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

[TonyQ]

So 3 and 4 show it is worth taking more than one photo at a particular setting.

Your experiment is working well! And a nice photo of the Robin.

Amazing view from your home.

 

[Galana]

15 hours ago, TonyQ said:

So 3 and 4 show it is worth taking more than one photo at a particular setting.

True but try telling the bloomin birds that!

[Galana]

At last. Our Arctic Terns  are back.

I tried several settings following sound advice but 2000mm worked best this time.

ISO 800 was iffy. 400 better. speeds 1/1600 did well. fstops made no perceivable difference.

What a girl will do for a fish supper.

 

 

The yellow line is the rope marking off the nesting territory to deter walkers. Sadly in previous years the bloody Hedgehogs (None native) were not deterred. Many have now been "re-located" so fingers crossed.

361/61 IOM. Arctic Tern.

Edited May 15, 2020 by Galana

[Dave Williams]

There's a national shortage of Hedgehogs in the UK, it's sad that where the have thrived..usually on islands, they have been eradicated.Bring them over here I say!!

[Galana]

1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

where the have thrived..usually on islands, they have been eradicated.Bring them over here I say!!

Whilst I have always been an admirer of Mrs Tiggywinkle my admiration was tempered when I saw the devastation caused in our colonies of nesting Arctic and Little Terns. Hedgehogs are not native to the island and folklore has it that the population was accidentally introduced in 18 or 19th Century when a box containing six of them was washed a shore from a passing ship bound for the Hebrides as family pets (or food).

We don't have a natural predator to 'control' them (apart from late night fast cars) so they are a pest. We had always blamed rats until Trail Cameras revealed the true culprits.

You want em, you can have em. No charge but must collect. They taste good when cooked in the traditional way but our local butcher won't stock them. We need a good PR and marketing man to call them something consumer friendly like they did for Caviar, Scampi and Venison. Bambi burgers give off the wrong image.

[Dave Williams]

1 hour ago, Galana said:

 

You want em, you can have em. No charge but must collect. They taste good when cooked in the traditional way but our local butcher won't stock them. We need a good PR and marketing man to call them something consumer friendly like they did for Caviar, Scampi and Venison. Bambi burgers give off the wrong image.

 So did Hedgehog Crisps!

I'd love some in our garden but the rescue centre won't give me any because we have Badgers who presumably predate them.

To see a squashed roadkill one is now a rarity in itself and I haven't seen a live one in 25 years.

[Soukous]

6 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

There's a national shortage of Hedgehogs in the UK

 

You do realise that one of the main predators of hedgehogs is badgers, they are also responsible for digging up and destroying bees nests as well. 

[Dave Williams]

29 minutes ago, Soukous said:

 

You do realise that one of the main predators of hedgehogs is badgers, they are also responsible for digging up and destroying bees nests as well. 

 

Must keep feeding the Badgers then !  There were some European Bee-eaters seen near here recently, that will add to the Bee kill too. I wonder what proportion of bees are wild nowadays.

[TonyQ]

4 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

 I wonder what proportion of bees are wild nowadays.

I would think that those that have their nest destroyed would not be very pleased...

[Soukous]

1 hour ago, TonyQ said:

I would think that those that have their nest destroyed would not be very pleased...

 

True, they'd bee beeside themselves with anger

Edited May 18, 2020 by Soukous

[Galana]

17 hours ago, Soukous said:

True, they'd bee beeside themselves with anger

 

I see my comment has created a buzz in the Hive and stung some of you into action.

Obviously a prickly topic.

 

Good luck to the Badgers say I.

[Soukous]

Quite possibly you may already know this, but a friend who uses a similar camera to your P900 ( in his case a Nikon Coolpix B700) gave me this tip. He is a wildlife guide and was able ot show me many super photos taken with his humble bridge camera.

(possibly also of interest to @pedro maia)

 

If you set the Scene mode on your dial to Bird Watching, you will find the camera behaves pretty much as you'd want and all you have to concentrate on is the focusing.

 

 

This thread on dpreview.com is dedicated to P900 users.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4155435

 

and the Bird Watching scene mode seems to be well thought of.

 

I am not sure how long you guys have owned your P900s, but it may be worth updating the firmware if you cannot find this particular scene mode.

