Galana's fourth effort. "Never mind the quality feel the width".

[Peter Connan]

2 hours ago, Galana said:

I was got out of the house this morning when they were changing the guards ... I might do it again if I don't get locked up.

 

 

Today was FREEDOM DAY here in SA.

Wouldn't have minded an hour or so...

[Galana]

22 hours ago, Galana said:

341. Willow Warbler.

I have received comment on the quality of my Willow Warbler.

Having looked more closely I have to agree.

Not my usual effort. I must have accidentally done something right. I will be more careful in future.

[Galana]

So with the sun shining I ventured forth again seeking a Whitethoat that would pose for me for an EBC.

It was lovely to see the flowers and growth that had taken place since early March. Swallows everywhere but I left them alone.

Instead I took a track where I could find a harder challenge for the valuable tips offered on BIF. On the way me old Cock Linnet popped up to sing for me. (I will spare @Soukous the You tube clip.)

343. 43 IOM  Linnet. Ballacallow.

 

Right. Focus set to area. Let's see if it works.

Hmmm. Nice pebbles.

Not bad.

 

Nah.

This'll do for today. Next time remember up the ISO so I get a faster shutter speed.

344/44 IOM. Sand Martins. Point of Ayre

 

Sitting birds..

345/45 IOM. Meadow Pipit. They are here all year but look smarter in spring. Point of Ayre.

Lots of Wheatear vying for attention here too. (340)

 

346. 46 IOM. The heavier bill, distinct Malar stripe, white belly and display flight suggests:-

Tree Pipit. Ballaghennie Ayres.

 

347. 47IOM. Skylark. Ballaghennie.

 

Well the only White throat I got was on the Sand Martins but is now raining so it will have to wait.

 

Anyone curious as to the frequency of "Balla" in Manx place names can be told it is Manx for Farm. Hence Ballacallow is "Callow's Farm. Callow being one of the many Manx surnames that commence with a hard K, Q or C. They take up half the phone book. So think of us when you see mention of such worthies as Citizen Kane, the Caine Mutiny complete with Captain Queeg,  Fletcher Christian and many others. Not sure about Captain Jame Quirk although Manxies are great travelers.

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

@Galana some really nice additions- you are seeing and photographing some excellent birds.

 

(I think the "area" focus points generally works better when you have a plain background, such as the sky.)

[PeterHG]

A very nice set of additions from your island @Galana !

[Soukous]

sitting ones are definitely easier.

[Dave Williams]

I thought the Martins in flight were very good fair play. A friend I went to school with lived on the IOM, he has (still hopefully!) a Q in his name , but Christian name. Quine. Never heard of anyone else by that name either. Rather like it too.

[Galana]

3 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Quine. Never heard of anyone else by that name either. Rather like it too.

Quine is a Manx surname so he would be named for a relative. About 40 in the phone book.

Even a place name https://www.imuseum.im/search/collections/archive/mnh-museum-447585.html

 

Thanks for the encouragement on BIF. I wonder if upping the fstop to 22 to get better depth of field would work? IF I can on this camera.

[PeterHG]

7 hours ago, Galana said:

I wonder if upping the fstop to 22 to get better depth of field would work? IF I can on this camera.

I don't think you would profit from that. When choosing too small an aperture (F16, F22 ...) you will lose sharpness, due to lens 'diffraction'. Also you lose too much light to effectively shoot with a fast shutter speed. I think an aperture like F8 is a good compromise there. I agree that you did a good job with the Martins! Very difficult against a background like that. Do you set the shutter speed or do you start with an aperture value? Certainly with trying BIF shots with Swallows I would choose a fast shutter speed first and let the camera decide on the aperture. With a small bird like that the depth of field is not going to be the major issue. 

[Galana]

Thanks Peter. I am programmed to shutter speed first so will just keep trying. It was only an experiment. I don't need perfection as I have a reputation to uphold.

