Notable Recent Sightings

10/01 White Stork 1, photo'd near Llansantffraid, still present 22 Jan
01/10 Glossy Ibis 1, photo'd by Osprey camera at Cors Dyfi
17/09 Grey Phalarope 1 juv, Red Ridge Centre, Cefn Coch, photo'd
29/05 Pink-footed Goose 1, over Welshpool, photo'd on 09/06
01/05 Red-throated Diver 1, Llyn Clywedog
07/02 Whooper Swan 44, Lake Vyrnwy
31/01 Whooper Swan 51, Haimwood, Llandrinio
17/11 Firecrest 2, Castle Caereinion
07/11 Barnacle Goose 1 among Canada Geese, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas
07/11 Hawfinch a few, Lake Vyrnwy, also Bramblings
01/11 Short-eared Owl 1, Cefn Coch Wind-farm
01/11 Great Grey Shrike Gregynog
28/10 Great Grey Shrike Lake Vyrnwy, also 1 on 30th at Eunant
25/09 Gannet 1 juv grounded near Caersws
07/09 Nightjar 1, photographed near Pontrobert
17/07 Quail RSPB Lake Vyrnwy, also heard 20/06 and 08/07
24/04 Long-eared Owl 2, RSPB Lake Vyrnwy
16/04 Purple Heron 1, Cors Dyfi
05/03 Firecrest 1, Lake Vyrnwy
05/03 Short-eared Owl 1, Lake Vyrnwy
14/01 Pink-footed Goose 1, Dolydd Hafren
03/01 Waxwing 20, Meifod; also 5 Welshpool by canal on 01/01. Last: 6 Bwlch-y-Garreg 17/03
   
See Sightings Archive for older records

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Kerry

With a temporary break in the weather, I took a trip up to the snowfield of The Kerry Ridgeway on the 2nd. Not much snow to be honest, or many birds. However the 2 pairs of Crossbills I found were both on exposed Alders, with the males in full song, despite being battered by the wind. While trying to get the shot at top of post, with a background of conifers in poor light, I flushed a Jack Snipe from amongst the conifer brash. The female Kestrel was trying to stay on the fence post as she faced into the gale.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous3 January 2012 at 10:42

    Nice spot - where were the alders then? need get up the ridgeway with camera now a bit more time and am now living in Sarn! Btw if light that bad pop the flash up - while the on camera flash on the 7D is pretty weak it may just make a difference. Starting to use external flash with a fresnel extender quite a lot now and it's a godsend in this poor light!

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  2. Anonymous3 January 2012 at 17:06

    Hi Mark, Your comment on the `fresnel extender` captured my imagination being a novice. I had a look at the `Better Beamer` and a home made derivative, ` the `Monster Beamer` - However this did carry a serious equipment and personal health warning. It would be interesting to see maybe a `before` and `after`shot of a subject - perhaps the old Heron may oblige. Also on the subject `is there` or has there been any suggestion of using your skills to teach other members who may benifit from this.? No offence intended.

    Trevor Rogers

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  3. Anonymous3 January 2012 at 19:34

    Haha - nice one Trevor! Yeah the fresnel does come with a health warning in that it works both ways and if you're not careful and leave it pointing in the general direction of the sun it would happily melt your flashgun and any other plastic it could find (remember the old days when you started fires with a magnifying glass?). So care is needed - melting a 400 quid flashgun is not in my plans!

    To me it does however seem to work - a lot of the stuff I took last week wouldn't have been possible without it. Even without the 'Beamer' I'm now playing around with using flash on most shots to provide a degree of fill and of course in strong backlighting it's pretty much the only way to see any kind of detail on the 'dark side of the bird' - early days, and even earlier with another slightly more radical technique (eek), so let me continue playing for a while

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