This year I have been edging towards making a substantial purchase. Thermal Imaging kit is not cheap, and this morning Tony K joined me so that I could try his out. It passed the first test straightaway by being small enough to fit into my coat pocket.
The most obvious use is to locate cryptically patterned birds which hide in plain sight, so we marched straight to the scrape field.
Hiding in here were Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, and Common Snipe. But the target was none of these. Tony proceeded slowly, and eventually passed me the imager. A Jack Snipe was showing as an obvious white blob. Well it might have been for Tony, but I just couldn't work out where he was looking. The problem is that the landscape as seen through the imager is dark with very little definition. I just couldn't get my bearings.
We moved closer, and finally the bird was blindingly obvious. Tony intended to catch and ring it, but I just wanted to take a photograph. Now I knew where it was, the rest was very easy.
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| A lot of twigs and a Jack Snipe in hiding |
Am I going to get one? You bet I am. Did Tony succeed with his capture? Not this time.
We parted company. The remainder of my visit can best be described as underwhelming. The Lapwing flock circling the flash field totalled 88, while 33 Teal and a few Mallard sat tight.
The low cloud and drizzle were no good for raptor spotting, but I did locate three Sparrowhawks over the adjacent woodland.
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