Playing with New Toys

While in the city on Sunday I finally got to call into Warehouse Express and treat myself to a new pair of binoculars, not because I really needed them but because I could. The need to 'test' them gave me an excuse to visit Bowthorpe/Earlham Marshes, after we had done a bit of shopping. Luckily I met a nice chap with a scope who had already scanned Colney Pits without seeing much so I opted for a scan across the marshes from the road bridge and then a short wander. East of the bridge was quiet with just a few gulls loafing around, but looking west I soon spotted the Great White Egret close to the river. Although the bird was a little distant I decided not to walk to far as there were lots of dog walkers and it seemed quite quiet, a few Redwing and Fieldfare were in the area though, and a Grey Wagtail called from near the weir.

Earlier in the day I popped out and collected my new camera trap after its first outing. New to this tech I wasn't really sure of the best settings to use or where to locate it. Dad had located a good track near his farm allotment that he was curious about, so I strapped it to a tree and hoped for the best. The trap had been activated 14 times in the 36 hours I'd left it out, I was expecting very little but I had to wait until I got back from Norwich to have a proper look. I had 5 day time activations and 9 over night. Unsurprisingly I had captured myself twice but also a cock Pheasant showing off in front of the camera, the best clip though was a Muntjac Deer wandering around in full daylight.

I was most impressed by the night vision of the camera, a 'distant' Muntjac could be easily identified and I also had the back end view of 2 Badger running through shot. I also had 5 clips of what appeared to be nothing (I assume something triggered the side sensors but failed to enter the camera view). With little prep these results were overwhelming, so I'm planning to set it out again later in the week, using higher resolution video and longer recording times, but any advice would be greatly received.