A Steady March

Winter has little going for it in my book, but at least its existence serves to build anticipation for spring. And spring is always worth hanging around for...

A Cogden Chiffchaff among the Blackthorn blossoms.

I was quite surprised when the above stripey head turned out not to belong to a Willow Warbler, and it was easily the brightest Chiff among 20+ scattered around Cogden yesterday afternoon. Anyone with half an eye on social media will know that the South West has lately seen an exceptional influx of Hoopoes, and obviously I want one. No joy yesterday, but cheery little migrant warblers are a nice consolation. Cheery little migrant moths too...

A diminutive Diamond-back Moth kicked up from the Cogden grass yesterday.

I got off to a really slow start this year. The image folders on this laptop prove it, with photos from just one date in January and none at all in February.

West Bay Purple Sandpiper on 19th January...

...and two.

March was heading the same way, until I decided one day to walk in to town for an errand via the interesting, scenic route and take my birding kit. And a small eruption of alarm-calling Herring Gulls led my eyes to this...

Young White-tailed Eagle drifting N over Bridport.

That was quite exciting, and reminded me that I do actually like looking at birds. So the following day I visited Cogden for the first time since November...

March 13th - Male Wheatear...

...and a female.

Portland, crisply picked out by the late-afternoon sun.

The Bill. Tip of the obelisk just visible between the lighthouse and Pulpit Rock.

Since that day I've been back a few times, occasionally straying onto West Bexington turf...

Female Cirl Bunting at West Bex...

...and a lovely male.

The West Bex Mere is a bit further than I normally bother with. Probably I should make the effort more often...

One of my favourite ducks, a drake Pintail is just stunning.

Female Pintail is pretty smart too.

Little Ringed Plover

Grey Plover

Dunlin - one of two.

Three species of wader on the deck was a nice treat; especially the plovers, neither of which I see very often.

I'll close with a couple of shots of the bird that, for me at least, spells the end of winter...

Nikon P950 Flight Shot Settings

NQS readers will already know that I'm not a photographer, just a birder who carries a camera. Once in a while I get a pleasing bird photo, but mostly I'm happy to get anything which might enhance a blog post. However, the other reason I carry a camera is to get record shots of good birds. Which is where my interest in flight photography comes in. Because how many times is the bird of the day a brief fly-by? My early efforts to capture birds in flight were woeful. Credit where it's due, for me the game-changer was a short piece by a chap named Stephen Ingraham that I came across on a photography forum shortly after I bought my original P900. Type 'birds in flight nikon p900' into Google and you will find it. Or, click HERE. Just in case the link ever dies, I've taken the liberty of saving a screenshot of Stephen's hints and tips and publishing it at the bottom of this post. Essential reading.

So, here are my settings for birds in flight...

First, turn the Mode dial to 'S' (Shutter Priority) then press the 'menu' button. Set each menu option as follows...

Image quality: FINE

Image size: 16m (4608x3456)

Picture control: SD (Standard)

Custom Picture Control: blank - probably a default setting.

White Balance: Auto1 (Auto (normal))

Metering: Spot

Continuous: H (Continuous H)

This is a burst setting, and gives a maximum of ten rapid-fire exposures, depending on how long you press the shutter release. In my view, a vital setting for birds in flight.

ISO sensitivity: A3200 (100-3200)

The camera automatically selects the ISO depending on the light available. In practice that might be anywhere between 100 and 3200. The lower the number, the less noisy (grainy) the photo.

Exposure bracketing: OFF

AF area mode: Target finding AF

The rationale for this setting is explained in the above linked article.

Autofocus mode: AF-F (Full-time AF)

Flash exp. compensation: -0.3 (this might well be a default setting - I never use flash)

Noise reduction filter: NR- (Low - probably another default setting)

Long exposure NR: NR (Auto - another default setting I suspect)

Active D-lighting: OFF

Multiple exposure: OFF

Save user settings: don't touch this!

Reset user settings: don't touch this either!

Zoom memory: ON

Zoom memory enables you to preset a selection of zoom settings. Toggle right, and you will be presented with a list. I have ticked 24mm, 50mm, 105mm (the maximum available in macro mode, which I use for moths), 300mm, 500mm, 800mm, 1200mm, 1600mm and 2000mm. To understand how this works in practice, see below...

Startup zoom position: 50

Automatically sets the zoom at 50mm (i.e. what would be equivalent to 50mm on a 35mm camera) when the camera is switched on. With zoom memory ON (see above), pressing the zoom lever (by the shutter release button) will instantly shift the lens to the next selected zoom position (105mm); press again for 300mm, again for 500mm, and so on. Personally I like this approach, but it might not be for everyone. You can always fine tune a zoom setting manually with the lever on the left hand side of the lens body. However, the main zoom lever by the shutter release will always zoom in or out by the preset steps.

