This morning I decided to head up to Caldbeck village on the edge of the Lake District National park. The main plan was to practice my digiscoping skills, or perhaps simply acquire some! My current set up is a Hawke Endurance ED 85 with 25-75x zoom eyepiece, a Google Pixel 9 pro phone, a generic Bluetooth remote shutter release and a Viking Swallow universal adapter. I’m still getting used to using the adapter, but so far so good. I’ve also installed a few new camera apps to try out. The stock app does too much automated after shot editing using AI, I wanted a camera app that keeps the image as untouched as possible.
On arrival to Caldbeck, I checked the beck to see if there was anything interested on the rocks. I was greeted by a superb adult White-throated Dipper and a pair of Grey Wagtails. I enjoyed watching them for a little while, but they were a bit mobile for my photography ability. After checking the area around the village pond briefly, I walked up the hill out of the village to see if there was anything to see in the surrounding habitat. I noted a handful of Barn Swallows flying overhead and the king of pigeon’s, the Stock Dove perched in a tree, some distance away. Despite the very grey sky, I thought the Stock Dove was a good bird to try and digi-scope.
I love seeing Stock Doves, they are such an under appreciated bird.
Given the contrasting skies, I’m actually quite pleased with how these pictures turned out.
All in all a nice morning out before the bank holiday rush. I saw some smart birds and I learnt a few new digiscoping techniques (but I definitely need more practice).
