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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. John Cantelo

    Is this the true future of binoculars?

    Is there any info on the instrument's weight, FoV, close focus, magnification or the size of the OG? I couldn't find anything on a quick look at their website. Without such information, it's impossible to draw any conclusions about its usefulness for birders.
  2. John Cantelo

    Egrets historic range in Spain?

    I think that the species referred to would have been Little and Cattle Egret (aka Buff-backed Heron). Irby (Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar - 1875) notes both as being common but mentions only one report of Great. I don't have a copy but I think Wild Spain (Chapman & Buck 1893) only mentions...
  3. John Cantelo

    State of Hirundine passage this Spring?

    I was in Spain from mid-April until the 9th May and thought numbers were below par there too (although not nearly so bad). I didn't have any hirundines at Stodmarsh (Kent) before I left nor any since my return. I had 5 Hobbies hawking insects there last week but not a single hirundine. A...
  4. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    What's happened to Spectacled Warbler? A few years ago I managed to find Spectacled Warbler in low scrub along the Guadalquivir between Bonanza and Trebujena without too much trouble but, in recent years, I have struggled to do so finding them only at in Cadiz Bay at the Marismas de Cetina...
  5. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    The new reserve at Trebujena continues to take shape with a new car park being constructed to serve the reserve. The noticeboard here tells me (in a Google translation) that - "The Esparraguera marshes, in Trebujena, were transformed in the middle of the last century by means of a drainage...
  6. John Cantelo

    Your most anticipated futures books

    Good to see a 4th edition of Eduardo de Juana & =AZWGwzsFHapr55zmbxJ826iIoiQDJVhgN2QEBxbTUbCjhLL9OnN-4r9oeU1XUJpO3bN66dqpT5tuPT6987NBQWB_SaWkq32MOW2Tck1aJ86hYcxFVaCLqsVaHN43OKqS-QIZzyB4Uq8TzuDsKAioLpNaNasQeYjIRv2PM228MwaBWwaCUT1jqdBz1wrAOajzeGI&tn=-]K-R']Juan Varela's excellent book - Aves de...
  7. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    My home computer having been on a 'go slow' for some months finally gave up the ghost last month so I've not been able to post my final updates on BF until now. I've never made a great effort to boost my Spanish list but when temptation presents itself I'm not entirely averse to a little dirty...
  8. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Good news - Ruppell's Vulture is now on the list for my terrace Bad news - it came low over the terrace when I was in the UK and was seen by two (former ;)) good friends who were staying there.
  9. John Cantelo

    Your most anticipated futures books

    They might even have a bit more space for more text as, I believe, text tends to contract when translated from Dutch into English!
  10. John Cantelo

    Hearing aids for hearing bird calls

    Agreed but that's where experience can come into play and moderate what you're being told by the App. Chaffinch/Redstart is a notorious glitch. I've also found it useful to play back the recording the App makes since with my mobile glued to my ear I can sometimes hear the song/call that I...
  11. John Cantelo

    Hearing aids for hearing bird calls

    It's probably more age (I'm in my 70s) than genetics that accounts for my hearing loss (although my mother was very deaf all her life). I've also "lost" Tree Pipits plus 'crests, Common (but not Short-toed) Treecreeper, Locustella warblers, Redwing, etc. I'd agree that distance is an...
  12. John Cantelo

    Your most anticipated futures books

    I had a couple of 'tweets' this week with the latest info about this much-anticipated guide. Publisher's blurb: ID Handbook of European Birds Nils van Duivendijk Photographs by AGAMI Photo Agency A groundbreaking two-volume illustrated reference book covering all of Europe’s birds Would...
  13. John Cantelo

    Hearing aids for hearing bird calls

    Unfortunately, in my experience, if your ears can no longer detect certain frequency bands then no amount of amplification makes any difference. If you have some residual hearing at those frequencies they can make it easier to hear them. It's a shame that there doesn't seem to be the market to...
  14. John Cantelo

    New APC 50 Stabilised

    It would be very odd to be sold out on the day of their launch so I'd assume the "sold out" banner on the webpage is in error and more probably means "not yet available". There's nothing like dangling a carrot just out of reach to get people interested!
  15. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Back in January this year I posted a map of an exciting new development (Post 73) along the Guadalquivir between Bonanza and Trebujena which is due to be completed this year. It's so big that the consequent earthworks can clearly be seen on GoogleEarth. As my photos below indicate, it's still...
  16. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    There's no avoiding the fact that the Strait of Gibraltar is and will remain the ornithological centre of gravity for birders visiting Cadiz Province. Similarly, it would be quixotic to visit the area for the first time and not go during the spring or autumn migration period when thousands of...
  17. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Here's the photo of Black Storks photo-bombing a Black Vulture ...
  18. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Although it was still a little early in the year to expect much in the way of variety or numbers in migrating raptors, I was very pleased with what I saw watching from my terrace (despite being in a small town - Alcala de los Gazules - it has a 180-degree view over open country - see #70). When...
  19. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Great-spotted Cuckoo is not a species I often see in my neck of the woods in Cadiz Province since I tend not to be there when they peak on migration (although an increasing population of Magpie seems to have increased the numbers lingering in the area). Accordingly, I jumped at the chance to...
  20. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    I did, however, briefly visit three small lagunas - Lagunas Juncosa & de los Tercios (Lagunas de El Puerto de Santa Maria) and Laguna Jeli (Lagunas de Chiclana) and spent a couple of hours walking around a fourth, the urban Laguna de Torrox (Jerez). The first had water but was entirely...
  21. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    As expected, the water levels in the lagunas I visited in February were unseasonally low. Laguna de Medina is traditionally the laguna least likely to suffer from the consequences of a lack of rainfall. As my photos here show there was a wide margin of dried mud and, more worrying, advancing...
  22. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Note that the 'Red-knobbed Coot' I mentioned seeing at Costa Ballena (#50) last year has now been re-identified as a Red-knobbed x Common Coot hybrid which explains its rather poorly developed knobs! Although puzzled at the time by their lack of development, I confess that I assumed it was a...
  23. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Back yesterday from several weeks birding in Cadiz Province (and beyond). Understandably, most visitors go later in spring or in autumn for the raptor passage but restricting yourself to those periods means missing out on some fabulous birding. There are few sights and sounds more rewarding...
  24. John Cantelo

    at last the shell guide british birds

    Some of the illustrations were new but it mostly used the original ones but these were a little better printed.
  25. John Cantelo

    at last the shell guide british birds

    I never quite understood why that edition replaced the poor but usable (just) illustrations by Singer but didn't do the same for some of the far worse plates. In fact, had they done a proper job & dumped all of Singer's illustrations it would have been a really useful guide!
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