Wednesday November 13 - Morton Bagot

I've always considered myself to be a birder who takes photographs and not a photographer who takes shots of birds. This may seem a subtle distinction, but it's quite fundamental. Looked at from my perspective it means is that I go birding and if the photos I post aren't very good, well that's just the way its going to be. I set my camera onto auto (birdwatching) and off I go.

Occasionally I'm tempted to try to up my game. I'll read another blog with detailed instructions on what to do, and try to follow them.

The Whooper Swan shots were taken following such advice, notwithstanding that it was pointed out that other settings would be needed for flight shots.

This morning I was keen to try again, this time at Morton Bagot. It happened to be a sunny day, so what could go wrong?

Well something did, because my resulting photos all seem over-exposed. Fortunately there was very little to see, so my dreadful shot of a late (for Morton Bagot) Chiffchaff didn't really matter. To be fair the bird was not giving me much chance. Thank goodness it wasn't a Yellow-browed Warbler.

But even when birds did sit in full view, I was a bit disappointed by the results. Reed Buntings are usually pretty co-operative, and I've no complaints about this one.

The original shot looks terrible in the back of the camera, but can be rescued to a point on the computer.

When I got to the flash field I tried photographing the Teal flock and they came out perfectly sharp but with gleaming over-exposed breasts. I then tried with the camera on auto and the breasts were less bright, but the birds were more out of focus. I guess I need to keep trying.

However, a Cormorant which showed very well indeed was taken with the camera on auto, and it looks fine to me.

One thing I much prefer with the auto setting is that there is no camera noise, bleeps and clicks, at all when you press the shutter.

Incidentally I wondered whether this Cormorant could be identified as the race sinensis rather than the "British" carbo. My feeling is that the key feature, the angle of the rear end of the gular patch, is intermediate between the two. This could mean that the bird is a hybrid between the two races, which given that most of the inland breeding Cormorants are thought to be the continental sinensis would not be too much of a surprise.