Hanging Bird Table

It was last Spring or early Summer when I bought a hanging bird table as a flat pack and it finally reached the top of the Round Tuit pile. It can tilt and wave about in the breeze so hopefully will put off the larger birds such as Collared Doves.

First I just put a pile of large suet sticks on to see which birds would show an interest and later added halved apple for the Blackbirds. I set the camera on its tripod in the kitchen and waited. The first takers were sooner than I expected as some new feeders can wait weeks for their first brave visitor.

Among those visiting were:

Starlings:




A Blue Tit:


and a Robin:


Also making a cameo appearance was a grey Squirrel which only gave it a quick look:




So far I am pleased as I can get some fairly clear shots of the birds which feed from it.

Friday at the Flicks - Robins + Grey Squirrel

The video clips I took when there were four Robins feeding in the garden:



It takes a bit more than sleet and snow showers to put off the Raider of the Lost Seeds:

DxO Optics Pro v8 free this Month

DxOptics have made two of their programs free for the whole of February. DxO Optics 8 is the first decent program I have had which will handle the RAW files from my Canon 70D. (Unfortunately my copy of Elements 10 is too old.) DxO Optics 8 is not the latest version but the free download is fully working. The program can also download files to suit a vast range of lenses as its main purpose is to  compensate for any aberrations in the lenses you use. It covers a whole range of cameras and will also work with non RAW files, e.g. jpg, though not all facilities are usable with those. There are no layers or masks that I can see. Photos can be cropped but the main thing is to be able to tweak and get the best from photo files. Possibilities include reducing noise on high ISO photos, improving sharpness, contrast, adding a single photo HDR effect. There are built in presets or you can do your own thing and save new custom presets for future use.

This screen grab gives a taste of what the program did with a rather washed out RAW photo taken in dull weather:


There are versions of the program for Mac and for Windows. Modified files are saved with a different file name plus an extra file of about 8K which contains information about the mods you have made so the next time you load it the old mods will automatically be applied. You can then continue from where you left off.

The second offering is Viewpoint v1 which seems very effective at straightening out photos which have distorted perspectives. For example close views of tall buildings which end up tapering as you look up the building. It is also designed to work with wide angle lenses. This program is rather a large download. I've only had a very brief play with it as yet.

If you want more information and are interested in these programs then nip over to DIY Photography HERE.

A Few of the Regulars

Male Blackbird:


Female Blackbird:


Dunnock:


Starling:

Macro on Monday - Guess What

Congratulations and the virtual Midmarsh Gold Star to Roy, Glo and Adrian who identified one of Penny's dog biscuits. (Glo: the printing, upside down, says (S)HAPES, the first S is almost out of view. It comes from a pack of different shaped dog biscuits)



Close, with a virtual Midmarsh Silver Star, were TexWisGirl and Wilma with the suggestion of a cracker or cookie.

  


Now for the next puzzle picture.
Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They, along with the answer, will be revealed next Monday.

No prizes, just for fun and maybe a virtual Midmarsh Gold or Silver Star.

Not One, Not Two ......

.... not three but, believe it or not, I had four Robins at the same time feeding in the garden.  Shows how hungry they are getting in this cold weather when there will be a lack of spiders and insects around. I have only seen two at a time twice so was astounded to see so many normally fiercely territorial birds in a small space.



    









I also manage to take some video clips which I'll save for the next Friday at the Flicks.

Sunrise

Friday morning Sunrise at -3C







Three photos taken with the Nikon S9050
First two tweaked in iPhoto to remove telegraph pole and wires.
All three tweaked in Elements 10 to enhance the dark foreground.