The light was fantastic over Belvide and the skies perfectly clear. It was very cold and a lot of ice covered the surface.

The good conditions allowed for some nice shots of Reed Bunting at the waters edge. I was hoping to get some shots of the flock of Redpoll, but no sighting today, although others were lucky enough to get a glimpse.

Next to the hide, the water was covered in ice and it was amusing to watch a wren skidding about on the surface eating spilled seed from a nearby feeder, although he was darting about a little too much for me to get a picture - shame, would have made a great Christmas card image!

I also used my new Olivon TR-16 heavy duty tripod head which was excellent for fine adjustment and stability. Check back soon for a full write up.

That will be it now for me until the new year, so thanks for visiting the site, and hope you all have a Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year. Lots more to come in 2008 on the website.

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Teal on ice, Belvide

Saturday morning was very cold, and unfortunately I made the mistake of leaving my gloves on the dining table. Trying to digiscope with freezing, numb fingers isn't easy.

I was also testing out the new Olivon hide clamp, which is going to be a very useful bit of digiscoping kit, check back soon for a full write up.

I had some great, very close-up sightings of Redpoll, but unfortunately they were just too close to focus on at the time. Other birds included, Fieldfare, Redwing, Tree Sparrow, Reed Bunting Wigeon, Teal, and Shoveler.

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Tree Sparrow at Belvide

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Tree Sparrow at Belvide


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The Olivon hide clamp