Neil Freeman

[Goldie M]

Love the Bird shots Neil, I'm thinking of popping to Penn Flash one day weather permitting , I love the shots of the Bull Finch, they certainly earn their name Bossy!! Goldie

[Wurzel]

Great bird images and Moffs Neil - those Bullfinches are lush looking When I was birding as a nipper many moons ago a winter Blackcap was really unusual but now they seem to have almost become 'resident'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

The nuthatch is lovely, Neil. Well done for capturing one perched like that. However, those bullfinches are to die for. Great that you managed to photograph male and female together at the feeder.

[Neil Freeman]

Love the Bird shots Neil, I'm thinking of popping to Penn Flash one day weather permitting , I love the shots of the Bull Finch, they certainly earn their name Bossy!! Goldie

Thanks Goldie, not sure if you would have managed to get to Penn Flash yet with the weather we have had lately but it has been wet and wild here.

Great bird images and Moffs Neil - those Bullfinches are lush looking When I was birding as a nipper many moons ago a winter Blackcap was really unusual but now they seem to have almost become 'resident'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. I regularly see Blackcaps in my garden during the winter these days but don't get them during the summer. Apparently more and more are being attracted into gardens over the winter due to an increase in people having feeders.

The nuthatch is lovely, Neil. Well done for capturing one perched like that. However, those bullfinches are to die for. Great that you managed to photograph male and female together at the feeder.

Thanks David. There are currently two pairs of Bullfinches hanging around the garden and they often arrive at the feeders together.

Friday 10th January

Having seen that the first full moon of January - The Wolf Moon - was also going to be a penumbral lunar eclipse, and never having tried to take a photo of the moon before, I thought that I would have a go.

I have seen some lovely photos that were taken when the moon was just rising giving it a nice yellowish colour but in my case I had to wait for it to rise higher in the sky to clear the roofs of the houses opposite us. By the time I had a clear view, some thin high level cloud was beginning to drift over and partially obscure the moon at times but there were still a few clear patches until about 7.30pm when some thicker cloud rolled in and stayed there for the rest of the night.

Not as good as some images I have seen but given they were my first attempts at photographing the moon, I was quite pleased with them.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Really good detail Neil I don;t think my lens would be much cop for those sort of shots Now you've got the bug there are a few more interesting 'moons' due in the coming months

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, best day we've had so far was today and guess what , I'd some Mussels and they must have been off, I'm still on Soup, eggs etc, the week-end is supposed to be better so fingers crossed I may make Penn Flash yet Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Really good detail Neil I don;t think my lens would be much cop for those sort of shots Now you've got the bug there are a few more interesting 'moons' due in the coming months

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel, those shots were taken with my Nikkor 70-300 lens on a Nikon D5300 camera that my oldest son Chris has given me to try out as he has recently upgraded to a Nikon D7500. The D5300 is very similar to the D3400 that I used for most of last year but with a variable angle screen.
I keep meaning to put a few words together on how I found the D3400 compared to the Panasonic FZ200 I had been using, but just haven't got around to it yet.

Hi! Neil, best day we've had so far was today and guess what , I'd some Mussels and they must have been off, I'm still on Soup, eggs etc, the week-end is supposed to be better so fingers crossed I may make Penn Flash yet Goldie

Hi Goldie, Hope you are feeling better. It look like it is going to be a much drier weekend albeit a colder one. I much prefer it to be cold and dry to the wet and windy stuff we have been having recently, the past couple of days have been awful here.

Cheers,

Neil

[Wurzel]

"The D5300 is very similar to the D3400 " crickey I'm using a D60 - does that mean it's about 50 times worse Seriously though how do you find using the 70-300 lens? I tried a zoom lens before I got my 105 but because it didn't have VR so I'm guessing that as your shots are always so crisp that your lens does?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great lunar shots, Neil. I'm itching for an opportunity to take some myself but Swansea, unfortunately, is a cloudy place and I will probably have to bide my time.

[Neil Freeman]

"The D5300 is very similar to the D3400 " crickey I'm using a D60 - does that mean it's about 50 times worse Seriously though how do you find using the 70-300 lens? I tried a zoom lens before I got my 105 but because it didn't have VR so I'm guessing that as your shots are always so crisp that your lens does?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel, the 70-300 does indeed have VR although it does not have a switch on the lens and need to be turned on in the camera's menu.

Great lunar shots, Neil. I'm itching for an opportunity to take some myself but Swansea, unfortunately, is a cloudy place and I will probably have to bide my time.