M exposure preview: OFF (again, probably a default setting)

In the field my camera will probably be in 'U' mode for static birds (explained in THIS post) but when a flight shot opportunity presents itself, all I have to do is turn the mode dial to 'S' and I am ready to roll. I tend to leave the camera set at 1/500sec by default, but will up it to 1/640 or faster if the light is good. Sometimes slower in bad light, but blurry wings are a risk.

One other (non-menu) setting that is worth talking about briefly is exposure compensation (or exposure bias) which can often be an important consideration with flight shots, especially when shooting against a bright sky, say. Get it wrong, and you may wind up with a nicely exposed sky and a black silhouette of a bird. Anyway, I'm not going to bang on about it. Rather, just the obvious suggestion that if you're not used to playing around with exposure compensation, then do exactly that - play around with it. Ideally on birds that don't matter.

As Stephen Ingraham points out, there will be a lot of failures. Getting the camera to focus on a bird against a busy background can be a nightmare - sometimes it will, sometimes it won't. As far as I know there is no guaranteed remedy for this, though in desperation I have tried focusing initially on something I reckon is the same distance away as the bird before reframing the shot with the bird in it. And yes, that method is as reliable as it sounds. He also cautions against being tempted to use too high a magnification. Keeping the zoom to 1200mm or less is the safest bet, but decent results are still possible beyond that. But if you are desperate not to blow what might be a fleeting photo-opp, try a very modest zoom initially. Your chances of an in-focus subject might be better, though it may be very small indeed...

I really didn't want to mess up this Stone-curlew shot at Cogden in April 2021, because I thought it was heading off. In the event it swung back towards the beach and dropped in. So, with just a safety-first 300mm of zoom in play, my Stone-curlew is not blurry, but is tiny! A pleasing shot though, even so. It was taken with the P900, but the settings were essentially the same as I use now with the P950.

A couple more flight shots where I didn't want to muck it up...

Another P900 shot: White-tailed Eagle over the garden in September 2021...

...and the original uncropped image, with camera settings attached. Note exposure compensation of +1.3, though +1.7 or +2 might have been better. I had to lighten the bird slightly in post-processing.

One chance at this one, so it had to be right. A stonking Portland Pom from spring 2024...

...and the original uncropped version, with camera settings attached. Like the WTE, 1200mm of zoom. Exposure compensation set at zero, which did leave the image a touch dark. Perhaps +0.3 or even +0.7 might have been better, but honestly I was happy enough that the bird was in focus!

I was planning to include a few more examples, but a trawl through NQS will give you a pretty good idea of what I have managed to extract from the P950, and previously the P900. The P950 has a better view-finder, so in theory my flight shots ought to be improving too. In theory...

I'll close with a screenshot of Stephen Ingraham's helpful tips. The original article includes plenty of pics, with settings attached. Hope you find it as useful as I did...

A Few Pike

Our son Rob is very persuasive. Prior to visiting for a week or so, he convinced me that my first fishing rod licence since 2019 and membership of Exeter & District Angling Association were essential December purchases. Also that I should dust off the piking gear and set aside some time...

The last few days have been fun.

We caught ten pike. I was jammy enough to catch seven of them...

We were surprised that this one weighed no more than 14lb. A bit skinny and empty, it looks like it ought to carry at least another two or three pounds.

Another 14-pounder, but plump and nicely conditioned.

Compare that last fish with this, another slim one but the biggest so far, at 15lb 8oz.

The 15lb 8oz fish again.

Those three were all caught on our first visit to the venue last Friday afternoon/evening, within the first four hours. At this rate we were all set to empty the place. Well...obviously that didn't happen.

The next visit was more typical, though I did land the prettiest fish so far...

Just a jack, but as is so often the case with small pike, absolutely immaculate.

The Exeter Canal is about five miles long, and we explored around two-thirds of that over four days, from above the Countess Wear bridge down to Turf Lock. The piking potential is obvious, and in previous years (2016-2018) we have landed six twenty pounders between us (four to Rob) up to 24lb 14oz. Both of us were a bit rusty, but it didn't seem to matter much.

A lovely little jack for Rob today.

Rob's biggest. Not weighed, but around 10lb or so. Another slim one.

My first today.

And our final pike of 2024, a beauty of 18lb and a few ounces

The 18-pounder goes back.

And away...

Rob heads back to Switzerland in a couple of days, and I do wonder if my Exeter & District club ticket will see any more use before it expires. I would like to think so, but am conscious that the last few days have been as much about the company and the craic as the fishing. We'll see.

Another Year...

