Seán

Seconded

United tax is a thing, though! Where have you read that incoming players have said that?

The market is expensive. Both Cunha and Mbuemo are are couple years older, but compare their output and fees with Madueke (Arsenal), Elanga (Newcastle), Pedro (Chelsea) and Kudus (Tottenham). We’ve paid ~£10m more for ~double the output. It sounds a lot but in context it isn’t, really.

£23.88 for 1 year is an introductory offer for new customers only. After the first year it’s £79.99 per year.

You might also consider one of the older versions of the Sony RX10 secondhand, if you can push the budget a little closer to £600.

Good point! I should have mentioned, this is one of the great things about @chirpity-nocmig.bsky.social: it automatically pulls up reference calls from xeno-canto for each species detected, so you can do side-by-side comparison within the app.

All classifiers have their shortcomings, for sure, but the time saving can be significant. If you haven’t tried it yet, I recommend @chirpity-nocmig.bsky.social.

Nice graph! Are you automating the ID process at all? e.g. Chirpity/BTO Acoustic Pipeline?

All of the ecological consultancies I’ve worked for and read the reports of are still using lower case vernacular names and it annoys me to no end.

They do this mat that should help prevent legs sinking into soft ground, but I’ve not tried it yet — www.decathlon.co.uk/p/stability-...

These look comfortable but are 3-5 times the weight of the Helinox-type collapsible chairs. Not lightweight.

I have one of these and find that I rarely use it - only if I’m carrying a lot and want to save the weight of a full chair. It’s just not comfortable for long durations, due to lack of back support.

I like the Quechua 500 camping chair (high or low back - like Helinox). I’ve regularly used it in all sorts of environments for 6+ hours and it’s worked well. Like any without a flat base, though, it can struggle in the softest ground, eg sand and bog.

2. If you wear glasses, it will really pay to try out a few models with different eye relief specifications at a retailer. If you prioritise light weight, consider a 8x32 over a 8x42. If you don’t want to think abt any of that, pretty much any modern model will do a gd enough job to get you started.

1. Budget really helps narrow down recommendations. That said, I think the Hawke Frontier ED X 8x42 are really good value at around £350 because of the quality/price ratio with added lifetime warranty. If you had £1000 to spend, you could get a second-hand Swarovski EL 8x42, with superior optics.

What denoise software are you using?

Video posted here: t.co/1HMMJxuVJr

I’ve never tried it, as I don’t have one, but wondered if one of the dot sights (e.g., Olympus EE-1) would be useful in this scenario. Probably the birds will usually be too far away.

If you still use X, Michael McKee also posted a video there of how he stabilises his Seawatching videos.

Photographing seabirds from land 304. Eurasian Woodcock Scolopax rusticola, Norfolk, June 2021. In August 2018, I was seawatching at Porthgwarra, Cornwall, when a Fea’s-type petrel...

You’ll need a British Birds subscription: britishbirds.co.uk/journal/arti...

Thanks for the review. It would be nice to include some side-by-side comparisons with similarly spec’d/priced models in future. #birdinggear

@raptorpersuk.bsky.social

Hi Alex, any info/sources on why some avoid and the likes of WTE are able to cross oceans? What is it about the biology of a flapper versus a soarer? I should really re-read your book!

#birdinggear

At Hogganfield Loch, Clyde, on Friday (warmest day of year so far), I watched six spend ten minutes honking together (presumably strengthening bond and possibly signalling time to migrate?) before slowly spiralling up—two dropped back down—and the remaining four headed north.

#clydebirding

Sorry, I thought you were referring to those conifers (looks like Sitka) in the photo, which I suppose looked a few years old. How do you remove these?

What’s your removal methodology?

Song Meter Micro 2 Buy Song Meter Micro 2: NHBS

Jonny, the Wildlife Acoustics Song Meter Micro 2 is a (newly) affordable alternative to the Audiomoth, since they halved the price. And no need to pay customs fees. www.nhbs.com/song-meter-m...

Manfrotto MT055XPRO3 Review The MT055XPRO3 is the top of the line tripod that Manfrotto sells for still photography.  It comes with every bell and whistle that Manfrotto can think of.  Manfrotto has long been an innovator and…

I use and recommend a Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 carbon fibre tripod with the MVH500AH fluid video head. It works well with a 80 mm scope. Fairly light and very sturdy. This website is (/was?) good for comparing tripods: thecentercolumn.com/tripod-revie...