Odds & Sods 2024

As an engineer, you'll appreciate tech is progressing at an accelerating rate, not always for the better. Your photos along with others I've seen using the R7 and others using other cropped sensor brands still produce good quality photos.

You can find out from the Sigma webpages what firmware your 18-300, and other lenses, should be. This also applies to other lens brands, by checking the webpages.

Though I have Lancashire and Derbyshire ancestry, I too am a skinflint, but how much of that is how I was brought up I've no idea.

Angus M said:

Oh, it's got RAW. I shoot exclusively in RAW. It doesn't have CRAW

My R7 has CRAW capability Angus. On the Image Quality tab, there's a choice of RAW or CRAW

Cor! You're right. I just took a look.

As an engineering type, I am allergic to manuals. Though, similarly, it is expected that we investigate and push buttons to see what happens. Including big red buttons with 'Do not push' written on them.

Thanks for that, BD.

Seek and ye shall find ...

Of Dippers, Gandalf and his staff.

Whenever Dippers are featured on TV programmes, it always seems to me they are shown in raging torrents, cascades that would scare the daylights out of Olympic kayakers. So it was that the old girl and I would get terribly excited when we approached anything like the Colorado rapids in full spate. Therefore we weren't holding out much hope with the Derwent. Until she spotted this...

Granted, the water is faster moving and slightly shallower than the slower parts of the Derwent, but hardly a raging torrent. The Dipper was very wary of humans, as were a lot of birds on the Derwent, and took off downstream as I attempted to creep closer. No bother, it was going in the same direction as us, so we proceeded on slowly. We sought and we found

Still quite distant. I had to shoot this photo through a tangle of twigs. Once again, it took off as I attempted to get closer, this time flying upstream. Sigh, wrong way. I'm a little surprised as to how wary birds were/are along this stretch of the Derwent as it is quite well frequented by walkers.

Sadly no more Dippers were spotted. But this pair hove into view. They weren't in the least bit concerned about people walking along the footpath.

Question is, do we have an albino Mallard duck?

A few minutes after I took this photo, the pair floated past us. I was unable to get a clear shot of them due to loads of tree branches. But the we spotted this fella. Off hand (and after some investigation) I'd say this is an escaped domesticated Muscovy duck. It had also spotted the Mallards floating downstream, and set off in hot pursuit. Think amorous Pepe Le Pew. 

Hmmm, perhaps the white duck is an escaped domestic duck. Opinions?

Unlike previous days when my best wildlife photos came at the end of our walks, today's occurred during the first half. We made it back to the bridge we had crossed hours earlier, and as we approached the outskirts of Hathersage we spied this in what appeared to be a large garden close to the road. Not something you expect to find in a small town in the peak district.

The pilot was getting in as we walked past, and a few minutes later took off.

The varied scenery continued along this walk, it really is worthwhile attempting it for the sheer variety on offer.

We saw lots of these polite notices around.

Only...

The long pole is Gandalf's staff. A sturdy monopod, and the best £20 (secondhand from an antique shop!) I ever spent on a piece of photographic equipment. In addition to being a quite excellent monopod, it also makes a superb walking stick. Great when coming down steep, boulder strewn slopes. Of course, I do the old 'You shall not pass!' business from the film adaptation when Gandalf halts the Balrog. And I'm not the only one. We met a walker on the footpath to Helvellyn who had made a similarly long and sturdy staff. Just big kids, really.

Talking of 'You shall not pass'. I reckon this is what this cow was saying, as it stopped the others from going for their late afternoon milking.

A view across to Mam tor (on the left), leading to Higgens cross, Back tor and Lose Hill to the right which we did the previous day.

And finally, a strange fungus, which if you look not too closely and squint your eyes, resembles a male lion.

And thus concludes our Hathersage walk, extended to 10 miles due to our detour (which you have to do if the stepping stones are covered in water after heavy rains) and full of varied and fascinating scenery. 

Both of your featured mallards will be from domesticated stock (aka "manky mallards"), possibly x-bred back into the wild population ('mankier mallards' ?). The male mallard doesn't have a white collar (indicating it very likely came from domesticated stock).

A well narrated walk again.

Some more birdies.

Well captured Mr Kes. I love the Stonechat and the little Wren ...