[Peter Connan]

If your camera has a focus mode that prioritises the closest object, this might help in a situation like this.

 

I guess not, but if...

[Galana]

@Peter Connan You guessed right. I get Shutter or Aperture priority and that is about it.

My own priority would be to catch the buggers sitting down.

Which I managed today when I ran the gauntlet of the guards in the watchtower for a couple of hours despite the threat of rain.

 

So what did I see? Lots of Gannets and Terns again but strangely not one Wheatear so maybe they have moved on north. Linnets and other finches etc.,

I did manage to move my total forward a bit so it was a worthwhile 90 minutes for me.

 

First up was a 'product improvement' from an earlier EBC (in Uganda)  which I would not normally include but as it is a rare sighting here, almost  an island first for me, I am pleased to do so especially as it is a male in nice breeding plumage.

So cancel this;-

 

and substitute these and forgive my self indulgence.

First through the windscreen then it got better when it got flushed by a passing farm vehicle and positioned it self in the clear.

 

180 repeated. Whinchat. Thurot lane. Why would a lane on Isle of Man bear a French name? An explanation later.

Now to new numbers:-

348/48 IOM. Greenfinch.  Smeale Ayres.

 

349/49IOM  Woodpigeon/Ring Dove or Cushat. Mooragh, Ramsey. Taken when almost home in semi desperation.

 

 

350/50IOM. Blackbird. Thurot Lane.

 

351/51IOM  Common Whitethroat. Smeale track. I finally got them to pose.

 

352/52IOM Whimbrel. Smeale Beach. A bonus bird. They should have gone north by now. I took the shot for a record of Curlew and only realised what I had when I got home. With those large pebbles they might have been Ibisbills.

That's it for today and I shall respect lockdown over the weekend (mainly to avoid the disturbance of others).

 

So what about those names?

Ayres. This area of our northern coastline is a raised beach of about 8km left when the Ice cap melted 5000 years ago and freed of the weight of the Ice the land rose some 3 metres. It consists of heathland and large dunes and is a fairly unique habitat and is home to some rare plants such as the endemic Manx Cabbage, Portland Splurge and Pyramidical Orchid. It is subject to periodic inundations after heavy rains and the pebbled shore ( see Whimbrels above) is constantly changing due to tidal drift.

The name Ayres is Norse for Gravel Bank.

 

The woodpigeon was shot on The Mooragh, Ramsey.

Mooragh is Manx for wasteland. It is really a shingle bank formed by tidal actions, we get a ten metre tide twice a day, and facing east it can get very violent. The bank used to protect the mouth of the Sulby River in the town of Ramsey until it was straightened in the late 19th Century and the resultant land was developed for housing.

Ramsey itself is Norse. Rhaam is the name of the wild garlic growing on the riverside and of course Sey is Norse for river hence Rhaamsey, Garlic river.

From the Norse to the French.

Thurot. Francois Thurot was a French Privateer whose fleet was 'sponsored' by Louis 15th at the start of the Seven Years War in 1756. Pursued by the British Navy he was finally cornered and captured just off the north coast of Isle of Man on 26th February 1760 and the captured vessels taken into Ramsey Bay. Thurot had been killed early in the engagement and his body was later found washed up on the Ayres along with a large amount of wreckage. The area was named Thurot by the Bishop of Man (who also pinched much of the wreckage for his own use.)

 

 

[TonyQ]

Well done on reaching 350 with some really nice additions.

The Winchat is especially beautiful 

[Peter Connan]

Congratulations on the 350, and thanks for the history lesson. Very interesting!

[Galana]

4 hours ago, TonyQ said:

The Winchat is especially beautiful 

Thanks. You can tell I was pleased to see this. Even places close to home are capable of surprises. If I was not too old I would have skipped on the way home.

 

>350? Thanks @TonyQ! and @Peter Connan . I am going to struggle from now on with closed borders but I have more to come.

