Jack Harrison

[EricY]

Good day to go down the Norfolk coast yesterday Jack. I had planned to do that myself but a bad nights sleep meant up late & too nq'd to go far. Just went local to KH wood, nothing much, few fungi & 2 RA's, wish I had been down the coast! Eric

[Jack Harrison]

I am now posting on a more appropriate group:

http://www.birdforum.net/

with some good sightings from today

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php ... 8&page=547

Eric. Send me a PM so that we can meet up at some point. We must live quite near each other.

Jack

[NickB]

I am now posting on a more appropriate group:
with some good sightings from today
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php ... 8&page=547
Jack

After reading the rather petty squabbling about who-saw-what-when on that thread you posted, I am glad that Aurelians seem a rather more dignified bunch (well, most of the time ) ....at least if UKB is anything to go by!
N

[Jack Harrison]

Nick:

After reading the rather petty squabbling about who-saw-what-when on that thread you posted, I am glad that Aurelians seem a rather more dignified bunch (well, most of the time ) ....at least if UKB is anything to go by!

Yet in the field, I am finding (unlike 10 years ago when there was a dreadfully elitist culture) almost all the birders I have met recently are only too willing to help or to admit that they just don't know. I came a cross two blokes today who clearly are pretty competent (certainly had superb eyesight). Yet they were prepared to admit that a Little Brown Job some distance away had them puzzled. I - very bravely - suggested "female Stonechat" to which they then agreed. So all three of us were now happy and there had been no rancour.

It has to be said that birds can be very much more difficult than butterflies. Our only really difficult species-pair are Small and Essex Skippers. They are a piece of cake to separate compared with say Manx and Balearic Shearwaters; I saw some shearwaters today but I'm damned if I know which species they were. Mind you, they were probably nearer the Lincolnshire coast than the Norfolk beach where I was, so I did have some excuse!

Oh, and the inevitable Red Admiral.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

16th November. Surprise Brimstone Roydon Common near King's Lynn

Jack

[Trev Sawyer]

... and the Short-Eared Owls have made it over to your old neck of the woods too Jack...
Here's one of a considerable number which are swanning (owling) around the Cambridgeshire Fens at the moment, which I snapped on Sunday:

Trev

[Gibster]

Yet in the field, I am finding (unlike 10 years ago when there was a dreadfully elitist culture) almost all the birders I have met recently are only too willing to help or to admit that they just don't know.

It has to be said that birds can be very much more difficult than butterflies.

Hello Jack, long time no see!

The birding community is not what it was, that's for damn sure. It used to be lots of middling/hopefully improving folks with an underlying population of keen and knowledgeable chaps (yep, almost 100% exclusively chaps) who very often found or correctly identified (and twitched) a goodly proportion of the rarer species.

Nowadays there are still lots of middling/hopefully improving folks, and the underlying population of (often amazingly talented) birders/twitchers...plus hordes of idiots merrily claiming to be "ticking" somebody else's Blyth's Reed Warbler - when they'd never even heard of one before until the pager told them about it this morning, haven't a clue which features are diagnostic, won't be able to find it unless there's a sizeable crowd already onto the bird, and wouldn't recognise another one if it perched up in front of them the following day. Then they go home happy after ticking off a Chiffchaff, coz none of the other muppets at the twitch knew what to look for either It's very easy to kit yourself up with an amazing scope, top end binoculars, giant lens DSLR, etc etc. It's another thing entirely to have a working knowledge of the subject matter.

The "dreadfully elitist culture" you mention is still very much alive and kicking, Jack. Its just they are harder to spot amongst the gaggles of idiots that roam the reserves nowadays. That's why they all talk to each other - in the hope that somebody can firm-up at dodgy sighting for them. I say talk, I mean holler, obviously. Often into a mobile phone. Fieldcraft? Habitat preservation? Hide etiquette? Wuts dat den?

(Soapbox...off) Sorry to rant, but certain things just p1$$ me off nowadays. Must be getting old, lol

All the very best,

Gibster.

[Jack Harrison]

You are so right Gibster. I briefly joined a Norfolk group but after seeing many posts along these lines:

With the greatest respect: it's only a Black-throated Diver! You either saw it or you didn't: no-one else is really bothered either way!

They were condescending in the extreme and only ever seemed to talk about Olivaceous Siberian Twits (or something like that). There was no way you were allowed to get any pleasure from seeing a Robin on your bird feeder; that was beneath contempt.

I no longer bother with that group.

Jack

[Gibster]

Morning Jack,

I think it's all too easy to become condescending/magnaminous/elitist from the safety of a computer keyboard in a dim understairs cupboard. What if that Black-throated Diver was a Pacific Diver? So often newbies are scoffed at, but it was a newbie that found our only record of Long-billed Murrelet. Another newbie had Brown-headed Cowbird, the list goes on.

