Well I am sort of back .. but not in the way that you might think.
I am going to be getting around doing some stuff over the coming days and weeks and with a little luck might actually be doing that which I planned to begin with many months ago?
I had something of a .. hiccup and did not acquire all the tools I needed due to an emergency situation that is about to unfold, or I hope so, in a big way.
However I am back near some old, but new for here, places that I certainly did not expect and .. momentarily.
I am going to be looking for Firecrests .. in fact I already did and spotted one but not managed to get one on film .. but I did get some Teal and Gadwalls .. oh and a Pochard .. and a Little Grebe. Oh and a pair of Stock Doves.
I have been a little busy .. and away for eight days.
I am still shopping but apart from some stuff inbound .. the main shopping has paused .. due to some unforeseen circumstances and a change in a particular .. destination.
A destination I have already been to once ..
But here are some pictures with my new camera ..
Bear with me as I am getting used to the controls and .. trying to remember to alter my settings, aperture and such, as the light changes.
Right then .. a few things to remember for viewers going forwards ..
These images are shot in RAW
Shock number 1: These are edited/processed in bad software (i.e. prob losing Image Quality)
Shock Number 2: These are then shrunk down to 30% their original size .. yup I do not care how many times you look and think rubbish .. they ARE shrunk down to 30% - 42 Mega Pixels
Shock Number 3: they are reduced in size in MS Paint .. yeah, yeah .. I know, I know
Serif Affinity Photo will be purchased very soon!
I will sort out my FLICKR account I never used .. much .. anyway
Sony A99 II DSLT
Sony G Series 70-200mm f2.8
Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f2.8
Sony 1.4x Teleconverter
Sigma 85mm f1.4 (Incoming .. soo .. no, none of the pictures are shot with anything other than the two f2.8 lenses .. some might be at f4 or higher if I used the teleconverter)
Two dozen 4K videos up on YouTube, see bottom
I was with four children that were hyped up some of the time .. so could not do everything .. plus the family was kinda .. threatened so had to focus on that .. kind of still am, bear with me a couple of weeks, lol
On one shoot I met a really nice guy, photographer, who loved nature and we chatted in the hide for 3 hours. Kinda reminded me of why I do some of the things and blogs that do .. people like him.
Think now that these are Cetti's Warblers as we heard one call .. unless my first hunch these are .. crap no my first hunch was Willow Warblers .. then I thought they were more like Reed Warblers .. but there are Willow Warblers because I got a video of a young one, complete with olive colouring .. but we heard Cetti's Warblers call.
ITS A WARBLER!! LMAO! FISHERS GREEN
Thought this was a rarer Blue Butterfly at first but soon realised it was a Common Blue Butterfly
Chub ..
More Chub ..
Gadwall
Unknown to me .. Hen Scaup?
The Duck Meet at Colwyn Bay
Yup siree! That is indeed a Kingfisher despite the bad photo .. IT WAS TOO QUICK AS WAS I ..
This is one of several species I have captured on my new camera I never got with my old one .. Inside of a month and I think the new species count is at least at FOUR?!
Common Darter?
Gadwall
Gadwall
The Rare Rough Robin LOL ..
Speckled Wood Butterfly ..
Autumn Sunsets ..
Probably a Yellow Eared Slider Terrapin? Fishers Green.
A duck curiously looking like a hen Scaup but .. cannot see it .. Rye Meads
Photos out of order .. this and the following Young Grey Wagtail pictures were shot at Colwyn Bay at an RSPB site ..
A young Willow Warbler .. Fishers Green ..
Now starting to think I have been filming Cetti's Warblers?
One called really loud and I am not familiar with their song my brother informs me they are loud and a man I met their, keen birder, told me they were Cetti's Warblers calling.
Colwyn Bay and I think these were young Grey Wagtails?
I ended up late due to finding out some stuff ... with something I have ... or my family have going on and ended up messaging a lot and on the phone so got out two hours later than planned.
Not that it made much difference as I was aiming to get to a dragonfly sanctuary and ... it turned out to be close until the end of the month! Damn it!!
Loads of Orange Tip Butterflies ... pictures of none!
Head some out of the ordinary bird calls, had hoped to get shots and videos of Reed Buntings and not sure if it was their calls or not.
Anyway I did get a few shots and videos while I was there ...
Shoveler Duck
Great Crested Grebe Hunting
Great Crested Grebe Diving
Great Crested Grebe catching ... RESULT! Not for the fish, mind you!
Great Crested Grebe in Spring Sunshine
Gradually going green..
A Dunnock, there were three or four of them ...
Until I saw this picture on my PC monitor I had no idea there was a Little Egret at the lake! Flying past the Cormorants ...
I can only apologise for my absence in this areas as I was more of less attacked by a couple of evil publis services throughout last year. The details of which are really for my corruption blog, are referred to in posts there and will be revealed in a few months time.
I will also state that I am almost back to full fitness, for doing these things and getting these things as I have to be able to cycle around 25 miles each time I go out.
I first lost a great deal of weight and then without realising it and as I had fought back from the brink of somewhere dark I then put a load of weight on without realising it.
I then ended up in hospital, or a couple of hospitals even, last year and then a couple of times this year, in no thanks to these evil public services in the UK. It turns out that one of said hospitals made a serious mistake in February, just gone, according to another hospital as I was taken into A&E and seen three times like bloody lightning, having loads tests and my blood pressure testing quite high.
As I pointed out to a very nice A&E Doctor there who was worried about my diastolic blood pressure being at 110, it was 121 before I left the house and I can tell you this ...
If the heart palpitations and chest pains were indeed down to my blood pressure then it has been a damned site higher than the 197/121 that I tested before leaving to go to A&E! Several times too!
Anyway ...
Not only am I back ... again but I am going to have a very good 12 months starting from today ... as I am already back out filming had to get mountain bike repaired too another fiasco. Not only am I back out filming but I also have two major things that have been going on. Well .. I mean other than the damned health issues I have two major things.
Two good things.
Both of these will mean vast increases in videos and photographs in ALL subjects, including some blogs that have been somewhat ... neglected but are close to my heart. No I am not talking about palpitations again! Lol.
There will be a vast increase in tools acquired and I cannot emphasise how vast this is.
Added to this there will be vast increases in frequency, quality and quantity and my range will vastly increases and soon enough to ranges that will surprise a lot of people.
These will take place throughout the rest of 2017 starting in about a month or so's time and continue throughout 2018 too and sky is the limit from then on in.
Although both things are inevitable, there is no one that can disappear and/or stab me in the back this time as took place a year ago.
So here are a few things I recently filmed while out ...
Some English Primroses at Forty Hall ..
An uncommon video of a Heron Preening, probably just after it ate a dozen of my mates, the frogs lol.. Hook Marsh Scrape ... if I have the name in the right order? Lol
A Young Greylag that had me stumped ... well it was very far away, lol ...
Good old Gadwalls ..
Three videos of Teal and a few others .. at Marsh Scrape Hooks
I am preoccupied with another blog subject that is about to get a little nuts.
The weather being highly variable and unpredictable has not helped my pursuit of British Wildlife, though the outcome of mad subject matter will help all my blogs no end in a few months time. Fingers crossed, lol.
A lone Lapwing was spotted along with a lone Shoveller, Canada Goose and one pair of what I first thought were Gadwalls but did not look right, lol.
Right a Gadwall and then some pictures of one that threw me somewhat as I had never seen one like that, if indeed it IS a Gadwall that is?!
It was very dark and i am not brilliant with Water Foul if I am honest and do not know if they change their plumage. Or perhaps just a freaky dark one or something else I am not familiar with I just do not know, lmao!!
