UKH

Egret having a snack if you look closely and S Martin drinking on the wing; impressive displays of the latter.

I noticed the other day Black headed gulls also can drink on the wing, but they have a long swooping flight path, slow right down (even by dragging their feet in the water I saw) and they scoop in a forward movement of head to drink. The S Martins were rapidly diving to drink with their head and beak backwards and at normal flight speeds then quickly rising up.

The Jay was I think showing off as it tossed seeds into it’s mouth; seems to be staring at me!

Nice, esp the jay and the action shots of the sand martins. I’m a bit disappointed not to be watching the five species of scoter of Largo and Ellie !  That must be some sort of record. And a drake King Eider !!!

Ha I’m just back from there! No Scoters seen though for me, sadly. Without a scope I’ve no chance unless anyone takes pity on me. Probably is a record; apparently there is a place in East Lothian or thereabouts though, iirc, where all six species have been seen from (though not all at the same time!).

I arrived only mid afternoon to see it busy with numerous scopes set up. The locals were curious why it was so busy.

Speaking to a couple of twitchers, the Stejneger had probably drifted out to sea early afternoon, the Surf had headed east towards Elie also early afternoon, and only the White winged was still about though I was told was very far out (ignoring the common).

No one said about a fifth species. Apparently, there is a Velvet one though at Carnbee so one day I maybe head and see if it’s about - at least I should be able to see it with just binoculars!

I had heard about the King Eider, but as no scope I thought not worth trying to find and see it with just bins. Must get around to deciding in a scope!!

Great view of the jay, took me a few seconds to realise what it was (before reading your text)

What sort of budget you thinking of for scope?

Don't forget cost of tripod. For a compact scope, you probably need to be spending at least £50-100 on a new tripod, for a full size scope at least £100-250.

[Compact scope lighter and less magnification so doesn't need such a robust steady tripod]

These are very rough guesstimates and of course you can always spend more. Also worth looking at second hand tripods on eBay, lots of pretty much unused examples, I got mine for about half retail price.

[If money was no object I'd get the Peak Designs tripod because it really is a work of beauty but it'd cost more than my current compact scope]

Thanks.

Haven’t thought of budget yet. I’ve actually still to get hands on (I missed a recent optics open day) to help decide what would suit, and what sort of specifications I would need/like etc. Bad habit this planning! I’m a practical person and need to be sure something is right for me first.

It will be hopefully a one of purchase anyway, but I have noted secondhand/preloved scopes are available at huge discounts. Those will certainly be a thought if spec meets what I decide on.

With a bit of thinking and a bit of research so far, I’m torn between wanting something small and light, but adequate optics, and a normal size scope that would need a tripod. I’ve seen that some are classed as travel ones so easier to carry and less need for a tripod. Whether they would be adequate or not having not handled any scope I don’t know. However, I’ve seen several keen bird watchers use scopes without tripods in the last year.

I also don’t know until I can try out some with whether I can get away with 55/65 mm diameter for the generally lower light levels up here a lot of the time, and what sort of magnification I would need. My 2 bins are 8x42 and 10x50. The latter I’ve had for more than 4 decades and I still think they are great.

Today, where the Scoters were, many 100s of metres out to sea, is likely to be an extreme one off of what I think I would use a scope for. I was thinking maybe something about 3x more magnification than my bins would cover majority of usage I envisage, and that may help being smaller sized/lighter as well.

As an aside, most of the numerous scopes of twitchers today were Swarovski scopes; don’t know about tripods they were using but most seemed huge and sturdy.

Lots to think about; I’ll need to get my act together!

Can you help me identify this chap please?

Somebody thinks its a Warbler, but I only got a couple of seconds to spot and taker the shot. Never saw it again.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/the1lemming/52857192283/in/dateposted/

Where taken?

If in UK, then (excluding rarities) the 3 "green" warblers are Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Wood Warbler.

From the yellow-green colouring I'm thinking Wood Warbler but would need to check leg colour and eye stripe etc (not got guide next to me at the moment).

You may already know all this...

Serious twitchers spend £6-7k on their kit (bins, scope & tripod) and Swarovski seems to be more popular than Leica or Zeiss (the other top notch makes) - certainly with bins (have a look through some NL Pure and you'll see why), less dominant with scopes.

