Friday 7 March 2014

A bit of filming today

The Safari didn't get out until late today due to our final physio session, so we suppose we're now officially cured. 
It wasn't until lunchtime came round that we saw anything remotely connected to wildlife despite looking out of the office window more than a couple of times, there was no sign of yesterday's Magpie or Robin.
The wind had picked up a fair bit overnight and although it was sunny there was bit of a bite in the air. Several scans of the sea gave us nothing but Common Scoters so we gave up with the scope and went to get the camera instead with the intention of doing a bit of video for you so if you're not familiar with seawatching you get an idea of the conditions here at Patch 2. Todays wind was coming from slightly north of straight out and was fairly steady around 15 - 18 mph, not much in the way of gusts today. So mothiing out of the ordinary wind-wise.
The first bit of footage is shot at around 55 - 60x and the second one fully zoomed up at about 90x magnification or 2200mm equivalent. Still get a better view through the 30x scope but these short films give you an indication of what goes on on the other side of the sea wall. Best view full screen so as you can actually see ttthe black dots that are the Common Scoters.

Back at Base Camp we heard Long Tailed Tits at the bottom of the garden so checking the feeders we discovered that a kilo of food has been chomped - crikey after them hardly eating a thing over the winter they're now going through Sunny seeds like a dose of salts!
We had a sneaky peak in the pond fro the Frog, didn't see him but we did see a few blobs of newly laid spawn - oh happy days.
Happy days providing the fish don't get hungry as per usual! Think there seems to be five separate clumps there which would mean five females have snuck in under the radar.
So that's it for today, short n sweet but it is the weekend tomorrow.
Where to next? First thing tomorrow we'll be out on another Winter Thrushes survey...might be the first frosty morning we've done! Should be time for more safari-ing too, maybe even a butterfly at Base Camp in the afternoon sunshine.
In the meantime let us know who's getting seasick in your outback.


2 comments:

cliff said...

Dave - the videos, shot in that cold wind today, demonstrate your dedication to the cause.

The frog spawn photo is of interest to me. My pond, this early spring, seems much more overgrown with aquatic plants than after previous winters - I'm guessing due to the mild weather?
I've been debating thinning the plants out, but seeing your photo, the amount of vegetation seems similar to mine. Do you do any cutting back in your pond or leave as is? (Or, do the fish keep plant growth in check for you - I have no fish in my pond).

Cheers

Cliff

Warren Baker said...

Wish I got Frog spawn in my ponds Davyman - the newts eat any does that appear :-(