News - Bird Ringing is 100 years old

From a story I read today here on Wildlifeextra.com, bird ringing is 100years old and over 36 million birds ringed.

Now clearly they can be a pain to us photographers as they show the 'hand of man' on our wild subjects. It is particularly galling when it is a rarish or difficult to capture subject.

But it is clearly vital to monitor our valuable wildlife and the research has been critical for understanding behaviours, movements and lifespans.

Martin

Tips & Techniques - Spring Cleaning

Getting ready for any trip always involves gear preparation.

For me that starts with getting all the bits and pieces that I need together in one place and sorting out what bags I need.

Then I make sure I get all my batteries charged and then on to the cleaning.

I use a number of methods. Firstly, I get the blower brush and the Rocket blower and I clean the area around the lens cap, at the rear of the lens. This little area can harbour all manner of dust that is waiting to get onto the rear element of the lens and then ultimately into the body and the sensor.

Then I remove the cap and clean the inside of it - another dust trap that is easily overlooked. An inspection of the rear element and a clean if required with the blower. I never use compressed gas to clean - I don't want any liquid propellant in the wrong places.

I also do the same with the body cap that is on the camera body.

I then check the front elements of the lens themselves. I do not use front element filters, unless I am in dirty, dusty or sea spray environments. So a quick look tells me whether I need to clean. Again blower and if friction is required, I use a Lee Filter cloth, and their cleaning fluid if required.

The outsides of the lenses and bodies are cleaned with a small brush and the wand of the Dyson vacuum cleaner held just off the item to take away the dust.

A clean lightly dampened cloth is then used to wipe the external surfaces down on my L lenses.

One other point if you use the neoprene lens coats - take them off from time to time and also give a thorough clean - grit, dust and sand can get trapped behind and caused more damage than they are designed to prevent.

So finally to the sensor. One of the benefits of the latest breed of bodies is the self cleaning sensor, and the 1Dmk111 has been excellent in this respect........that plus it has been back to Canon a few times means it gets cleaned there, although I would have preferred that were not the case.

With a fully charged battery, the manual sensor routine is used and the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly 724 is used.

Be very careful with this as it is possible to smear shutter oil residues from within the chamber on to the sensor. I know as I did this on my old 5D and to my embarrassment on a friends 1Dmk111.

You will then need to clean the Artic Butterfly brush if that happens and you need to get the proper cleaning tablets from Visible Dust for that - but they do work. I think I was eventually forgiven for the 1Dmk111 mess up - as the camera got changed out in the AF issues

If you have got sticky crud on the sensor, then it is out with the Sensor Swabs (make sure you use the right size for your sensor) and the Eclipse E2 fluid - again very quick, very easy, and will take you longer to read how to do it than actually do it. Also make sure you get E2 rather than just Eclipse fluid for the more recent sensors (last three years) as it is correctly formulated for the tin oxide coatings used.

Finally, there is no point putting all your lovely clean kit back into a dirty bag. So take everything out, and vacuum it out. I take out all the dividers in either my Think Tank or Lowe Pro Photo Trekker, put the wand on the Dyson and give the bag a full clean out. Final wipe down externally with a clean damp cloth and you are ready.

So if you have dirty kit, now is the time.

Martin

They are back!!!

As I got out of my car on the drive tonight, I heard their screams first, looking up there they were, five Swifts charging around the houses, tail chasing, shouting at each other as they twisted and turned.

Swifts are one of my favourite birds which is a shame as they spend the least amount of time with us in the UK.

Well I saw my first ones last week, but not mine where I live.

A great welcome home after a tedious hour in the supermarket.

I will look forward to a glass of wine in the garden soon, when the sun is shining and watching them once more for the few short months until they go back again.

I will be back tomorrow with some camera gear spring cleaning tips for you and covering your preparation for trips.

Martin

Just a quick thankyou

....to all of you who have taken the time to leave messages of sympathy and condolences for Dave over the last few days.

I am sure he will be touched by your thoughts and concerns and will respond when he can.

Martin

News from around the world

While thinking about what to write today, I thought I would have a browse around a few sites and share some of the key links with you.

One site that caught my eye is Wildlife Extra, a thoroughly comprehensive site, with a great section on wildlife news. While it is my preference to shoot UK based wildlife, this site has given me some good insights to other parts of the world. Certainly one for the bookmarks in my Firefox browser.

Looking forward to just over a weeks time, I regularly check out Arthurs Blog, on the Discover Mull website. I am pleased to hear that the Slow Worms and Toads are in the garden so look out for those when I start to post trip reports in a week's time.

I should also mention the Durham Bird Club website with extra special thanks to Gavin who I met yesterday by the River Wear. Thanks for showing me round to one or two places. Had some great sightings today. Always amazing how when you meet a stranger how common interests can be shared. And yes I got to see my Kingfishers, although not close enough for images, but saw it fishing, so was well happy with that.

Martin

Mull Wildlife - Wild Isles talk

Just a quick heads up for a talk that I am giving on Friday 15th May at Craigure on the Isle of Mull.

During the week of 9th to 15th May, it is Wild Isles week on Mull with a wonderful series of events and acivities on the Island.

Last year Pam and Arthur Brown of Discover Mull asked if I could give a talk to the Isle of Mull Bird Club as part of the wonderful week.

So if you are on the island or nearby, let me know as it would be great to see you there.

Some of my trip reports from least visit can be seen here, here and here

Martin

That time of the Year - Dawn Chorus

Now is the time to be getting out of bed very early and getting down to your local bird patch to listen to the dawn chorus.

You need to be up and about at least an hour before sunrise and see what you can hear and identify.

I have done a few organised RSPB dawn chorus walks in the past at Pulborough Brooks in Sussex and Minsmere in Suffolk and it really is a fantastic experience.

Not always easy for photography, but great for the wildlife. Much of your recognition skills will come about from recognising the subject by their song.

I bought myself the Collins CD sound guide a few years ago to help my recognition skills, link below. Great to listen to in the car on the way to the site.

Many of the species song are quite distinct so the benefits will come from being able to identify the subtle differences between say a garden warbler or blackcap.

Martin

Postings

Due to the sudden death of my mother yesterday i am afraid that the blog will take a backwards step from me for a while, I know Martin will continue to post until i have things sorted

Dave