Canon admit problem, but they are going to fix it......

Canon have admitted to a problem with their flagship EOS 1Ds Mk III camera, even beyond the initial problems of the sub mirror fix for the 1D Mk III this appears to be a major problem for some users - me included.

I have to confess, I have never been 100% happy with the 1Ds Mk III since I bought one. All of the images were soft, was it me not using the camera properly or was it worth considering sending my lenses in for service and re-calibration at huge expense. Ongoing tests with the same lenses and other bodies such as a 5D & 40D (which I know how to use v well) infuriated me as they were nearly always better and the 40D outperformed both "higher end" bodies.

It wasn't until I tried the same setup of lenses & 1.4x extender with an EOS 1D Mk III that I realised how bad the 1Ds Mk III really was, at about the same time I got an email from Canon offering free collection, repair & delivery back to me of the camera to fix a couple of things - soft focus being one of them - see here for more details.

So, hats off to Canon for addressing the problem, they picked it up yesterday and I look forward to it coming back to me before Easter to try out and finally be happy with it.

UPDATE : arrived back on 9th, so a very quick turnaround - thankyou Canon. Very nice letter, thanking for me for my commitment to Canon products... lets see what the weekend tests bring.

Big Brother has started....

.......at last! As of today European ISP's will start capturing and then store the url's their customers visit as part of an EU security directive.

The BBC reports "All ISPs in the European Union will have to store the records for a year. An EU directive which requires telecoms firms to hold on to telephone records for 12 months is already in force.

The data stored does not include the content of e-mails and websites, nor a recording of a net phone call, but is used to determine connections between individuals.

Authorities can get access to the stored records with a warrant. "

Long overdue IMHO, activists and terrorists have been technology users for a long time, it's about time the bat was put in the other hand to uncover those who appear to be regular people going about their daily business as something else.

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.

Spring chores.....

Lawn cut (twice), gutters cleared & cleaned, ponds drained, cleaned and refilled, garage doors washed & polished, plants re-potted, broken pots replaced, plants in border dug out & repositioned, plus visits to tip.... a busy weekend it was.

Still more to do, hope long weekend brings nice weather.

Mauled by a fox?

A swan at the local lakes appeared to have had a worse night than me. I didn't sleep well, hence the early visit to the lakes, but the swan appeared to have been mauled by something - at first I assumed a dog off the lead, but given the feathers and blood everywhere behind a fence & away from public access, I can only assume it was a fox, or there is a remote chance of a mink.

RSPCA were called and it has been taken to a swan sanctuary for some treatment and rehab. much to the annoyance of it's mate. I hope they are reunited soon.

Gone fishing.....

.... the last day of my week off, and I chose to go to Rooksbury Mill Lakes wildlife reserve again, this time more to see.

Kingfisher was out at his usual spot at 4:30 on the dot, sadly the perch has a twig obscuring the bird from the most convenient vantage point, so another will have to be found.

On the lake, a Great Crested Grebe has returned for the spring & summer seasons, today it was tucking into Perch and baby Pike!

Something good.....

.... or something bad is going to happen, which will it be?

Is this light emerging from the cloud in a god like ray? Or is it a dark cloud of gloom descending upon us?

I suppose we will just have to wait & see.

If I read my Horoscope (which I used to do every day, but really never believed any of it and have now given up wasting the time reading them) then something good is about to happen....

Solace......

..... in a tree.

Seems the only place this Heron could find peace and quiet away from the dog walkers and kids on bikes at the weekend at Rooksbury Mill Lakes was in this tree.

Not the best light, but I thought a nice silhouette would be interesting.

Canon 1Ds Mk III + EF600mm f4 + EF1.4x Extender.

Old kit for new....

I have traded in a load [and I do mean a lot!] of old\not used that often kit to acquire one of these.... a Canon EF600mm f4 L IS USM lens. So gone are the old EOS digital bodies that I couldn't bare to trade in for crap money in the past on smaller items, gone are the TS-E lenses, the EF180mm macro lens and the very old EOS 5 film bodies and associated flash units.

