Saturday 19 January 2013

Saturday 19th. January 2013

Well , with Blogger still not allowing me to upload photos via IE , I was very grateful to fellow wildlife enthusiast , blogger and computer wiz Martin , who offered his expertise to try and solve the problem . So yesterday morning , with a snow storm outside , we set about trying to get Firefox to work , thus enabling , hopefully , to upload the photos . Much clicking and some swearing later , I was in a way pleased that Martin was also unable to get Firefox to work , thus meaning it was not a wasted journey for him , and I didn't look a 'right plonker' , but even more pleased when he managed to get Chrome installed and working . By the time Martin was finished , I had seen windows that I never knew existed come up on screen , and never likely to find again either , but it did mean that I had an alternative to IE , and can now hopefully catch up on some photos .
Starting with the Winter Heliotrope / Petasites fragrans , a member of the Daisy family , and related to Butterbur / P.hybridus , mentioned in the last post , the first flowers of the year .
The furled leaves pushing through of Lords and Ladies / Arum maculatum , from the same post ,
and the seeds of Stinking Iris / Iris foetidissima , taken on one of two trips to get better shots of the Hawfinches at Barming , in which I failed .
The rest of the week was quiet , apart from trying to photograph the juvenile Common Buzzard which has been hanging around one of the horse fields off the bottom lane . The bird is very wary
and always keeps a distance , which did not make things easy in the poor light conditions . It spends much of it's time perched on the electric fence posts , searching for any movement on the ground ,
then swooping down to take what seemed to be earthworms most of the time , before flying back to it's perch , often quite happy to bully other species out of the way to get food . I looked in on it both to and from the re-arranged to Wednesday workday up on the Common , but at both ends of the day the light was at it's worst . That did mean that I was able to spend some time on Thursday , when the light was better . But the better light meant that it could see me better , and with just the laneside hedge for cover , it was difficult to get close , and when I did , it flew off into the high trees beyond
the field . But , with a bit of patience , I managed to get a few reasonable shots before the sun dropped and with it the light . Whilst the light was good , I tried for some flight shots , but , with the
short , low flights that the bird was making , the AF was struggling to work properly against the background . Just a shame the high trees were behind the bird , as , when it did fly off at more height ,
all I had was a back-end shot . On my visits there have been good numbers of Mistle Thrush present , they being almost as wary as the Buzzard . Plenty of Blackbirds , a few Redwings which were good to see , a pair of Kestrels made a short visit , and a good mix of Corvids , turning over the horse dropping for their food , and giving grief to the Buzzard when it strayed too close to them . Other
wildlife seen on my visits included two Roe Deer that joined a small flock of Pheasants at the
very edge of the field and the wood behind , on my last visit before the snow , and just to the right of
where they appeared , a very red Fox ambled into the sun on the woodland edge and made the most of it , eventually curling up for a snooze . With the Buzzard out of sight for quite some time , I headed off home before the temperature dropped too low , stopping at the rookery , where no doubt
residential rows will  break out , but , at the moment , everything seemed very civilised .
I've just checked and IE still isn't allowing picture uploads , but also noticed what I thought at first was 'divine  intervention' to solve my problem , a comment on my last posting from 'Brother Gerry' . But it proved not to be 'the hand of God' , but some helpful information from my brother Gerry , down in the Brighton area . Thanks very much for that Gerry , I'll keep that for the next time things go wrong , as I'm sure they will .

5 comments:

Wilma said...

Glad you have the problems sorted out! Especially so you can post these great photos.

Phil said...

Good to see you back Greenie, with a nice set of pics too. I now use Google Chrome, although I must say I still prefer the old IE, it just doesn't work properly any more though. Have tried loads of times for the Barming Hawfinches but dipped every time so far.

Warren Baker said...

well done on your persistence Greenie :-)

Ive got one of those stinking Iris's in my garden, I didn't plant it, seems to have arrived on its own, I'll give it a sniff next year :-)

Gerry said...

No, not divine intervention, nor the hand of God, just a sibling helping hand!! Seriously, the service is very good, just spell out your problem and ask them for a quote. A short question and answer session online and a bit of tinkering by the expert is usually all it takes. Bro'

ShySongbird said...

Glad you are up and running again Greenie. I was hoping someone living near enough would come to your rescue, I would gladly have done the same if I wasn't so far away.

Well done with the Buzzard shots, lovely photos. Good to see the Roe Deer and Fox too.