Sometimes I'm too much the pessimist. Although we did not get the summer-like temperatures experienced in the South of England, we did get a warmer than usual murk with occasional bursts of sunshine into the high teens. The upshot was that I called time too early on the buddleia, the largest bush suddenly producing a decent sprig of flower in its very centre over the last few days. This managed to briefly attract a fine red admiral on the 8th October, thereby achieving a personal mini-ambition and establishing a record that may not last long in the face of climate change.
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| Red Admiral |
Meanwhile i have a new toy, a Nikon Coolpix camera, bought especially with the idea in mind of boosting my birdwatching efforts. The wee Panasonic Lumix I have been using is brilliant in many respects but the zoom can be slow and the focus imprecise.
Perhaps understandably the additional camera has brought some technical issues. There was a good opportunity to try it out yesterday on a Naturewatch visit to
Hauxley Nature Reserve. As on recent visits to Hauxley nothing spectacular was sighted, which didn't trouble me as I was mainly using it to practice my camera skills.
It was therefore disturbing to note that I had difficulty in seeing much through the viewfinder and when focussing on distant birds. I started to wonder if I was going to get any usable shots at all. Anyway I persevered and managed to solve the focussing issue after a bit.
Here is a gallery of the results:
 | | Coal Tit |
|  | | Bullfinches with Goldfinch |
|
 | | Chaffinch |
|  | | Shoveler |
|
 | | Goldeneye |
|  | | Grey Heron |
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 | | Mallard |
|  | | Mallow |
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Obviously the coal tit was taken in the garden and added as my first ever attempt.
It wasn't until I got home before I solved how to resolve the dim viewfinder. Easy enough when you know how but with 308 pages of user manual as well as a very intricate looking piece of photo processing software, it could be a long learning curve!
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