There are some days when a single “Oh dear” just won’t do.
I won’t burden you with a list of minor annoyances, but I do want to share one.
On leaving the house this lunchtime to search for Waxwings I saw a big flock of Magpies gathering in the trees at the end of the street. There were around 25 in the treetops and another 15 or so swooped in as we watched, making a total of 40, which is the most Magpies I’ve ever seen at one time. I had my camera with me, so managed to get a few shots.
You won’t be able to see proof of this because the SD card from my camera has selected this moment to start playing up.
I’ve been meaning to back it up for a while.
I suspect that the good intentions that pave the road to Hell often start with “I’ve been meaning to…”
There were no Waxwings, just to add insult to injury, though there were around 20 Redwings and 30 Feral Pigeons.
Those pictures are refusing to cooperate too.
Actually, I’ve just managed to download the contents of the corrupted drive and download the shots. They aren’t that good, but it’s nice to have a few photos for the post.
It’s also been a valuable lesson.
Equipment has a way of malfunctioning at the wrong moment. Magpies are beautiful birds, and I hope you will be able to post some photos of them again.
After generations of being shot by gamekeepers they are a bit shy when you point a camera at them, but I’ll keep trying. 🙂
I have never seen a flock of magpies like that. I am glad that you were able to recover the pictures.
Me too!
I’ve never managed such good shots of magpies
Tricky birds – it’s in their DNA to fly away when someone points something at them. These are my first decent shots of them.
Well, here’s hoping for fewer “oh dears” today!
It’s better already. 🙂 We’re clearing out on the farm and I’m in the kitchen with Dave drinking tea and setting the world to rights!
Do you think the Magpies have arrived from the Continent or Scandinavia? I don’t particularly like the idea of such large gangs of magpies roaming the country!
I checked on the internet and they don’t mention anything about migrants – just that magpies sometimes gather before the breeding season, though nobody knows why. Never seen so many before – felt like I was in a Hitchcock film!
Curiouser and curiouser!
Time to turn Bird Detective! 🙂
😉
Those magpies are something. I hope your camera recovers.
Fortunately it’s just the card, and I have a spare. It was the thought of losing all the photos that really worried me. As I say – a lesson.
At my photo workshop in the fall, the instructor recommended downloading to a computer, deleting, and then reformatting the disk each time. I do that with the fancy camera now. I also have extra cards…
I will take this advice – seems like a good habit to get into. Thanks for the information – could save me a lot of heartache in the future.