Once again I have assured myself that if turns out to be too heavy to lug around [it weighs in at 11.8 lbs!] or I find I don't put it to good use often enough it can be sold for very good money. I have done the usual refurb with Canon paint to cover up the inevitable chips, so it looks like new again. I will endeavour to find a manual on ebay, it will then be complete & as new, probably making it worth quite a bit more that I paid for it.

So far I have found it to be an exceptional piece of kit, it does weigh a lot more than the EF500mm, but with the 1.4x Extender attached the EF600mm comes in at fully functioning autofocus 840mm f5.6 on a 1Ds Mk III or close to 1100mm on an EOS 40D.

The new weapon of choice.....

Having re-kindled my liking for shooting air weapons, I have recently acquired a Weihrauch HW100KS.

Weihrauch made my 2nd ever air weapon at the age of 16 (less said about the 1st - an Anshutz the better) a Weihrauch HW35E in .22 calibre. It was an absolute mega weapon, and like so many things from the past, I should never have traded it in for something less memorable.

So, the new PCP HW100KS is the latest in technology, being the carbine version it is smaller, shorter and lighter, also as it's a Sporter version, it looks fairly normal versus the thumbhole stocked version.

Results are very good, very accurate and almost silent in operation thanks to it's amazing standard fit sound moderator and pretty near silent trigger and action. So far Mr Squirrel has been targetted very successfully, and with the lighter evenings on the way, I might even undertake some rabbit control.

Harking back to my fondness of the HW35E, I might even start a crusade to find a decent one 2nd hand for my mini collection.

UPDATE : The Weihrauch doesn't hold it's charge very well, filling it to 200 bar, it then levels out at 150 bar pretty quickly, and then drops off. It performs fine, but for a lesser number of shots than I would like. So I am now looking at the regulator upgrade from Ben Taylor & Son in which he replaces the whole workings that are under pressure with his own. The results are a massive increase in full power shots per charge - the downside is that it costs £300 making the gun a substantial investment!

Spring has sprung......

At Rooksbury Mill Nature Reserve late this afternoon I caught up with a Kingfisher, not ideal as the branches were in the way quite a bit, but at least I now know the patch.

I will take some time off work and sit down in a hide and see if I can get some better shots.

Currently negotiating on a Canon EF600mm lens, so will be able to get even closer.

Fighting Moorhens.....

I never knew that such a small bird had such huge feet\claws and that they fought like demons!?

As usual this looks like 2 males fighting over a female, same old story as most animals of this green and pleasant earth.

Not as sharp as I would like, but still a useful capture of the behaviour.

Con of the Year... again

Once again the High Street has thrown up a complete marketing con for Valentine's Day.

Wine Rack\Threshers\Victoria Wine group have released a voucher offering "40% Off All Champagne and Sparkling wine from 4th-14th February".

Sadly for them, all the comparisons I have done with other wine retaillers works out with them being considerably more expensive from the start - and even with the 40% deducted, only slightly cheaper in some cases. If you are wanting a dozen or more bottles I suggest Virgin Wines in most examples.

Example 1 - Taittinger Brut NV 75cl
Wine Rack - £36.99 less 40% = £22.19
Sainsbury's = £31.99
Virgin Wines = £21.99 (in a mixed case of 12)

Example 2 - Moet et Chandon Brut NV 75cl
Wine Rack - £38.99 less 40% = £23.39
Sainsbury's = £25.84
Tesco = £25.84
Virgin Wines = £21.99 (in a mixed case of 12)

Example 3 - Veuve Clicquot Brut NV 75cl
Wine Rack - £44.99 less 40% = £26.99
Sainsbury's = £29.73
Tesco = £29.73
Virgin Wines = £25.99 (in a mixed case of 12)

Example 4 - Bollinger Special Cuvee NV 75cl
Wine Rack - £47.99 less 40% = £28.79
Tesco = £33.98
Sainsbury's = £33.98
Virgin Wines = £29.99 (in a mixed case of 12)

Example 5 - Lanson Black Label Brut NV 75cl
Wine Rack - £29.99 less 40% = £17.99
Tesco = £25.90
Sainsbury's = £25.90
Virgin Wines = £18.99 (in a mixed case of 12)

Everything stops.....

