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Our Resident Prickly Hog

We’ve had a Hedgehog resident around the quinta for sometime and I noticed it tonight foraging around the some catcus. It saw me and hid in the undergrowth, but I knew there was only one way out.

So I grabbed an LED light and placed it high in a tree pointing downwards, I don’t like the idea of using flash at night on animals so the idea was to have a fairly dim light and shoot with a high ISO.

I set the camera (Nikon D850 with 80-400mm) on a Bean Bag (available in the shop) and lay on the ground silently waiting……..and waiting……it took an hour before it came out the way I was hoping and I grabbed this shot below. Considering the high ISO and quite shallow depth of field, it’s a stunner!

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One Of The New Neighbours

I posted last week about a pair of Little Owls that have moved into a dead Cork Oak near the Quinta.

This morning, I managed to grab a nice side-lit shot of one of them. I am still without my “big gun” after it suffering damage (good news is, it is being repaired, more on this soon), so I was armed with what I call my walkabout lens, the fab Nikon 80-400mm VR.

I’m looking forward to getting some great shots of these two and I am working out an angle so that I can hide and shoot, but until my 500mm lens has been repaired it is all in vain.

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A Pair Of Blackcaps Foraging In The Rain

I don’t normally pick a camera up when it’s raining (unless its a photo of the weather of course!) but we are currently in the process of revamping the gardens around the Quinta. This is bringing in bird life to forage through the mess and I noticed a Black Redstart this morning so grabbed the camera (D850 armed with 80-400mm), however, my attentions were soon diverted to a pair of Eurasian Blackcaps who really didn’t seem bothered by my presence as they happily sifted through the gravel and dead leaves coming within a few metres of where I was sat. The female was constantly checking where her male was, so these will soon be nest building nearby.

Although the light levels with the persistent drizzle was terrible I couldn’t help myself but to share a picture of each.

First is the male and you can instantly recognise why it’s called a Blackcap. Often people are confused with the similar Sardinian Warbler, but that has a white breast and also a red ring around the eye.


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Day 2 Of The Local Fire And It’s Good News

After checking around midnight, I went to sleep knowing the fire was under control. This morning, they have done an amazing job to tame it and now just hot spots remain on the ground.

Air support was back dropping water on the hot spots and also a small flare up when the wind suddenly changed to a Southerly, as forecast. However, it looks like it is now under full control and currently there are no active fronts burning.

The photos show both the devastation to the local Cork Oak Trees and also some of the amazing Bombeiros and Pilots still at the scene. Some photos may appear to be slightly out of focus, they are not this is the incredible heat haze rising from the torched ground.

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Baby Nuthatch!

This morning I was in the garden shooting backlit Honey Bees (another blog to follow later) and I heard a tapping noise in one of our Oak Trees. I thought it would be the usual Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers which are common in our area, however, when I looked I noticed 2 juvenile Eurasian Nuthatches. Here is a photo of one who briefly posed on top of the tree for me.

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