This seems like a lot of money (it is) but if (purely as an illustrative example) you're retired, go birding 4 times a week and the kit lasts 15 years, then that's "only" about £2/day. Looked at like that it's not so expensive, but if you only go once per week, then over 15 years it's £8/day - not so cheap now.

Compact scopes (up to 60mm objective, magnification up to 30-45) - premium choice at the moment is I think between Swarovski and Kowa, both in the £1500-2000 range.

Less expensive there's loads to look at (through), check what's available from Opticron, Hawke, Vortex, but there are several others. Price range very roughly £300-1000.

Although you can get away without a tripod some of the time, there will still be times you'll need a tripod. Much more difficult to do "scanning" without.

Full sized scope (over 60mm objective, max magnification up to 75). I've not really looked into this because I've no intention of getting a scope that won't fit in a small rucksack. But a tripod will be needed nearly all the time (some have a tripod/monopod setup which can save weight sometimes).

Premium - Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, Kowa all do good scopes, you're talking about £3000.

Less expensive, again loads to look through. Generally more expensive means better glass, coatings, construction, etc.

Remember that on ALL scopes, at the top end of their magnification range, they get darker and less clear. So for example on my little 12-36x50mm, unless it was very bright I won't gain anything from going above x30 and sometimes not even above x25. The more expensive scopes will be (generally) less affected by this.

[Manufacturers could largely avoid this "dimming" by restricting the zoom range, but then the scope will be seen as less "attractive"] 

Willow warbler (leg colour). Nice photo. The song is the give away - try the BTO online ID thingy, they are excellent. Light levels and brightness can really mess things up when IDing warblers, which can look from almost yellow/green (like your) to dull brown/grey. 

Im starting to think about a new scope and will let you know my findings and thoughts. As a starter though: I’ll be thinking of the most powerful at the expense of weight, and this is based on straining to look at sea ducks etc. 

Bit of wishful thinking on my part, Wood Warbler a much more desirable spot. IIRC, they're declining ☹️

I'd agree with you on power at the expense of weight if you're usually looking across water and not too far from the car.

Best solution is to have enough money so that your porter can always carry the kit 😁

What's your thinking with having a big scope and a big lens on your camera. Carry both (or use the porter), or get a scope that you can easily attach camera body to and "ditch" the big lens?

Second hand optics, there are some good buys out there but I would only buy from a reputable optics/camera outlet.

Avoid eBay unless you're only spending a trivial amount (which doesn't sound like your intent).

eBay less risky for tripods because if you get something and it's not right for you, then it can be resold without losing too much £.

I have a decent scope which I have a love hate relationship with. It's a Swarovski ATS 80 HD with the 25 - 50 zoom eyepiece.

I love it of course when I'm looking through it, and hate it when I'm carrying it! It also needs a fairly hefty tripod. I have a one of those scope carriers that allow you to carry scope and tripod on your back like a rucksack. They look slightly ridiculous but are actually really practical and it's easy to quickly swing the scope off my back and set it up. Mine is a Scopac Lite.

If I'm walking any distance, such as to a remote seabird colony, and need a rucksack as well, the scope goes inside with the tripod attached to the side compression straps and I only set it up properly when I get there. The extra weight gives me a good workout I guess.

Although it was pretty expensive I'm still glad I invested the money in it. I'm not a twitcher; I prefer to spend extended periods of time observing common birds such as the winter waders and wildfowl on my local estuaries, or the distant seabirds passing my local beaches, and it adds a lot to those experiences. Combined with a hide clamp it's also very useful at open nature reserves.

The main problem I think is that if you buy a top end scope you will very soon find yourself wanting to upgrade your binoculars to match (or vice versa)!

To Mr Hood and Mr Clinger, cheers.

I’ll go with Willow Warbler. I snapped him/her at my local park while photographing some Coot chicks.

As for scopes, I went middle of the road mid-priced RSPB/Viking. For me, the law of diminishing returns was not worth paying the extra for how little I use it. There was a difference in build and image quality between my 80mm ED and a Swarovski 80mm but not to justify the £1.5k price difference for wafer thin perceived brightness and sharpness.

It gets used maybe once or twice a year.