... a little bit of snow, and everything stops.

But in some cases, it also allows for some photography trials.

Bench in garden covered in 4 inches of snow.

A good day....

... arrive at train station, no queue at Coffee shop - order coffee. Go to ticket office - no queue - get ticket. Back to pick up coffee - no queue. Walk to platform - empty & devoid of usual fuckwits who think they own the train everyone else travels on as well. Get seat on train with table - do loads of work on laptop for full journey time! Walk to office at Southbank - easily find hotdesk available [not normal] - sign on, log in and do a load of work. Mid morning coffee with ex-colleague - find out useful information. Back to desk - load more work. Have lunch with colleague, chew the fat, get some useful information, back to desk - load more work. Have tea with new colleague - get useful information, back to desk - load more work. Annual review with manager at 4pm - good result - another year of gainful employment. Walk to station, get train within 5 minutes and home for a Horse Feathers and lovely dinner of lamb casserole with some great red wine. Heaven! If only all days were as easy as this.

There are some advantages....

... to working in central London sometimes.

I took this last week when I was in the central London office, there are some stunning views from a few of the conference rooms - this is one.

Working for a living.....

... sadly involves driving to places and meeting people. It's not I don't like meeting people, it's just a great number of them seem to be on the motorway at the same time getting to the same sort of places.

I drove to IBM Bedfont Lakes four times this week for meetings, the journey of 60 miles takes about 50 minutes on a clear run, unfortunately most of the mornings this week it took close on 90 minutes, the evening runs home took just over 60 minutes. So thats 10 hours spent driving in my car so far this week just getting to and from work.

I won't be driving anywhere tommorrow, but I will be undertaking a similar journey on Saturday when I take my brother to Heathrow on the first leg of his journey to live in Australia full time.

Hoarfrost....

I think most of the southern UK was subjected to a bit of fog and frost last night, resulting in a Hoarfrost, which in some locations looked spectacular.

I drove to Basingstoke first thing to pick up a few bits & pieces and on the way there I saw some fantastic frosty scenes, on the way back I drove back through Longparish and again saw some quite beautiful views.

I stopped off at a spot by the River Test I thought might be looking like a winter wonderland, it was good, but probably because of the proximity to the river, it wasn't as great as I had hoped.

Although it's still lingering on late into the afternoon, looking at the weather forecast, it could all be gone by tommorrow.

New birds in garden.....

The New Year has brought a couple of new birds into the garden, the first to sit still long enough for me to snap it was this Blackcap pictured right.

The other new species seen over the last week or so is the Redwing - same family as, but slightly different to a Song Thrush and a fleeting glimpse of a Bearded Tit

Love it or hate it things......

Whilst in Holland & Barrett yesterday I found some lovely liquorice comfits, there were some samples available which I gladly tucked in to, much to my surprise the shop assistant and my shopping companion both said they couldn't stand the stuff! So I had their share as well.

It got me thinking to things that most people have an immediate love\hate reaction to..... Marmite, liquorice, port wine, red cabbage, liver, garlic, Guinness, aniseed - I like them all.

New Year outlook.......

My brother departed back to Manchester today, but he will return in 2 weeks for another stay of a week here before travelling to Australia for his new life adventure, hopefully he will settle in Sydney. It's a nice place to visit - and he has an apartment in Manly [pictured right], which is a super place to relax and spend time in. It's a 30 minute ferry ride to central Sydney which can be seen in the background of the photo.

Not sure what 2009 will bring overall, I am sure the economic downturn will play it's part and if you listen to the scaremongering, harbingers of doom (the media), then the next 12-18 months are going to be tough.

New Year resolutions include - not listening to the scaremongering, harbingers of doom -particularly Breakfast News programmes. Take more photo's. Blog more. Get on my bike more. De-clutter the house.... I'm sure more will be added.

If I don't post beforehand.... Happy new year reader.

Festive outlook...

My brother arrived on Sunday from Manchester for what will probably be his last Christmas with whats left of the family as he moves out to Australia in January. Various visitations have been made whilst he is here by people that he wouldn't normally see for years at a stretch - cousins, uncles and friends etc., so I think it's been quite a good couple of days for him so far.

