Egret if nothing else. And we did, with at least 3 birds around, amongst a mix of Wigeon, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Redshank. The nearby pool also gave a brief view of a Kingfisher, along with various small stuff including Bullfinch.

So nothing especially scarce, but a very enjoyable day's birding, topped off with a fantastic tea (thanks Kath!). I couldn't help smiling as I headed home and finished the day as it had started, with a fox - this time on the verge of the A53 by the Muller's roundabout.

That smile got a whole lot wider when a few yards further on I was treated to a great view of a Barn Owl sat on the fence. Now that's how to end a day's birding.......

(Pic definately not taken on the A53, but rather on a day out with Wolverhampton Photographic Society to the Barn Owl Centre, Gloucestershire, 2007).

2007: The Facts and Figures

British Birds - 151

Garden List - 11 (not bad to say I don't have a garden!)

World Birds - 169 (all Australian!)

Total - 320

British life ticks - 3 (Garganey at Venus Pool, Red-crested Pochard at Lound, and Common Crane in Norfolk)

Australian life ticks - 106 (too many to list here!)

Best birding encounter - coming face to face with wild Cassowary.

Best birding experience - being covered in wild Rainbow Lorikeets during feeding time at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Queensland. So what if they pooped all over me and all over Dad's camera bag (sorry Dad!), left my hands and wrists in shreds, and left me deaf from their screeches directly into my ears. It was FUN!

Best view - Bittern at Potteric Carr (see entry for Christmas Eve).

Best bird books read - The Big Year by Mark Obmascik, The Big Twitch by Sean Dooley, and This Birding Life by Stephen Moss

So, I didn't get out half as much as I planned, visit half as many places as planned, nor seen a fraction of the birds I would have liked to have seen. That said, I still got out some of the time, visited some beautiful/interesting places, and saw some truly fantastic birds. And throughout the year, in different places and different countries, I did that with some great people. Oh, and I started the year with a new scope, and ended it with new bins.

No complaints then :-))

Starting the New Year List

After spending New Year's Eve with the two 118 guys, the chef from the Muppets, a High School Musical cheerleader, and Santa, it was most definately time to blow away the cobwebs with a stroll. As long as that stroll took me past at least a few birds. And as long as it was in one of my BTO Atlas areas. Well, there's nothing like killing 3 birds with one stone.......multi-tasking we girlies call it......

So with an enthusiastic (if somewhat noisy ;-)) crew in tow we set off, and by the time we got to Wetherspoon's for our reviving coffee, we had taken in 25 species including Buzzard, Kestrel, Great Spotted Woodpecker, various tits and finches etc, a few golfers, and a couple of squirrels.

Not a bad way to spend the day, though not perhaps the same as getting Desert Wheatear and Long-Tailed Duck..........(some people I know have all the luck!).

Happy New Year!!