Proper birders have earned their pips, they understand the mistakes that can be made because they've made them already, and learned from them. They don't scoff. The rank amateurs who THINK they know everything are the scoffers. It's a very very annoying facet of internet forums.

You coming to the Wiltshire bash Jack? 26th Nov. Be good to see you again!!

Gibster.

[Jack Harrison]

19th November. No butterflies but marvellous lighting at RSPB Titchwell. I watched this Black-headed Gull diving for small prey for perhaps 30 minutes. It would gradually work its way southwards along a channel and then return to the northern end and start all over again.

I’m glad we no longer use film; it would have cost a fortune as of course most photos today were failures. I all but filled the memory card.






Jack

[millerd]

Lovely photos. That dive deserves a "10" from the judges: not a splash!

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

Unlike Gannets which must surely only get 2 points - their splash can be seen from half a mile away.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

BBC headline:

Obesity pioneer given knighthood

I'm older than the Professor so I must have qualified before he did.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Shameless Plug

Two new (but associated) websites of (mainly) Norfolk images.
http://www.normalfore.co.uk
and
http://www.normalforegallery.co.uk

I will add butterfly pages during the coming season.

Jack

[MikeOxon]

Some very nice photos, Jack, I particularly liked the misty view of Thornham.

I also looked at your art collection. I wonder if you know the photo-painting program by Mediachance called 'Dynamic Auto Painter: see http://www.mediachance.com/dap/ (there's a free trial download available) It's fun just watching it working and the results can be quite good. Here's an example of an Adonis Blue photo 'painted' in the style of Monet:

Dynamic Auto Painter (Monet)

Made from the following original photo:

Lough Down, Berks - 19 August 2009

Mike

[Jack Harrison]

Thanks Mike, didn't know about that software. I have downloaded but not yet given it a try.

On an entirely different matter: ukb is so friendly compared with other forums. I just happened to come across this (totally unrelated forum), enough to deter anyone from joining:

Yes... and it has already been dismissed. Please read the discussion before commenting.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

I have now bought the full version of Dynamic Auto Painter. It is huge fun, but a terrible time waster.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

My return from hols in Ireland might be delayed if I reckon I wouldn’t be able to re-fuel the car when I get back.

Meanwhile, I am reading that splendid book “Three Men in a Boat”. Not only is is a great read but it has some wonderful insights into the wildlife along the Kingston/Runnymead area of the River Thames in the late 1800s (Jerome K Jerome wrote the book in 1889). At the beginning of chapter 2:
“...the moorhen’s plaintive cry and the harsh croak of the corncrake stirs the awed hush...”
So corncrakes along the Thames in those days? How times have changed.

But more intriguingly is in Chapter 5, Harris complains about being woken up by those “bally parrots.” George tries to calm things by explaining that:”A few of those ruffians escaped from London Zoo three or four years ago and they TOO seem to have taken a liking for this area; you mustn’t blame them.”

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

We had fun on our journey on Wednesday. Stella (my partner) had been ill on Tuesday with a tummy upset but it seemed to have been on the mend by Tuesday morning. But then an extremely rough crossing of the Irish Sea set it off again and I have had to drive the entire distance today. I was fine on the ferry but I was in the minority in actually enjoying it. The big trouble was we were (sensibly) not allowed outside so I couldn't enjoy the view. Mind you, I would have got wet with the spray covering the decks at times.

They had fun berthing in Holyhead and the ship drifted quite hard into a jetty and did quite a bit of damage. There were some men standing on the jetty and my goodness, didn't they scarper quickly! I suppose a slightly harder whack and the jetty might have collapsed. I guess that poor captain will have some paperwork to fill in!!! He had warned us in advance that it might be tricky and could need more than one attempt at berthing. He had my full sympathy. I know in my career as a pilot that a burst tyre when landing in a gale, although not especially dangerous, mean lots of form filling. I don't often miss flying after retiring more than 13 years ago, but while waiting to board the ferry in Dublin, I enjoyed watching a stream of aircraft coming into to land at the nearby airport. It was windy, gusty and not even blowing down the runway. It looked fun. Now I do miss that.

Several Gannets seen (with difficulty) out a spray-covered window plus near land, the inevitable gulls. Ireland had disappointed with the butterflies. Despite perfect weather, only Torties and Peacocks - and not many of the latter.

Jack

[MikeOxon]

Sorry to read of your troubled journey, Jack, and I hope your partner is recovering ok. I once had a very similar experience on a cross-channel ferry, even down to hitting the jetty in Calais! I always use the tunnel nowadays but not an option for Ireland!

I find that the Microsoft Flight Simulator can provide an antidote to aircraft withdrawal symptoms! - especially if you customise it a bit; I love my Dragon Rapide!

The weather seems to have turned against butterflies now but I'm sure evolution has ensured their ability to cope.

Mike