All shopping completed, including a mega find - Chambord Liqueur at of all places... Asda! So Champagne (Sainsbury's Vintage Cava) Cocktails made with sugar lump and a dash of Chambord topped with bubbly have been the order of the day for the last few....

My brother and I played the "spot the best looking checkout girl" in Asda & Sainsbury's today - we both swore blind that we had found the bestest looking one!

Glazed Gammon, Mince Pies and now Christmas Cake have all been homemade, ready for consumption over the next week or so. Oh, and work is all done and dusted, with numbers looking suprisingly good given the global credit issues.

Reality check......

Whilst eating breakfast, I have just seen piece on GMTV that has moved me to post this.....

I don't normally fall for the usual GMTV sob story, but this wasn't pitched as a sob story. Melissa Huggins is a 27 year old school teacher from Staines who is suffering from a brain tumor for the 2nd time in 3 years. She was very articulate and put across her plight calmly and concisely, and even made use of the airtime to explain that the UK doesn't have the £100 million equipment that can treat her and a growing number of children with this form of tumor. (yes you read it right! Come on Abramovich, Branson, Mittal, Green, Ecclestone, Rausing, Ratcliffe and Reuben - get your wallets out!)

Having read the more complete story on her website I have decided to contribute what I normally spend on frivolous bits of paper known as Christmas cards to her fighting fund for treatment in the USA. Not a great deal of money in the scheme of things, just £100, but if a couple of dozen of people in a similiar situation to me made the same commitment, it would make a world of difference to a worthwhile cause.

I wish her well.

20/12 UPDATE : I have heard from a source that the fund had tipped over the £100K mark, and that the US hospital had accepted her and given her a place as soon as the money was confirmed. All of which is excellent news and provides a path to the most suitable and effective treatment, on what is the continued long and arduous journey of recovery.

Prikka-Strip

Now installed on my fence, a good number of metre's of Prikka-Strip. A triple row of 15mm high solid polypropylene cones, and as I found out when installing them, they do really hurt when they get you! Luckily, I managed to get the more visually acceptable brown version.

Yet again, in the course of protecting my own property I am obliged by law to put up sign saying "WARNING : these premises are protected by an anti-intruder device. Personal injury may result from unauthorised access" The only exception to this covering of my own backside legally is if a kid decides to try and hop over my fence and injures themselves, I could end up in court for failing to provide a duty of care to the trespasser!? Well it beats shooting them and getting a criminal record! (that was a joke of course!)

Next in line is an upgrade of the security lights all round the property. Although still working well, they are now 10 years old, and probably in need of an replacement by now anyway. I have also ordered a load more Prikka-Strip from Screwfix to get my neighbours fence covered as well.

Unwanted visitors.....

Pictured right is Philip Murray of Wellesley Road, Andover.

This morning at 4am he decided to enter my back garden, luckily the security lights and CCTV worked well, I also heard him and his brother Andrew shouting.

Police were called and as soon as the dog was brought onto site and announced by the handler, the brothers Murray decided to give themselves up. By this time after me initially shouting at them and them running off, they had moved into my next door neighbours garden. It turns out that they were looking for a mobile phone that Philip had lost during his drunken shortcut home over the garage roof of the flats next doors to my neighbour. Clearly a coincidence that during the summer, a couple of youths were seen on the same garage roof, they then jumped onto a parked car below causing damage and hefty repair costs for the owner. I wonder if the Police will link the incidents?

On this occassion there was no damage, so Police let them off with a search and a word. I have subsequently recovered the phone and have found out that I am legally obliged to get it back to them. I have invited them round to apologise and get phone back on Sunday morning. Will wait and see if they have the balls to do so.

UPDATE : The brothers Murray did come round as agreed at 11am Sunday morning, and have apologised to me and my neighbours.

Wine Bargain III (emphatically!)

