Offers on this item.

I have this scope which is excess to my needs.
It is a Kowa TSN 2 spotting or fieldscope, complementing it is a 30X wide angle  eye piece and a 20 to 60X zoom, it also comes with a waterproof armoured case.
The optics are exellent and abrasion free, focus is smooth, the overall condition of this scope is all but mint condition and any inspection invited. All in all a nice mid range scope, and I have personally digiscoped this with great success.
Any interest or questions on this article, please email Dave at pixelman@btinternet.com

Just one of the free books.

I have posted this as it is a great kids book but I must admit it fascinated us for some time and still does, when you open the book it leaps out at you.

Free Bird Books.

These are just a few of the books I am offering free to collector, I have a few others which are specialist reference books and are a bit heavy going but these are not included with the free offer. Genuine Birders only please, no dealers.

Titles are:-

The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland,

By J T R Sharrock and Published by Poyser.

The Crows,

By Franklin Coombs

The Golden Eagle

By Jeff Watson, and Published by Poyser.

The Birds of the Western Palearctic

A cased concise edition of two volumes

Offers are invited for these. I will be publishing pictures of the Camera Equipment shortly.

Please contact Dave, Email pixelman@btinternet.com.

Sheppey 17th Feb 2011

Pulled back the curtains this morning 17th Feb, half hoping for a nice day and the tide was conducive for birding, but was confronted by thick fog, my weather station gave sun so I took off for Sheppey in the hope that the sun would come through and burn off the fog, things did improve a little thus allowing some pictures to be taken albeit with not a lot of contrast.

I went to Leysdown first tide well up one solitary Turnstone and a lone Sanderling keeping him company.

Then a visit to Harty, nothing on the fleet, went as far as the Raptor viewpoint without a spot, fed up with this made my way to Elmley, fog was by now thinning and the sun was in danger of showing itself, I drove all the way to Wellmarsh Hide cursing enroute the now, rather deep potholes.

Made my way to the hide and was the only occupant for the next two hours I was treated by very large numbers of Golden and Grey Plovers, which were very twitchy after a Buzzard and a Marsh Harrier arrived in the vicinity and gave amazing displays of their skills of flight, below are a few pic's.

Sightings for the day were not many but the sheer numbers of what I saw at Wellmarsh made up for that :- peregrine, Buzzard 3, Marsh Harrier 2, Grey Plover, loads, Golden Plover, loads, Dunlin 20 +, Ringed Plover about 10, Shoveler Duck 10, Coot 40, Moorhen 1, Flight of Geese very high.

Best day out this year.

End of a pleasant day.

This was taken after a very pleasant few hours birding and not far from the reserve entrance, note the Marsh Harrier in the background.

Spectacular patterns in the sky by these mainly Grey Plover and Golden Plover, on this occasion it was a Buzzard that spooked them.

As previous shot.  

The noise of these birds in flight is quite amazing, how the heck they do not bump into each other I will never be aware, they must have reactions faster than F1 racing drivers.

This time spooked by a passing disinterested Marsh Harrier.

The first of the waders to be pushed over the sea wall by the incoming tide.   

Confirmation by Gordon Allison, RSPB Elmley Isle of Sheppey.

Gordon has appraised my earlier entry " Dare I say Barnacle Geese " and his conclusion was that they are all Barnies and he also said he could not see any Canada among them, but he did confirm that in the flock are several Emperor Geese, Ken, well spotted, you were right.
Dave.

Offers and free items.

Some people will have noticed that my posting took a bit of a tumble and I kinda lost my way a bit due to a combination of ill health the weather and family problems but I have made a recovery or at least am better than I was, I would like to thank those people who enquired after my health it was most gratifying to know that people I have never met took time out to show compassion. However enough of that.


I have decided to offer some of my camera equipment for sale, I will be posting pictures of the items soon, initially there is a Canon EOS 100-400 zoom lens, and UV filter mint, a Canon EOS 20D with wrist strap, mint, Canon 2x EOS Tele - converter, mint, offers will be invited.

I also have a beautiful watercolour by Ian Bowles, depicting Long Tailed Tits in a winter scene this would enhance any room, but it must take pride of place, will picture it shortly.

Also a collection of books relating to birds which will be made available free to collector although to be fair I will limit this offer to four books per person obviously the first will have the pick.

Also are quite a few artist books on painting watercolours, oils and other media these will also be subject as to the bird books.

Genuine people only need apply.

A Landscape of rspb Elmley.

RSPB Elmley, normalising after the snow.

Collared Dove

Greylag

My little flock of Goldfinches, like me, glad the weather has improved.

Mixed Waders

Below are some shots of waders, pushed off by the tide and making spectacular passes in front of Wellmarsh hide but they settled on the scrape further over. Scanning with the scope picked up a spoonbill at distance.

Curlew

A couple of nice studies of a Curlew at Elmley, there are quite a few on the reserve at present.

Starlings at RSPB Elmley, Isle of Sheppey.

Dare I say Barnacle Geese

Elmley a week ago, lots of activity in the far distance but only accessed with a scope. I know I have said possible barnacle geese but I suppose they could be canada geese. Anyway regardless they were a pleasant sight.

My Goldfinches

These pic's show how harsh the weather was for them to get food and water, but our diligent attention won over and we still have our six regulars and a new one the flock has picked up on the way

Is he right or wrong

One of the few times I have been out recently, found me sitting in a hide with one other interested party doing exactly what we were both there for, observing birds. The tides were wrong which made the already waste of time even worse, however the boredom gave way to pleasant reminiscences concerning past sightings and general bird observations, however, exhausting this topic after about twenty minutes, the conversation edged to include our working professions, me, when I did, and him when wouldn't, he explained that five years before he was made redundant, he was middle-aged and prospects at his age and in his profession were not good, after a few months had transpired he lost his house and was left to look after a wife and two children on meagre savings in rented accommodation, life became mundane and boring so he took up birding to alleviate this.


He persued this hobby to such an extent it became an obsession, out at dawn and home at dusk, the family lived on benefits and he did remark that he had become used to this way of life, however, his wife did not agree to being benevolent and having to scrimp and scrape so the marriage ended but his obsessive birding hobby, if you can call it that in his case, carries on.

I listened intently to his rhetoric and at a convenient moment asked him if he ever intended to seek a job, his reply was "not on your life" a job would greatly restrict my movements and the time I could spend with my hobby, I said what about money and self esteem he replied the money I get by on, my rent is paid, I have zero council tax I get help with fuel and as I do not smoke or drink I live quite comfortably, and as for the self esteem that went when I lost my job.

I summed up later having thought hard, I found it difficult to condemn this attitude, all he has done is to join what does seem to be a large section of our population who have no intention of going to work, and in many cases they are the offspring of fathers that have hardly worked all their lives. I would add I was never out of work all of my working life and have been told by some of my village teenagers when telling them of this fact the reply was "more fool you"