Thanks David. Lots of cloud here lately as well and plenty more in the forecast ahead.

Changing Cameras.

Last year I changed cameras and I thought that I would set down some of my thoughts on how I found using a DSLR for the first time compared to the bridge camera that I had been using. I will say upfront that I am in no way an expert in cameras or photography and have little interest in the technical aspects in themselves so some of what I say may not sound ‘right’ to the experts.

Up until early last year I had been using a Panasonic Lumix FZ200 bridge camera which had served me well for a few years. This had replaced a FZ150 which had taken a few knocks and on which the zoom mechanism had become a bit rough and erratic although I was still using this camera with a close-up lens attached to take photos of the moths from my garden trap.

My daughter Sarah had been using a Nikon D3400, mostly for landscape and general photography, but in April upgraded to a mirror-less system camera and asked me if I wanted to have the D3400 to try out.
My intention was to use the D3400 alongside my FZ200 for the rest of the season and to see which I preferred, particularly as I had never used a DSLR before. The kit lens that came with the D3400 was an 18-55mm which is not much use for butterflies so, given that the camera was a freebie, and after a bit of research, I splashed out on a Nikkor 70-300 lens.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/JAA829DA-AF-P- ... 141&sr=8-4
This turned out to be a good walkaround lens for most of my outings which tend to take place at times when butterflies are most active, and the 200 to 300mm focal length of this lens gives me a good working distance. A couple of months later I also treated myself to a Sigma 105 macro lens for when circumstances allowed me to get closer to the subject, for example butterflies on cooler days or moths from the garden trap.

I will also mention that the D3400 is an APS-C format camera. This means that the sensor gives a crop factor (on Nikon cameras) of 1.5x. On the 70-300 lens this gives an equivalent focal length of 105-450mm and on the Sigma 105 an equivalent of just under 160mm. In comparison the FZ200 has a 24x zoom range equivalent to 25-600mm.

After using the D3400 for the rest of the season, most of which involved some trial and error with the settings, this is what I found;

There is not much difference in size and weight between the D3400 body and the FZ200 but adding the 70-300 lens to the D3400 makes it a bit bigger and heavier but still light enough to be a good walk around combo.
The D3400 has a fixed screen and I found there were a few occasions when I missed the variable angle screen on the FZ200 such as stretching up to take photos above my head or from low down without kneeling or lying down.
Being a DSLR, the Nikon has an optical viewfinder which is superior to the electronic viewfinder on the FZ200. I found myself using the viewfinder most of the time on the D3400 as opposed to lining the shot up on the screen which I did most of the time with the Lumix.
The FZ200 has a slightly longer reach at maximum zoom but in practice there was little in it.
Due to the larger sensor compared with the FZ200, the D3400 is much better at handling contrast between light and dark areas. I found this particularly noticeable when photographing both light and dark butterflies (for example Orange-tip and Peacock) on the same day when I would need to change the exposure compensation on the FZ200 but far less so with the D3400.
The D3400 can take a larger photo which means that I can crop further if required and still retain a reasonable image. Useful on those hot days when it is difficult to get close to butterflies.
The D3400 is faster in both focusing and taking the photo which meant that I got some shots which I may have missed with the FZ200. Also, focusing in general seemed to be better and I managed a larger proportion of ‘keepers’ with the D3400.

Overall, I think that the quality of my photos with the D3400 was very similar to what I was achieving with the FZ200 but the Nikon gave me more options and enabled me to get some photos that I may have missed or struggled to get with the FZ200.

All things considered, I found that I used the D3400 exclusively for the rest of the season and although I usually carried the FZ200 as well, I didn’t find myself taking it out of the bag.

The shot below shows the FZ200 (left) and the D3400 with the 70-300 lens attached, in both cases with the lens hoods attached which is how I always carry them around, and shows the difference in size.

A lot of things with cameras and photography can be down to personal tastes and other people may well have different thoughts to me. In my own case I have now become converted to using the Nikon, although I will keep the FZ200 as a backup.

I mentioned in my reply to Wurzel above, that my son Chris has now also given me his old D5300 since he upgraded to a D7500. The D5300 is pretty much a D3400 with a variable angle screen and a few other minor differences.
This also means that I have ‘inherited’ both Nikon cameras from my grown-up kids which has obviously saved me a few bob and without which I probably wouldn't have bothered changing at all...at least not yet.