I have been searching around for a good quality Champagne style wine for cocktails at Christmas, a few years ago I found Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Blue Top on offer at Tesco's for a bargain of £11.00 a bottle, but this year, Sainsbury's has turned up trumps...... This one is a real bargain, on 50% discount at the moment at £4.99 - Sainbury's Vintage Cava 2006. Perfect for Champagne cocktails - add Angostura Bitters, sugar lump and optional dash of Cognac or Orange Bitters\Cointreau\Peach Schnapps, for an excellent festive celebration drink.

Wine bargain II (nearly)

Another trip to the Berry Brothers & Rudd outlet store at Basingstoke threw up some interesting wines.

Firstly a white Rioja, something I had never seen before. So after a quick discussion about grape variety, quality and tasting notes, a couple of bin ends of Allende Blanco were put into my basket. For some reason when I saw it's rich golden colour I assumed it was a dessert wine, but no, it's a clean crisp dry white wine made from the Viura grape which went very well with the chicken stir fry and then the fish pie I had it with the next day.

Then a case of my current favourite red [pictured right], La Montesa Crianza, Bodegas Palacios Remondo. A wonderful, rich and smooth Rioja.

And lastly a couple of Magnum's - one a bin end of lesser known Claret for £22 which went particularly well with a fore-rib of beef from Robinsons at Stockbridge, the other was a freebie Berrys' own Good Ordinary Claret, which went well with a Chilli Con Carne I made for after the Fireworks at Hursley Park - which were fantastic as usual.

Latest wine bargain....

An introduction to this by my neighbour as an aperitif was a pleasant suprise, even better when later we found it on offer at Sainsbury's.... at £4.50 a bottle - half price from it's normal £8.99 price tag.

Jacob's Creek Sparkling Rose is an Australian bottle fermented wine made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. Strangley not dry, nor overly sweet, it has hints of fresh strawberries and is very drinkable. As with all mass produced Australian\Californian wine it is 100% consistent. I have yet to try the white version, but in reality, much like Perou - one has standards, so I'll stick to Taittinger.

Do you know what yours is and do you....

.... know what it is supposed to be?

Having gone through the last couple of weeks, looking at my general well-being and monitoring symptoms such as cholestorel, I have had to pay particular attention to my blood pressure.

I had already invested in a blood pressure monitor, but hadn't paid much attention to using it with any great regularity, or worse understanding exactly what the numbers meant.

So post stent procedure and the new regime of drug therapy I have paid much closer attention and it's with great pleasure I can report that acceptable and normal levels of blood pressure have been achieved.

A very useful chart and explanation of the mysterious numbers can be found here.

I have been a bit quiet of late.....

.... because I am now the permanent owner of one of these.... a coronary stent.

At the age of 41, I have been fitted with a device that opened a blocked artery in my heart. Not entirely unexpected as my father had a quadruple heart by-pass at the age of 45. But nonetheless a sobering and frankly shocking turn of events in a very short period of time.

Hats off to GP, insurance company, specialists and North Hampshire Hospital at Basingstoke, I went from GP visit on 19th September to stent fitting on 6th October, with various appointments and milestones inbetween.

I am now recovering at home by watching Harry Potter and too many episodes of QI to mention. But in the future a return to the gym and regular walks are on the cards, plus cutting out any crap food that I did occassionally partake of.

The mighty Gulls!

I knew at some stage in my intermitant interest in Brighton & Hove Albion FC there would be something worth celebrating - and today is the day with a win over Manchester City!

I think you should support the football team you were born closest to - so I got stuck with Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

I only glance at the results most of the time, crack a smile when they win, wince when they flog star players like Bobby Zamora and shout obcenities at the TV when they sell the stadium to Tesco's and end up playing in Kent for a couple of years!

But, you have to take the good with the bad... and today is a good day.

Ryder Cup

Sorry, couldn't resist posting a comment on this weekends sporting failure......

Ian Poulter - superstar! All of the pre-match banter about him getting a wild card over others was total crap, well done to him, let's hope he makes it in next time as well. It's the one descision Faldo got right in his captaincy. Sadly his appointment of DJ Spoony at team motivator defies belief!

My notes to the organising comittee for 2010... sack Faldo, never let him near the team or competition again. Bring back Ian Woosnam as team captain, appoint José Maria Olazábal and Colin Montgomerie as vice-captains (ready for Oli to be captain in 2012). Sack whinger Westwood and dull (but previously in form) Harrington, replace them with Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke - at least they've got some passion about winning!

