The Camera Never Lies

That's what they used to say but in this digital world of HDR and airbrushing my reply to that would be humph!

I set the Lumix TZ7 to take three shots of the same scene at -1  0  +1 EV



Then I combined them as an HDR tonemapped image using  Photomatrix so as to make the sky a bit more dramatic at the same time trying not to make the green areas too unrealistic.



Then, being the inveterate twiddler I am, I thought I would further process the HDR image in Paintshop Pro using the ReDynaMix plugin. I also cropped the result.



Which of these looks like the scene as I saw it? None of them. The digital camera doesn't see the full spectrum range our eyes see or at least cannot process it in the same way our brain does. Which image is most interesting, well that is always subjective.

Finally I decided to convert the last image to greyscale.



There is something about b/w images. Colours don't get in the way of seeing the shapes and textures.

Friday at the Flicks (Sparrows, Greenfinch, Goldfinch)

Yesterday morning I was wondering whether there would be a Friday at the Flicks this morning. About 10a.m. my internet connection failed. Phoned Zen and after nearly an hour trying various tests and configurations still no connection though the phone link appeared to be live. The problem was passed on to BT and fortunately by late afternoon things began to work again.

Nothing spectacular today. My usual crowd of House Sparrows which often arrive like a cloud rather than a flock.




It has been great to see the occasional young Greenfinch




The juvenile Goldfinches and their parents are very regular visitors at the moment.



This morning was the first of the 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'  but the Sun soon burned off the thick mist which had enveloped the village first thing.

Have a great weekend observing the antics of the wildlife around you.

Beetles and Bathers

A couple of days ago I turned over a piece of wood and found this tiny shiny beetle. The camera couldn't catch just how metallic it looked seeming to change from blue to green depending how the light caught it. Body length about 5mm. I am pretty sure it is a Chrysolina, maybe Chrysolina herbacia.



The same day this beetle had fallen in the water in Bobby's bowl. This one was about 11mm long and appears to belong to the group Xantholinus. What caught my attention was its long thin body and the tiny wings.



Yesterday I set up the 350D and home brew IR detector to monitor the pond waterfall. This time it worked very well, triggering hundreds of times during the day with only a tiny number of shots without a bird in sight. In fact it took a long while to sort through all the shots and decide which to keep.

Amongst the visitors were:

Greenfinch


Goldfinch


Wood Pigeon


Starlings


Clumsy young House Sparrows


Whole collections of House Sparrows


There were many times when the waterfall was so full of birds they had to queue to get in


Not shown today Chaffinch and Coal Tits were also photographed. One thing is certain - a supply of drinking and bathing water is just as important (if not more so) as seed feeders, especially with all the dry days we have been having this year.

At the Seed Feeder

Yesterday I tried the IR detector about five feet away from a seed feeder. One thing I learned - as the feeder warms up in the sunshine and starts to swing in the breeze it triggers the sensor. Once the feeder was in shadow or the wind clamed down then it worked OK.

Chaffinch coming in to land:



Most of the photos were of birds, mainly sparrows, peacefully feeding but the arrival of Starlings usually livens things up a bit.

Are you my Dad?


Keep moving pal.


Go find your own perch.


Where is Air Traffic Control when you need them?


 I wonder how long a camera battery lasts when it needs recharging every day.

Bird Table Visitors

Yesterday I set up the IR detector next to the bird table with the camera indoors to see how well the setup would work. As the sensor could 'see' through the table it would also respond to other birds at the feeders but did catch quite a few comings and goings. Nothing out of the ordinary but it was great to see  a Greenfinch family visit as their numbers were drastically reduced by finch disease last year.





How small the Coal Tit is when seen next to a young House Sparrow



Blue Tit



A slide show  of some of the visitors (came out darker than the original file when YouTube processed it)



It didn't take long for the birds to get used to the detector being close to the table.



As the photos were taken through double glazing the originals were rather grey so  they were batch processed using Paintshop Pro - another first for me.

A Fuzzy Photo

This is just by way of a record shot. A few days ago I spotted Common Darter dragonflies laying eggs in the garden pond. I took a lot of photos but not one in focus! I dashed in to get the camcorder but by the time I got back they had separated. This is the first time I have seen dragons lay eggs in my pond.



Since the weather changed to cooler wet days the activity at the bird feeders has been frantic. A pair of Goldfinches regularly  bring their three offspring and I spotted at least one juvenile Greenfinch. House Sparrows arrive by the dozen, up to seventeen at a time, as do the Starlings. Blue, Coal and Great Tits are regulars again along with Chaffinches. And yes, the chattering Magpie still visits, often calling another to join it.

Juvenile Goldfinches

It was about five weeks ago I saw a juvenile Goldfinch at the Nyjer seed feeder so I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of juveniles this week. They were with an adult and were obviously new to the idea of using feeders as they first tried the peanuts and then the mixed seed feeder before finding the correct seeds.

Adult at the top and juvenile beneath.


The juveniles always look plumper than the sleek adults and are missing the red to the top of the head.


I thought to myself they were a bit on the late side producing their offspring but as seed eaters I suppose this is just the right time for them to find plenty of natural seeds from thistles and teasels.

This is more in the way of an experiment. It is the first time I have used Picasa to make a slideshow. This is a batch of the photos taken a couple of days ago with the IR detector setup triggering the 350D monitoring the pond waterfall.