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An individual, of no great importance, who is unable to see the natural world as a place for competition. I catch fish, watch birds, derive immense pleasure from simply looking at butterflies, moths, bumble-bees, etc - without the need for rules! I am Dylan and this is my blog - if my opinions offend? Don't bother logging on again - simple!

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Friday, 22 December 2023

Harbour rambling

 Bev had some last minute stuff she wanted to get sorted, so I was free to spend a couple of hours, mid morning, wandering along the cliff top from Winterstoke Steps down to the harbour. It was overcast and rather breezy, yet I still enjoyed myself pointing the camera at various subjects I encountered on my stroll. The most impressive event was discovering how insane the image stabilization is, when I managed to read a C-R (colour ring) code on the back of the camera, when I had absolutely no chance just looking through my binos. Back in the old days, this Orange ring, with a Black code, would have been reported straight to Paul Roper, of The North Thames Gull Group, but times have changed and I used a link provided via EUring to send details of my sighting.

An adult Herring Gull with C-R P8WT

I got the details back from the North Thames Gull Group  (24.12.2023)

Ringed as a 4th cy/adult at Pitsea Landfill Site, Essex on 19th November 2016
Reported from Ramsgate 4th December 2017
My sighting (22.12.2023) being only the second time this bird has been reported!
The NTGG map is reproduced below - I do hope I'm not doing anything naughty?



Try as I might, I failed to discover any more C-R gulls, or Cormorants and had to make do with lesser fare. The first subject was a proper poser. A Turnstone having a wash and brush up in a puddle right outside the Lifeboat Station. By crouching down, I managed to get a few reasonable images of this individual. 

Next up was a rather unexpected encounter with an immature male Eider which was in the outer marina area, behind the Lifeboat Station. It led me a merry dance before getting bored and swimming directly beneath my position, allowing me to, again, grab a few pleasing images.

I'm having an absolute blast with this new lens and am already formulating a few ideas for what I'd like to achieve in 2024. 


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4 comments:

  1. Ric22 December 2023 at 17:04

    Dyl, is a monopod (garden cane with a rod rest top) for even more stability, an idea, unless of course that's already part of the deal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dylan Wrathall22 December 2023 at 17:28

      Hi Ric, I've played about with the use of monopods over the years. There is no doubt that they are an asset under certain circumstances, however, the image stabilization system seems to have removed any requirement for such accessories? I'm sure that there are photographers out there who could offer valid opinions which contradict my own, yet not having something extra to carry is certainly a plus point from my stand point!
      As always, cheers for the comment - Dyl

      Delete
    2. Ric23 December 2023 at 00:19

      👍 for having empirical evidence Dyl. Look forward to seeing more results. I wonder what the late Eric Hosking would have made of today's images?

      Delete
    3. Dylan Wrathall23 December 2023 at 15:49

      I would hope that Eric Hosking, in a similar manner to Dick Walker, would have embraced any technology which improved the quality of images he sought.

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