Coffee.....

I like coffee, so much so I invested a couple of years ago on a DeLonghi Magnifica beans to coffee machine. Plug it in, fill with water & coffee beans of your choice (see later), press button, it whizzes, whurs & splutters, then moments later a fresh cup of coffee is deposited into your favourite mug. Expensive, but convenient.

I searched for ages to find a nice balanced coffee bean and finally arrived at.... bog standard Sainsbury's Medium Roast, couple of pounds per 500g & easily available in the 2 local stores.

Year's ago during my quest for the coffee of choice, I stumbled across "Jamaican Blue Mountain" coffee, said to be the finest in the world. I bought some at Fortnum & Mason in ground form for my Cafetiere, it was hugely expensive, but at the time I thought it was excellent. So during my time off last week, I undertook a retail therapy day in Knightsbridge and visited the Harrod's Food Hall and procured more of the "best coffee in the world" as you can see it wasn't cheap at more than £106 per 1Kg.

Sadly it dissapointed, bitter & sharp. Much like the Taittinger experience, I'll stick to what I know I like.

Garden life

Having spent a few weeks at home on holiday dossing about, I spent today in the garden tidying up and noted a Leaf Cutter Bee using the bamboo shelter I had installed in the spring, so out came various camera's, lenses, extension tubes, flashes and tripod to catch the fast moving thing.

Shot with a Canon EOS 5D body with a Canon EF180mm f3.5 Macro lens attached with Canon Extension Tube 25. ISO 200, 1/250th at f5

Holidays....

... are here again!

I've decided to take 2 weeks off and do a couple of things for me..... retail therapy, photography and relaxation are high on the agenda.

I combined all of these yesterday evening by going to Stockbridge to take some photo's of a barley field, popped into Orvis for some new shirts (I just have to comment on the girl who was at the checkout.... beautiful is the only word!) and then went to the 3 Cups pub for a couple of pints of draught Peroni in the garden.... fantastic.

A review of the food at the Three Cups is in the pipeline as I will be visiting to partake of their evening menu in the very near future.

UPDATE : went to the Three Cups for lunch on Friday 8th. Hugely complex menu with probably 60+ dishes available, every one had some twist of ingredient - e.g. Hake with Paella and Razor Clams or Salt March Lamb & Green Olive Wellington with Jerusalem Artichoke Cream. Gordon Ramsay would have a field day here, they need to cut the complexity and number of dishes down dramatically, it would save having 2 chefs on a lunchtime and the probable large amount of food wasted.

I went for the most simple dish I could find and had Roast Garlic Chicken Salad with tomato's, parmesan, capers and croutons, my companions had steak & chips and soft shell crab tempura. The best thing of all was.... the chips. Tough Chicken, tough steak (that came minus portabello mushroom & beef tomato as described) and crab was 50% edible.

Dessert however was spot on, Eton Mess with Shortbread and the Strawberry parfait with marinated Strawberries were both 100% perfect.

Rumour has it that Gordon Ramsay has bought the old filling station in Stockbridge High Street, if it's true, existing Stockbridge eateries with delusions of grandeur will have to watch out, a serious restauranteur with great idea's, a clear business head and a stack of cash to invest is on the way to your town.

Bird watching excursion.....

my first dedicated trip to a bird reserve at Titchfield Haven was interesting, but I did feel a bit of a nerd.

Nice weather was a bonus, sighting of a Kingfisher, Little Egret and various dippers, waders and gulls added to the day, but photographically it was a bit of a challenge from the hides as they are a new environment for me.

Lens envy was clearly in evident in hides, various Canon (500mm & 600mm) & Sigma (300-800mm) lenses on show. Noise etiquette and keeping still also clearly high on list of requirements of serious twitchers!

I have finished reading a book....

..... you may well think thats not very impressive, but in my mind it is.

