The Betsey Trotwoods

Zebra/Peaceful Dove (Nikon P5100)

Geopelia striata

Ratchaburi  05.11.11

Saturday was an interesting day. It ended with me having the worst diarrhoea ever and which is still continuing as I write Monday morning. The diarrhoea wiped out Sunday save for a trip to the doctor. But Saturday before being afflicted, I headed out early to the local rice paddy in Ratchaburi. I took a wander into an overgrown part of my cul-de-sac and I think this area looks very promising.

Streak-eared Bulbul (Nikon P5100)

Picnonotus blandfordi

Ratchaburi  05.11.11

I didn't see it other than for a fleeting glance but I certainly heard a Thick-billed Warbler.......a really distinctive monotone tak-tak-tak coming from the undergrowth which marries up with recordings. So I'll need to stake out this area and see if I  can get a shot of this bird. Not much else to report, a female Pied Harrier, Wood Sandpiper, Common Snipe and Asian Brown Flycatcher and lots of common birds.

Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Fuji FinePix F100fd)

Merops philippinus

Ratchaburi  05.11.11

I went back to the rice paddy later Saturday afternoon. My P5100 wouldn't power up so I found myself using an old Fuji Fine Pix F100fd with the Kowa universal adaptor. This camera is not ideal for digiscoping as it has largish zoom capacity (5x) and it doesn't really allow much control over exposure. You can't compensate or set to Aperture priority.What was significant was using the Kowa universal adaptor which I have to say worked a treat. It can be a bit fiddly but I have to say I liked it and of course this opens up so many more possibilities in terms of a replacement camera. The Canon S95 is on obvious contender.

The results with the Fuji were perfectly acceptable once correctly set up and I have to say the autofocus worked really well. See the Blue-tailed Bee-eater above, perfectly passable. Anyhow the good news is the Nikon P5100 mysteriously powered up later in the afternoon but then came the "Betsey Trotwoods" and boy did they come!