A nice photo. My first thought was Willow Warbler; head shape, body size/shape, colour incl legs.  However, as Bottom Clinger said sound is important.

There is a low possibility it could be a Chiffchaff. However, if it was my sighting I wouldn’t lose any sleep recording it as a WW. Remember I’ve only one year experience though! That said since I have used songs/calls and sight to ID I’m a lot more confident of which is which warbler between WW and CC.

Many thanks for that, appreciated. 

The only one thing I am clear on is I will not carry a scope/tripod if it is too large or heavy. I will always be carrying my camera and lens so will have to be practical to carry with that or I would be leaving it in the car. I chose M4/3 cameras/lenses mainly due to size and weight and I accept the limitations and compromises. I’ve never regretted that choice some 10 yrs ago now.

Zeiss is my 40+yrs old bins; they were a present so I don’t know how much they cost but they have been excellent.

I will need to get hands on. Thanks again.

Edit: Appreciate about secondhand. I rarely use eBay anyway.

Thanks. Weight/size is an important consideration for me or I know I will not carry if too large or heavy.

Thanks for that.

I’ve seen those scope carriers and would consider them if I go for heavier/larger size that otherwise practical to carry easily.

Are tripod mount types the same for scopes and camera ? ie. universal

Here’s one I identified as Willow Warbler from Friday past if you want to compare. I used the song to confirm the visual sighting.

They can be, mines is. 

Carry both.  When I’m out round Marsh Side or similar (public footpaths) I often have bins, scope on tripod (carried in hand or on shoulder), camera across my shoulder, small rucksack and my dog. When I stop, he sits next to me for as long as it takes. 
Whimbrel from yesterday. 

Ah, appreciate your thoughts on this bird. Eden Estuary, by itself so nothing to compare directly with, no calls heard, and didn’t fly other than to get to side. Poor light in rainy, overcast weather.

I was happy with curlew until a twitcher arrived. We were chatting and in conversation said we were looking at a whimbrel. I’ve never seen a whimbrel to my knowledge, but looking at photos since I still think curlew.

Curlew for me.

There are Whimbrels about at the moment as they pass through on migration but Whimbrel has a distinctive facial / head pattern with a dark eye stripe, and dark crown with a prominent pale crown stripe.

It's a pity it was silent as the Whimbrel's call is very distinctive and is usually the thing that encourages me to have another look at a "Curlew" type bird. Whereas the Curlew has the very familiar bubbling call the Whimbrel's is more like "dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee".

Unless you have enough to not notice the extra £1.5k that is (IMO) the correct decision. No point in investing more than you can easily afford if it's not going to be used very much.

Thanks. Interestingly he mentioned a distinctive dark eye stripe that he was seeing, not that I could. There was only one wader at that time so we were looking at the same bird.

I’ll check out the Whimbrel’s call on xeno-canto and try and listen out for it in future.

To some extent, unless you buy top end everything, you'll very soon find yourself wanting everything to be the "next step up" better - I'm trying hard not to get into this "upgrade trap" but I suspect I'm going to fail over the next couple of years. Pretty sure I won't fail completely since (unless we win the lottery), there's no way I can see being ever able to justify Swarovski prices.

Yup, curlew. Check the photo above, a bunch of whimbrel in flight from yesterday in the fields a few miles from my house in south Lancs. If you zoom in, you can see the bill. A curlews is uniformly curved, like it would make a nice circle if it continued. A whimbrels almost  has an ‘angle’ to it, and is proportionately shorter. I read some where that they stop off in this part of the UK, to fuel up before heading north. I reckon they know the ground is nice and soft for their probing beaks (it’s rained almost all day here…). 

Maybe we could have a Caption Competition for this one?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/the1lemming/52856168372/in/photostream/

‘Quack’

’Quack quack quack?’

’Quack’

Oh duck! Would you believe it, we've been photo-bombed by a photographer!

Are the whimbrels in the same place as you told me about a couple of years ago?

No doubt they'll be gone before I can get there.

The nature reserve on the map is Hic Bibi. They were in the fields east of the railway line (3 fields) from Hic Bibi (which is full of warblers).  
Ed: Yarrow Valley CP is good for a couple of hours, gets busy though. 

That’s just quackers