Friday 31 July 2009

METAL BIRDING

Wednesday 29th July was the annual Air Show at the Royal Navel Air Station at Culdrose near Helston. This year it celebrated 100 years of Navel Aviation, and as usual the day began with torrential rain. So worked in the morning and if the weather cleared would go down in the afternoon. So forecast said clearing early afternoon, so a friend and myself arrived at 13.00 and sat in the car until the rain cleared at 15.00. So a limited flying display took place and tonight's post are off some of the display and Static Park shots. the reason for going was to get some pics of a special aircraft we both wanted to see.
A BIG THANK YOU 771 SQUADRON
This item is to acknowledge the work of 771 Squadron Search and Rescue. these Pilots , Aircrew and Ground Crew are on standby 7 days a week 365 days a year for any emergency, be it someone falling down cliffs, swimmers in trouble in the sea, ships in trouble in horrendous weather many hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic or picking up injured seamen. These Guys in their Red and Grey Sea Kings are always there when needed. So on behalf of everyone who has needed their services a really big
THANK YOU. .....
** THE STAR OF THE SHOW **
The main reason for going to this years air show was to see The DE HAVILLAND SEA VIXEN, this is an early Jet from the 1950's and 1960's, and as a boy I can remember flights of them occasionally crossing the skies. So as I stated earlier the rain cleared and late in the afternoon it took off and performed a display that made the hairs stand on end. Such grace and ability in the sky was a pleasure to see. So I will leave you with some of the seventy plus shots that I took of this beautiful Metal Bird.

Sunday 26 July 2009

PENDEEN WATCH

Went down to Pendeen yesterday morning for a spot of Sea watching, not much to report on the bird front as everything was quite distant. Birds seen were Manx Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Gannets, Whimbril, Razorbill, Fulmar, Meadow Pipit and a few other common species. Also noticed a few insects around so spent a while taking pics of them, a selection I have included below.
While taking the Macro shots with my G10 I put my 20d and tripod on the rocks,
What I want to show is my 400mm lens which is a Canon L Series which is bright cream in colour. I have found when approaching birds that as soon as I lift up the camera and the lens comes into view they take flight. So I recently purchased a Camo cover for the lens and have noticed a marked improvement in the results.
The cover is in the Timber camo effect, and when I turned to pick it up I was surprised how it blended into even the rock background. For anyone who is interested here is the web address of the supplier. http://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk/
They supply all sorts of camo gear from clothing to hides to equipment camo.