I do read a lot, I mean A LOT, but almost exclusively online and nearly all for reference, whether it be online news, Teletext\Ceefax sport, information on helicopters or the latest magazine report on a bit of photographic equipment. The Sunday Times sections that interest me are picked out & the rest discarded almost blindfolded, add to that the copious amount of email I have at work and personally, it all stacks up to a lot of reading.

I have never really been a reader for pleasure, I only really realised why this week - in my O-level English literature exam we were told to read The Hobbit, the well known epic tale of Bilbo Baggins et al. Sadly I didn't like it, in fact I just couldn't get on with it, so I didn't read it past the first chapter on several occasions. This event probably turned me off reading for pleasure forever.

I have since read few books from cover to cover, (un-authorised biog's of Al Fayed and John Delorean are most noteworthy thus far) I now add another - "Bearded Tit - confessions of a birdwatcher" by Rory McGrath. I like the writer, his appearances on "They think it's all over...", "QI" and "Three men in a boat" demonstrate a fast wit (mostly directed at Jonathan Ross & his attire) and an irreverant attitude to anything "establishment". Add to that the books premise around bird-watching, drinking and womanising all make it really rather good.

Sign of the week.....

... saw this & it made me smile at least.

Shitty week, stress, stress & more stress. Chest pains (muscle strain after lifting 100+kg pot in garden [full of soil & plant!] not heart attack) all week have merely added to the pain.

All topped off by physio visit where the pain was enhanced with deep tissue massage - why didn't I show them this sign first!?

FYI - the sign is in the cockpit of a Westland Scout helicopter.

Sleeping Cygnet.....

This was taken a few weekends ago when it was dry! There were 2 Swan nests at Rooksbury Mill Lakes nature park, it appears that only one Cygnet has survived the hatch.

I have been messing about with a few settings on the cameras to try & get them right, with mild success, but mostly HUGE frustration!

Anyhow, pictured right is an edited RAW image, processed in DxO Optics Pro v5 and then modified in Paint Shop Pro v7. Taken with a Canon EOS 40D with my EF500mm f/4 & EF1.4x converter at 1/2000th sec at F5.6

Memories.....

This Camellia was given to me by my old Solicitor, now sadly passed away, it always reminds of her when I walk past it in the garden.

Pictured in the rain a few weeks ago, just beautiful.

All the flowers now gone, but the plant seems to have thrived in the recent warm & humid conditions.

When feeding smaller birds in the garden.....

..... always be aware that bigger birds are watching!

This male Sparrowhawk swooped in on the Goldfinches tonight, don't think he got anything, but I suppose it's only to be expected given the numbers of smaller birds around at the moment.

Sort of nice to see, but always hope they might get a Pidgeon or two versus a Goldfinch or Greenfinch.

Shot through a pane of glass in the Dining room, so not as great as it could have been, but needed to act quickly as it was gone as quickly as it arrived. Luckily the EOS 40D with EF500mm f/4 and EF1.4x was at hand already set up.

Garden visitors.... and departures

A welcome visitor has been the Goldfinch, a couple of them in fact, all feeding on the black thistle seed (also called Niger seed) feeder I put up about a month ago.

I was just about to take the feeder down as nothing had shown any interest - when they turn up and start feeding like crazy, taking it in turns to feed & then preen.

Also present in the garden have been Greenfinch, Dunnock, Starling and the usual Blue Tit's, Blackbird's, Thrushes and many Robin's. Haven't seen the Goldcrest for a while, but hope to get a good photo of it later in the Summer.

Grey Squirrel's continue to get shot upon entering my garden, I must have taken 30+ now!

Still trying out the new lenses....

...... the Canon EF 15mm Fisheye lens used in a slightly different way.

A much over done subject, the yellow sea of Rape Seed that is so beautiful (if pollen filled & smelly) in early May in the UK.

Dodged the April showers which are still hanging around for my birthday week to take this in a field close to home.

Took a couple in landscape, then a few more in portrait & decided I liked that orientation better with vivid colour of the field with shadow in foreground and large expanse of bright, but cloudy sky. Critics have said they don't like the tree in the top left corner as it distracts the eye, but I think it works.

Bad news......

..... the lady who owns the biggest plot on the road where I live has sold out to developers, sadly for me it means the view I have had for the 10 years will change.

