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While chopping logs in the garden, had a female sparrow hawk visit, without prey, and an hour later the first for this garden a tree creeper, on the peanut feeder, then to the Sorbus trees, as I was pointing a camera at it, then of course it flew. One of the most difficult birds to photograph in my opinion.
Aside Post
two pics from latest trip and two for guessing what they are
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boswellia_sacra
This incense is under threat according to news i heard, the Boswellia Sacra tree produces incense when tapped like a rubber tree. It grows in north East Africa, Yemen and Oman. Cited causes of decline are climate change, over tapping and over grazing.
From Yellow taxi, ” well you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone”, and Elton ” its sad. so sad, its a sad sad situation” its all in the songs but we don’t learn from them or any other medium.
Been trying to get the Science magazine that has an article on the plight of …
I have been trying to follow this Euro pack debate and economists make some sense as you can follow their line of thinking be it with a slant from banking to industrialists. While the politicians make little sense, unless you happen to be that naive to believe them. Recently PM Cameron is both lauded and denounced particularly by the word press and I have to say on the radio, much my preferred news medium. But although it’s obviously complicated why is it so difficult to predict where the UK will be now Cameron has dealt his (our) veto card? and …
Dec 2nd by Ian under Miscellaneous
When you see a crowd of photographers around a celeb or person notorious, you see/hear many £k’s worth of cameras on multishot or continuous shot. I just wondered about the number of photos now taken daily in the digital age? Most phones have cameras, ipods, tablets all take photos. Lets have an estimate just to get a number, lets say a quarter of the population have a means to take a photo, 7 billion/ 4 = 1.75 billion and they take a photo at least once per week, that’s 91 billion annually, and for a range say once per day …
Dec 2nd by Ian under Travels, my Friends travels
Tags: aerial pictures, alex strachan, Scatsta
Its not that often you can see the land so clearly flying into Scatsta, however flying in on the 15th Nov I had the right seat and the right weather. What you are seeing is the west coast of the island from dropping through the cloud just south of Brae to land at Scatsta. These are not remarkable photographs but what I wanted to bring your attention to was the isolation of farmhouses and the tracks that can lead to good birding spots. But is this isolation part or wholly the reason for the community spirit that exists where er …
Nov 10th by Ian under Bird Watching, Miscellaneous
On leave from the Shetlands, the mist at home lifted, the sun came out and I wheezed up Kinnoul hill in Perth. Heard long tailed tits with blues and greats, a pair of jays and a buzzard. Saw ravens, longtailed tits, jackdaws and a peregrine that obligingly went into a stoop over Barnshill and disappeared from my view. Meanwhile I was snapping with my panasonic DMC FZ7 and my Canon EOS 550 D, you can see the comparison above, the canon shots are on top and the brighter less real shots are the panasonics below. The canon camera to my …
Nov 6th by Ian under Materials and Construction
Tags: doc control, oil and gas QA/QC, QA, SGP
Being used to the role of principal contractor,then being a sub-contractor needs a mindset change, that comes through the contract and the impositions necessarily put on you. The Shetlands Gas Plant (SGP) Laggan-Tormore had a bigger surprise waiting, lurking menacingly, unseen, unexpected in the Totality of it’s monstrous dimensions – documents for QA. The whole team have no experience of the level of documentation required, I guess we are somewhat spoiled in transportation where the client has the testing required tabulated and “bare” appendices for designers to complete, from this I in the past have complied many test and inspection …
Nov 5th by Ian under Bird Watching, Travels, my Friends travels
Tags: sullom voe, wintering merlins
I will post about the Shetlands project separately, I want to give you a flavour of the island from a brief respite of time off. On a Sunday I dropped the guys off and took the pool car for a drive in the reduced daylight we get up here. First I was obliged to watch a boring GP from India, kinda glad its going to Sky sports next year as I don’t subscribe, therefore the link of “must watch” will be broken.
Going from Sella Ness (home) I stopped at a community woodland walk by an old quarry before you …
After my first work cycle to the Shetlands, I arrived at Guild street bus station in Aberdeen and picked up my car that was in the good safe hands of my Daughter. It was 15.00 hrs, as I set off , my tom tom being set by my Daughter as my phone rang when I was attempting it, it was probably set to the shortest route as I got out of the city but found myself on the A944 not the A96, anyway such is life, the A96 my have been faster the A944 was much more scenic. I was …
Oct 8th by Ian under Materials and Construction, Travels, my Friends travels
Tags: shetland sunsets
First tour of 18 days on and 9 days off which includes two travel days. No time off in 18 days, except to watch some morning rugby, where we played well but lost to the old enemy. Surprisingly I got used to the work cycle, working weekends well what else was I to do? well could have taken some more pictures, these sunsets were from the same place on different nights, luckily I had transport so could chase the sun to the west when it looked promising. I have to say I have about 20 really good shots and was …
Sep 6th by Ian under Bird Watching, Travels, my Friends travels
I am retyping this from the original which is a paper I helped compile for a years worth of birdwatching on Dubai’s creek. I was not alone and the observations are from a small but determined party of enthusiasts who got up early on a Friday (holy day) and often took to the mud to cover the whole creek. The period was 1981 to 1982 and I believe shortly after I left the area it was declared a national park, good vision from the Maktoums. I am doing this in response to a search of my site for Dubai birds, …
Aug 21st by Ian under Travels, my Friends travels
The normal summer hols were again spent in Lochaline, (nearest ferry to Mull), in a house overlooking the sound of Mull and Ardornish castle if a tree wasn’t there! Mike and Jan, the owners, weren’t there which was a pity. With more people incumbent there is more intention to explore/ have day trips. My brother Derek and his wife Moira were there from the first Saturday to the Thursday, we arrived on the Monday, so had a few days overlap. Five people went to three, my wife and her cousin Helen, we kinda stayed local. We did take the car …
Adults Ospreys may have gone, did see two juvs on the eyrie, and later one on the eyrie branch, it was making begging calls, but eventually flew off. On scanning the reedbeds I did pick up an Osprey on the other side of the river, one from “my” nest ? who knows. It’s time we had bird rings that emitted bar codes that smart phones could pick up, now that would advance bird movement study.
No juv or adult harriers in evidence so could also be gone.
End of another nesting season, comes round so quickly! however the weather was …