2025 is now just a couple* of bottles of wine away, so it probably isn't too early for a quick NQS review of the year's birdy stuff. I've trawled through my 2024 photos and picked some highlights. Here they are, grouped under random headings that allow for a few words and are at least in some way relevant...

Migrants

A large amount of my birding time is spent looking for migrants. Like all birders that have been at it for more than four decades, I spend most of the spring and autumn moaning about how few I see these days. Some of this will be down to failing eyesight and partial deafness, but quite possibly there actually are fewer birds too. For example, my 2024 tally of one Redstart is a bit rubbish.

An April Wheatear makes landfall at West Bay. Wisely, its stay is brief.

Firecrest is a notable exception to the numerically downward trend. I saw far more than usual this autumn.

At least three Cogden Dartford Warblers were a pleasant surprise.

Well, they are migrants. Turnstone and Sanderlings on Cogden Beach. Lovely.

Rarities

I am no longer interested in travelling to see rare birds, so megas like Kent's recent Yellow Warbler and Scops Owl do not feature on this blog. Frankly I wonder at the apparently undiminished appetite for long-distance twitching that still pervades the birding community. The old 'fiddling while Rome burns' analogy seems ever more appropriate. Anyway, rarities for me are not usually rarities in the generally accepted sense at all, but scarcities at best. Sometimes not even that. And they are very unlikely to be far away...

A roosting Nightjar at Cogden was the first daylight bird I've seen in 20+ years down here. That's 'rare' in my book.

The Whitford Rosy Starling, access to which courtesy of a generous local birder.

Plastic White-tailed Eagle over our Bridport garden. Rare enough, but subject to all kinds of caveats.

No arguments about this one - except that 'scarce' is not 'rare'. Still, what a bird! Woodchat Shrike at Cogden.

Mmmmmm...

Gulls

Always deserving of a special mention, gulls are one of my principal birdy pleasures in life. Finding two Caspian Gulls was a highlight of 2024, especially the Cogden bird, which rates as one of the smartest Casps I've encountered...

What an awesome creature! September 8th is my earliest date for Casp, so this is the closest to juvenile plumage that I've seen.

This 2nd-winter Casp on the Axe provided a really good photo opportunity. Thanks to Steve Waite's careful record-keeping I know that it was the 38th Caspian Gull seen on the estuary, since the first in November 2007.

Ten-year-old Med Gull from Hungary. Colour rings offer another way to get birding jollies from gulls.

The times, they are a-changing...

In recent years Cirl Bunting has become a regular sight locally. This welcome development sits alongside another that may not be quite so unambiguously delightful - the ongoing egret explosion.

Five Cattle Egrets over Black Hole Marsh, Seaton. Unthinkable when I first started birding.

Autumn Cirl Bunting at the West Bay vis-mig point. On the move to where, I wonder?

Local Cirl Bunting in April. Just stunning.

The Sea

Local seawatching in 2024 was a bit of a damp squib. Still, a short spring break at Portland Bird Observatory did not disappoint...

Portland Pom with 'poons. Pow!

The Seaton Birdwatching Tram

With two seasons now under the belt I can safely say that my role as one of the Seaton Birdwatching Tram guides has been a genuinely rewarding experience. Sharing just some of what my hobby has taught me over the years is a real pleasure, especially with the typically receptive and appreciative bunch that we get on these outings. And very often there are some great birds too...

Osprey from the tram. What a treat.

Three juvenile Barn Owls. A very nice surprise.

Random

Sometimes I get as much pleasure from a nice photo as from an actual bird. A few examples...

Cogden Goldcrest.

Garden Blackcap.

Cogden Stonechat.

Projects

To be honest there haven't been any serious projects in 2024, but I'm going to close with this topic anyway. In the past I have whiled away many a happy birding hour in pursuit of some whimsical project or other. Many have featured on this blog. I spent one educational winter getting to grips with Siberian Chiffchaff, for example. That was definitely worth the trouble. Trying to find a winter White Wagtail was another fun project. And there was my effort to determine whether or not our local winter population of Rock Pipits included birds which could be proven to be Scandinavian littoralis birds.

Why am I mentioning this stuff?

Because I get the impression that some birders are genuinely desirous of doing something about their high-carbon birding habits but struggle to see how their everyday local birds might provide a satisfying alternative. All I'm suggesting is that everyday local birds can be unexpectedly interesting. I have been pleasantly surprised at where curiosity and a bit of imagination can take you...

A December Rock Pipit along West Bay seafront. Littoralis?

And here it is with a juicy morsel from among that seemingly lifeless scatter of stranded flotsam.

Might that be one of these maggoty things - presumably fly larvae - found among similar beached debris on the Seaton shingle earlier in the autumn? So many questions...

All the very best in your 2025 birding endeavours.

*example of hyperbole