Magpie versus Rook at the Feeders

A longish video clip today. About 4 and a half minutes. The Magpie is used to visiting my bird feeders and having them all to itself. Yesterday a Rook decided to sample the free food on offer. I was fascinated watching the Magpie patiently work out how to safely shoo the Rook away.



As with the Wood Pigeon a few days ago the main method seems to be an attack from behind.

A Day to Forget.

Tuesday routine blood test. Wednesday morning frantic calls from doctor. Potassium level dangerously high, must go to Grimsby A&E. When I said I had no access to transport an ambulance was ordered. Five hours later it arrived. Bumpy scenic route on the back roads and lanes to the hospital. Apparently it was the SatNav's idea of the quickest way. An hour after arriving I give blood samples. Initial result was borderline normal levels of Potassium. Back to waiting area. Hours later another blood sample is needed then a long wait for the results. Finally I am told the results. Potassium level was normal. Discharged and allowed home. But it is now 11.30 p.m. Too late to phone neighbour and taxi drivers apparently don't like plastic for payment. In the end the hospital orders a taxi which they pay for. The driver was brilliant. While chatting I found he belongs to a club that I used to be a member of years ago. Once home he didn't leave until he saw that I was safely indoors

The two paramedics in the ambulance were marvellous. Cheerful, efficient and reassuring. They had to perform several routine checks before I left home. BP, steady heart rate, temperature, checking I had no chest pains or feelings of dizziness, etc..

Local reports of how busy the A&E department is were observed to be true. As I felt fine, apart from being anxious that bad results might mean having to stay there a few days, I felt a bit of a fraud.

I don't think we will ever work out why the Tuesday test provided such an alarming result. I had been carefully sticking with my low Potassium diet. I have read that the way the sample is taken and handled can affect the readings as some chemicals are difficult to trace. One difference is in the timing. Locally the samples are transported later in the day to be sent to Grimsby. In the hospital the samples go to pathology immediately.

Bird Table Cam - First Results

When checking to see what has been recorded the phone app looks like this:



The orange bars show when movement was detected and recordings made. Not all clips show birds actually on the bird table but here are the best so far:



Dunnock, Robin, Starlings and Blue Tit. As I thought, the seed is well in focus but the birds are just a bit too close so end up in soft focus but still recognisable.

Bird Table Cam

I had been puzzling how to add a camera to the bird table without having to run a cable back to this room. In the end I decided to use a spare Tapo TC60 indoor wifi camera. This is the same camera I used to take the video clips inside the Hedgehog House. It only needs a 12V feed to power it. Fortunately I already had a 12V power cable nearby which used to power a camera in the Hedgehog House years ago.



Here it is once I had mounted it inside the bird table. It should keep dry under the roof.



A quick still capture after I had it all up and running.



The camera has a memory card which records any movement within its view. I can monitor the video feed using an app on my iPhone or ask Alexa to show it. The video clips can be downloaded to the phone and then transferred to the laptop. Time will tell whether the video will be in focus enough as the camera isn't designed for taking such close views of objects.

The Reds Have Made It

A reminder that in 2018 I had a bare stump after a very learge Leylandi had been felled and I planted a couple of Virginia Creeper plants hoping for a colourful display in the future.



Last October it looked like this:



Last week I took this photo:



Lovely Autumn colours. Not only covering the whole stump but trying to take over the surrounding fence panels as well.

Then There Were Two

About a week ago the camera covering the bird feeders recorded some night visits from a very unwelcome visitor. The sort with brown fur and a very long tail. Fascinating watching the ease with which a rat can climb up a vertical post. Needless to say I then started to put the feeders away each night and provide Mr Ratty with his own special food safely positioned under a shed. After a few days I could see it had taken the bait and I disposed of one ex rat. Hopefully things are back to normal now.

On the more welcome front I see there are now two Magpies visiting the feeders. They are not very tolerant of other birds trying to feed at the same time. At about 3min 15sec in you can see how one deals with a Wood Pigeon.



Most of the bird sounds seem to be coming from Starlings who are not happy at having to wait their turn.

Callistemon Seed Pods

Haven't been on here much recently. Firstly the Hospital has been catching up on Consultant outpatient appointments so I had three visits in ten days. They seem satisfied with my progress and the next appointment should be in about four months time. Secondly I've been making amateur radio contacts around the world on the HF bands as conditions seem to be excellent. So good my low power, simple set up managed to make contact with four Japanese radio hams this morning. Not something I can usually manage.

My Callistemon (bottle brush plant) produced another good display of its unusual red flowers. In the Summer they looked like this:



Once the flowers have faded the seed pods can be seen:



I thought this would make an interesting subject for a focus stacked closer view:



That was a stack of 20 photos taken using my home built automated unit. The following photo was taken some time ago:



Once the photos had been transferred to the laptop they were processed with Helicon Focus which used the sharp, in focus, parts of each photo and combined those bits to buid the final macro photo.