As you can see from the photo taken from my neighbours loft conversion window just 2 weeks ago (left), it's a beautiful large open garden, but it's a crappy delapidated house, and if my 70 year old mother was in the same position I would have advised her to flog it for £1.2m as well.

Banner Homes Wessex Ltd. have applied for 8 houses to be built, having looked at the planning application I have made my objections known, so now it's in the hands of the Test Valley Planning committee to consider them.

12/06 UPDATE : well, well, well. I have now received letter from Banner Homes saying that they have modified their plans in accordance with my suggestion and deleted the 2 windows I said would overlook my property, they have said that they will also frost glaze the 2 remaining windows on the same elevation. They haven't mentioned any of my other suggestions, so assume that they were too much to ask. At least they listened to my main objection, only time will tell whether they are as keen to listen when they start work on the site....

Bad days.....

..... just when you think you are having a bad day because of something trivial like dropping a plate, burning the dinner or things just not going your way. Spare a thought for these two.....


BBC News website reports that a stunt driver delivering the ONLY Aston Martin DBS available for filming of the new James Bond Film - Quantum of Solace, crashes it on a wet road & it then plunges into Lake Garda! Oppps! Luckily he was OK.





Then, photo left shows a minor incident in Mexico to a Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin helicopter. It was being towed from the hangar when a part of the undercarriage gave way, I do hope that the proud customer wasn't there to witness it!

Photographers rights....

.... as I have been taking loads of photo's recently, this caught my eye on the BBC News website.

There have been many stories of late of photographers being challenged, and at some point if you take photo's in public places I suppose a stop & search is at some point inevitable, however if anyone (even a Police Officer) asks you to delete photo's or surrender Compact Flash cards etc. - YOU ARE NOT OBLIGED TO DO SO.

This link provides a very useful 2 page PDF file for reference.

You can sign up to the Downing Street petition to stop over zealous local authorities preventing us from doing what we have done for years & years.

Sadly, advertising like this from the Metropolitan Police doesn't help. It goes without saying (or advertising) that if anyone is taking any kind of interest in noting where things like CCTV camera's are in any location it should be reported.

Some of the more intelligent and enlightened forces have adopted some aircraft spotters as another set of eyes. Even the Metropolitan Police worked with Scotland Yard & BAA a few years ago with a scheme of registration for aircraft enthusiasts with LAAS International. The MoD have just started a similar scheme at RAF Coningsby.

They're back......

It may have something to do with my neighbours insistance to feed the birds in the garden with peanuts, or my feeders full of "Robin Bird Feed Mix" which they seem to like as well, but the little bastards a.k.a grey squirrels are back.

So, along with my trusty Theoben I have despatched 3 in the last 2 days (so I've probably got 20 or so in the past 6 months). Keep 'em coming as far as I'm concerned, I've got a couple of thousand pellets spare!

Lot's of coverage in the media about how the grey squirrel does so much damage to bird life and how it carries a virus that wipes out red squirrels, but people still think of them as little fluffy darlings - they're not, they are tree rats & vermin!

Royalty free picture by nvmdigital.com

Things could get a bit samey.....

.... if I over use this lens.

Just a close up of the car, weird how it cuts of the headlights, windscreen & roof.

I'm sure I'll take a load more just like this of many different things that I stumble across, but I'll probably spare you looking at my whimsical snaps.

Fisheye frolics.....

This is a shot I have wanted to try for a while, with the new 15mm Fisheye, I thought it would look a bit different.

Just a snap at the bottom of the garden at the moment, I will try & explore for some more densely populated woodland at the weekend.

A different perspective.....

.... through a newly acquired Canon EF 15mm f2.8 Fisheye lens.

I've always wanted a fisheye lens for my camera, so when one or two came up on ebay I decided to get one, saving s quite a bit on the list price for a new one from Canon.

I don't this it's going to be the most used lens in my camera bag(s), but a useful addition none the less.

As you can see from the quick snap taken earlier today at Rooksbury Mill lakes (home of the Kingfisher), landscapes are big with this lens. Closeups are also interesting as the distortion becomes more noticeable, particularly if the subject has straight lines.