Anyway, a new season is creeping closer so let’s hope that we all get plenty of chance to get out and photograph some nice butterflies with whatever cameras we use.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Interesting reading about the various kit Neil - I'm definitely considering the Nikkor 70-300 lens - I liked the Sigma version but it didn't have the VR - better start looking under the sofa cushions

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Thanks for providing that comparison, Neil. Which camera have you been using for the images of the garden birds?

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel. It is a cracking lens and fairly light in weight.

Thanks David. All the garden bird shots this winter have been with the Nikon and 70-300 lens, usually taken through the kitchen or back room windows.

More Garden Birds

All the usual suspects have been visiting although the recent weekends have seen some really gloomy weather making for bad light for photos.

Female Blackcap - Coverdale 12.01.2019

Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tit - Coverdale 17.01.2019

Last Sunday morning I sat down to do the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch and for once most of the usual species turned up within the hour, the only absentees were the Bullfinches. I even had both male and female Great spotted Woodpeckers show up this time.

Great Spotted Woodpecker female - Coverdale 26.01.2019

Great Spotted Woodpecker male - Coverdale 26.01.2019

I entered the results online and shortly afterwards saw that the Bullfinches were back, once again proving that sod's law will always take effect in some way. Two pairs were in the garden at once with one pair on the feeders and the other pair lurking around the plants closer to the house and taking various seeds off them.

Bullfinch male - Coverdale 26.01.2019

Bullfinch female - Coverdale 26.01.2019

A cheeky little Robin kept coming up close to the window and seemed to be watching me watching them.

Robin - Coverdale 26.01.2019

Even though the conditions have not been too good, either cold or windy, I have had the moth trap out a couple of times with a single Acleris ferrugana/notana on the night of the 23rd and another Chestnut last night (the first one was on the 1st).

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Great birding shots Neil I was just saying how great Long-tail Tits are on Bugboys PD and you've got a lovely gaggle on the feeder Also another one of favourites with the Bullfinch shots, not seen one yet this year but I'm working on it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

The bullfinches are good but, like last year, I am jealous of your redcap. Despite living much further south than you, I’ve never seen one in a feeder like that.

[David M]

Very nice, Neil, especially the Long Tailed Tits. With fine weather forecast for the next few days I must keep an eye out for bullfinches in the light woodland by my workplace - don't think I've seen one yet this year.

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments Wurzel, Mark and David.

I have seen quite a few reports of hibernators appearing on some of the better days recently although nothing for me yet.

A couple more bird shots from the garden feeders last weekend to be going on with.

GS Woodpecker, Blackcap and Blue Tit - Coverdale 02.02.2020

Greenfinch pair - Coverdale 02.02.2020

We had a nice sunset here last Monday,

Silhouettes against the sunset - Coverdale 03.02.2020

Looks like a bit of windy weather due on Sunday.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Great shots again Neil Good to see those Greenfinches - how are they doing round your way? Round here they're still seem to be lower in number
Not long now

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Always a delight to see your avian garden visitors, Neil. Your last shot of the sunset has a real warmth to it; very impressive.

Let's hope once this stormy spell burns itself out that we'll all have a few butterflies to entertain us.

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, I still don't see that many Greenfinches, just one or two at a time usually, but compared to recent years there does seem to be a few more about.

Thanks David, another stormy weekend to come and it looks like it will last into early next week so I'm not expecting anything yet. Having said that, a normal start for me would be toward the end of March, even the warm spell last February which produced my first ever February butterflies was followed by a couple of cool and wet weeks which brought things back to more like normal.

The last time I had the moth trap out was on the night of Sunday Feb 2nd which produced just a single Hebrew Character. Since then it has been too cold or too windy for me to bother and looking ahead I certainly won't be putting it out for the next few nights.

In the absence of any lepidoptera, here's a few more birds...

The female Blackcap is still visiting and actually seems more confident than the male.

Female Blackcap and Great Tit - Coverdale 07.02.2020

Sparrows are actually one of the less frequent visitors to my garden, never thought I would be saying that a few years ago, but they are appearing a bit more recently.

Female Sparrow - Coverdale 07.02.2020

Goldcrests visit the garden fairly frequently and often dart to and from the feeders but are so small and fast that they have usually gone before I can grab the camera so I am always pleased to get a shot, even if it is usually a bit blurred.

Goldcrest - Coverdale 08.02.2020

We actually saw a bit of light snow around here earlier in the week and it even looked like winter for a short while. With a bit of luck, things will start looking up again after this weekends storm has passed.

Bye for now,

Neil.