You'll find that latest version here:

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/fw/290.html

 

If you don't do this now, while you have the time granted to you by lockdown you'll probably never do it. 

[Galana]

Thanks. Mine has 1.3 installed and to be honest I don't see any use for 1.4 and1.5 as it appears to relate to minor GPS stuff.

But thanks for the reminder about Birdwatching setting. I will give it a try next outing. At least I can then give you the credit for any EBCs.

[pedro maia]

Thanks @Soukous, that’s the setting I use.

[Galana]

I ventured forth a little further today armed with @Soukous's idea of using the "Birdwatching setting" which  I confess I had not used before. I shun all these Gizmos such as "Face recognition".

Anyway a short drive (there are no really long ones here as the water soon tops the hubcaps if you head in any direction for long. ) brought me to the City of Peel. Our only true 'City' due to the presence of the Cathredral church of St.German.

I had one specific target bird in mind.

But on pulling onto Fenella Beach, named for the girl in Walter Scott's novel "Peveril of the Peak", I gained another..

A Pipit but quite a smart one for an LBJ:-

362/IOM 62. Rock Pipit. Fenella Beach, Peel.

Then a walk round the harbour and marina for my target who nests in boats and harbour stonework every year..

 

363. 63IOM. Black Guillemot. Peel Marina. The last one seems to have reserved stage 73.

Whilst in Peel I took time to 'enhance' my Shags. (Got to be careful how I phrase that.)

 

 

353. Fenella Beach.

 

I returned home via the moor where Hen Harriers can be guaranteed. I saw at least three, one male and two ringtails, and what I think was a food pass but the mist was tricky today up there so all I got was this.

So I won't even include as EBC. I shall go back another day.

 

Judgement of "Birdwatching setting!" it has its moments and noise is minimal. I need to see it in action on a brighter day. Thanks Martin.

 

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Love the last shot of the Guillemot

 

The reflected colours in the water are pretty special. 

[Galana]

4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

The reflected colours in the water are pretty special.

Thanks Peter,

I put that Bukeh in especially for @janzin and @Soukous.

You have no idea how long it took me to  paint in all those colours.

 

It also appears in one or two other shots but not to that extent. Not Oil so I can only think it may be reflections of some colourful fishing boats.

Here is a larger version.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Galana
Additional photo.

[PeterHG]

Some good species, (which I am definitely not going to see this year) and very good photos!

[Galana]

1 hour ago, PeterHG said:

and very good photos!

Are you trying to make me feel guilty??

Thank you.

These Guillemots have to be one of my favourites. Tystie in Scots and Stronnag ghoo  in Manx.

[shazdwn]

I’d say that from what you have posted the results provided by birdwatching mode are looking good. Will be interested to see more! 

[Soukous]

Nice Guillemot and the Shag photos look far too sharp for you , you need to be careful or you'll get a reputation.

[Galana]

5 hours ago, shazdwn said:

I’d say that from what you have posted the results provided by birdwatching mode are looking good. Will be interested to see more! 

 

27 minutes ago, Soukous said:

Nice Guillemot and the Shag photos look far too sharp for you , you need to be careful or you'll get a reputation.

Thanks to you both. It's never cut and dried is it?  In addition to "Mode" there was another variant to my 'normal'.

I was closer, much closer, to the targets so zoom was around half the 2000mm available. The Pipit being smaller needed more but I could almost have walked up to the Shag. The Gillies are fairly habituated and whilst they do have the usual comfort zone you can get quite close at times. The colourful jetty poser was at 1500mm.

[Soukous]

2 minutes ago, Galana said:

there was another variant to my 'normal'.

 

no excuses please. Just accept that not every photo can be an ebc

[Galana]

10 minutes ago, Soukous said:

no excuses please. Just accept that not every photo can be an ebc

Oh drat. Can't a chap experiment in a scientific manner?

[Galana]

Rose early to a blustery morning. More blowdown than Lockdown.

Went up to my regular site determined to make more tests of the Birdwatcher Mode on the P900.

The birds cooperated well.

One was keen to sing a short welcome so here it is.

 

 

Later with @Game Warden's indulgence I will post some results for comparison purposes as there are no new 'ticks' today.