Sadly my hopes for the year have been severely trimmed with cancelled trips.

My annual trip to Western Scotland would have gained me around 50 and my September drive to Italy a further 50, maybe more if I had joined forces with local ST members such as @xelas @michael-ibk ,

and of course India or Tanzania in December would have been icing on the cake.

Now even 400 is looking a tough call but there is always next year with pent up energies. Inshallah!

 

[Soukous]

It isn't over until it's over. Many months left in 2020, so I am sure your total will continue to rise. And all I'll see is your exhaust.  

[Kitsafari]

5 hours ago, Soukous said:

It isn't over until it's over. Many months left in 2020, so I am sure your total will continue to rise. And all I'll see is your exhaust.  

 

x2

 

congrats on hitting 350! an impossible height for me to reach. you are away ahead and leaving us in your dust, @Galana

[Galana]

6 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

you are away ahead and leaving us in your dust, @Galana

Yes but I did get  a flying start with the February trip to Uganda so not complaining. Just as frustrated as H..l!

Ah well. C'est la vie!

[Galana]

A quick sortie to the north again this morning was fruitful.

 

First a product improvement.

 

336/36 Eider Drake. Ballaghennie Ayres.

 

353/53 IOM. Shag. Ballaghennie Beach.

 

I tried more with wide focus but failed. One useable.

354/54 Sandwich Tern. Ballaghennie. Those three species taken whilst stood on the shore. Not too close as there are nesting Ringed Plover and Oystercatchers.

 

Finally back at my usual spot where the high rise twig was popular.

355/55  IOM. Wren. Ballakesh.

The weather continues nice so if the household chores permit I am planning another outing tomorrow. Got to be careful. The Prison Governor has thanked the  99% who are complying  and said he is looking after the 1% who aren't. Self isolation is fine. He has lots of single cells.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Galana

[Galana]

A quick outing this morning on the way back from the shops. Still being good and staying within a self imposed 8km radius of home visiting loved ones.

The exercise was very true as it involved a scramble down cliffs to gain a view of my "loved ones."

 

First for @janzin and @Soukous

How is this for Bokeh?

 

 

 

356/56 IOM. Razorbill. Maughold Head. Exact location withheld. Short of a boat this is one of the few places where these birds can seen in season on the Island.

 

357. Chiffchaff. Maughold Head.  Easily ID'd by his song and more grey/brown than his near cousin the Willow Warbler.

 

Maughold Head is the most easterly point of the island and named for St Maughold who lived in 5th Century. He came ashore here from Ireland in  a boat without oars having been converted to Christianity by St Patrick.  Due to his piety and good behaviour towards the Manx people he was chosen as Bishop of Man and is the Island's Patron Saint. It would be disrespectful to wonder if his qualifying miracle was performed by landing an open boat without oars on this rocky eastern coast having come from Ireland which lies to the west! If he had missed, his next stop would have been St Bees Head in Cumberland 40 miles further east on the island of Great Britain.

 

 

[janzin]

10 minutes ago, Galana said:

First for @janzin and @Soukous

 

How is this for Bokeh?

 

 

 I think at least part of the image is supposed to be in focus

[Dave Williams]

I think camera shake had a large part to do with the bokeh and if I'd been scrambling down cliffs mine would look the same!!

 

You are becoming the wildlife tourist recruitment office all on your own Fred. More to the Isle of Man than motorbikes than most realise.

[Soukous]

20 minutes ago, janzin said:

 

 I think at least part of the image is supposed to be in focus

 

rats, you beat me to the punchline

[Galana]

4 hours ago, janzin said:

 I think at least part of the image is supposed to be in focus

I thought that was part of the artistry.

I can't win at bokeh and maintain my standards with EBC.

[Soukous]

11 hours ago, Galana said:

I can't win at bokeh and maintain my standards with EBC.

 

It's a tough choice but only you can make it.