I finally got around to going through the last sojourn's pictures, a similarly grey day, to Ferrybridge and the Fleet. I was planning on going on to Portland but there was a slight issue with visibility... about half the island was shrouded in cloud!
Putting the camera through it's paces was my main goal, poor light capabilities, birds in flight, checking out the crop sensor mode, amongst other things. First up, before even leaving the car park, some nice big slow gulls flew overhead
On the ground now, the most numerous bird I think was probably Ringed Plover
Or the slightly rarer Panda-Eyed Plover
From later photo's, I think this could be a Knot
Flying Plover...less big and less slow than the gulls!
There were a few Herring Gulls about, and some Black Backed (not sure on Lesser or Greater as their distance made judging size a lottery)
One of the Plovers showing off it's feather patterning
There were a few Carrotbills about, and some smaller waders, Dunlin and Sanderling were both listed as being spotted that morning....
The most numerous gull was Black Headed, this pristinely white youngster just one example
Last time out my Turnstone photography was abysmal, this time it's better!
How do they stay so clean foraging through mud and weed and stuff??
One or two of the Dunlin came a bit closer... but not much!!
I think last time th flock of LBJ's was decided to be Linnets.... so Linnet (maybe!!)
And one of the lovely characterful Wagtails came to say hello
There were a pair of Knot sighted, and this one seems to have different plumage to the earlier bird....
Another of the Wagtails
And finally a few Wheatears, there were at least 6 individuals
A couple of days later, Mrs PB and myself had coinciding days off so we had a pootle up to Portland proper... the weather was slightly different!!!
First up, snails...lots and lots of snails.... all on apparently dead plants.... any ideas what's going on?
Stonechats... probably 4 or more just along the path we walked
A warbler.... a Wood Warbler was ringed in the Obs nets, and Willow Warblers have regularly been sighted...?
Another of the Stonechats
King of the Hill
After probably 100 attempts to get one of the Martins that was fizzing about, I resorted to a Pigeon to reassure myself birds in flight weren't an impossible target!!
One of the blue butterflies alighted, but refused to open it's wings for me
A Wheatear skipped and hopped along beside the path as we walked
And something definitely caught its attention
It eventually hopped over the edge of the cliff, to an outcrop of rock, but was definitely keeping an eye on proceedings!
And finally another blue, again inconveniently positioned!
And that's my last couple of outings all caught up. Hope you enjoyed perusing, sorry if it was a bit long.
As always, ID help/corrections gratefully received
Stay Safe All
Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos
(One bush does not shelter two Robins)
Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)
_____________________________________
Regards, Hazel
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
Wow! You have some gigantic ferries over there!
Seriously, a good selection of photos PB, and I do have a soft spot for the patterned plumage turnstones. As for your snails on dead plants, my guess is the fruits will be succulent, hence why they’re on the fruits and not the leaves.
It was interesting to read you had problems with trying to photograph the housemartins, I too had problems with housemartins in flight, so you’re not alone. I know from my Charlecote postings it might not seem that was the case, but it was, and a couple of theories I had at the time. My housemartin inflight photos against the blue sky were pure luck, not judgement, whereas I would have managed to get a lot more on the old 5D4.
What I have found is, the AF is a lot faster on the R5 than on the 5D4, so focuses on the next object, be it cloud or sky, almost in an instant, thus looking further away than the housemartin would be. Trying to pre-empt the focus failed, it was too eager to find a subject to focus on, not even manual focus resolved the issue, I couldn’t switch to auto fast enough.
The chances are you will have different focus modes, not just the focus point, but also the servo speeds as well, so it might be worth playing around with those while concentrating solely on housemartins before they migrate.
It will certainly be something I will try, though I don’t think with all the medical appointments, along with the current weather, I’ll catch the housemartins, or swallows, before they migrate.
A suggestion, using your pigeon photo, which you know confirms all is working in harmony, using the text (editing as required) around the issues you experienced with photographing the housemartins on to the mirrorless thread, you never know, someone might have an answer.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Lot to learn