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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45458
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 19 12:03 am Post subject:

today's new spp was a large moth, hard to see much detail in the dark but triangular at rest, front 2/3 dark, trail 1/3 paler and it would cover a 2p coin has not led me to an id yet.

what a surprise

it does seem a little unfair to pap a moth in the dark with a speedlight although it would work , i don't like that sort of intrusion into a critters life.

my night vis kit is a bit limited to the cobra which is monochrome and has no recording camera ( it does have a number of other useful features:twisted: ) and is fine for observation ( or whatever ) but not the right sort of thing for night photos.

i'm not too bothered just at the mo the daytime stuff is enough of a challenge to get used to.

there are critters described as common that i did not know existed until they turned up in a tiny space and things common here that i can't identify even with a good profile of em to work with.

what fun,

part science ,part art.
there are now 3 books on my order now book list for the tech side of things, the id stuff i will try online for a start , but i recon the 300+ bees and wasps book might bee useful

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 19 6:36 am Post subject:

I don't find online ID as easy as books as you have to know pretty well what you are after first. With plants, if you know which family, or can take a good guess at it, it is easier then with a book rather than start with; well the flowers are yellow and have 6 petals, which is pretty hopeless online, at least in my experience. I do find the RSPB site useful for bird calls, but the butterfly sites are rather tricky to find the exact one you want, and I haven't even tried moths.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45458
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 19 2:50 pm Post subject:

i know what you mean about field guides.
with plants as you say if it is in flower id is pretty easy

shrooms are definitely a book thing, once past the first few hundred spp it is a book thing with lots of abbreviations and few pictures ( and a microscope at times )

insects etc the popular ones have a good online presence but owt with less "charisma " or "fear " factor require finding specialist id info online or from books.

the gap between it is a snail and it is that subspecies of that obscure branch of the slimey hoard is the tricky bit

i have had a play about with image recognition stuff online with some success, drop a photo in the box and it looks for similar images online.
if the snap has a nutral background it improves accuracy a lot.
i am going to play more with that cos it seems ideal for papping invertebrates , snap en, show em get a name.
if it works half the time that means there are only half to do manually and a manual confirmation is easy if the photo id is right

some can only be identified to an exact name by counting the hairs on their middle legs or whatever, i guess that level of detail will require the field guide to that family.

it works with antiques quite well and with plants gives a result or a head start most times.

i recon there is a lot of id stuff online but most is either vague or very detailed , i have found it useful for some things, expert knowledge has filled some gaps ( thanks folks ) and i will have to try to find the right books for a wide range of inverts.

the 300 + bee book might be handy, there are some that visit that i have never seen elsewhere. there is a tiny dark coloured one , bout 6mm long, definitely a bee rather than a wasp or fly or bug , it was a surprise when i got near enough to see a bit of detail.

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2506
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 19 12:56 am Post subject:
It isn't easy - they're very fast, I'm inside the house hoping one comes by so I can click / click / click, review, then delete / delete. This is about the best of 23. This - much slower, in fact not moving, hence easier

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 19 6:21 am Post subject:
Humming birds are, as you say Jam Lady, very hard to photograph. How they got pictures of them in the days of more manual photography I really don't know. Very fast reflexes is all I can think.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45458
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 19 12:02 pm Post subject:

well done with the bird snap

if your camera can do burst shooting even at a few frames a second it ups the chances of getting the photo you want for each visit/button press.

with film it used to cost a fortune even with self processing to get a decent snap of a small moving subject.

a very posh lens or get close are the best options.

iso is not as limited as it was with film which helps a lot.

a fast iso gives opportunity for a useful depth of field which if combined with burst shooting can be quite effective.
manual settings and burst if available rather than auto focus and trying to time each snap can be better for rapid visitors, take the photos of the place while the critter in in the place , job done.

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2506
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 19 1:50 pm Post subject:
You had previously asked about a picture which is why I thought to share. Hummingbirds are not on a schedule. Weather is stinking hot and humid. I am not about to sit outside for an unknown time frame in the hopes that a hummer will come darting by. Given that I'm inside the house and shooting on automatic setting through a thermopane window I will settle for what I got.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 19 6:53 am Post subject:
You did well to get it Jam Lady. I can understand why you don't want to be outside too long if the weather is that bad. I think we chased the humming bird hawk moth around for ages in more sensible weather, and I don't know we got a better shot of it in the end.

lowri

Joined: 18 Oct 2006
Posts: 1322
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 19 10:27 am Post subject:
Re: Books or Internet for identification, books get my vote every time - although some books are better than others! The Observers series aren't bad for identification, but awful for location as things change so much, ditto for some bird books. Anything titled British & European So and So can be very useful.

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 19 10:34 am Post subject:
In general, books are more accurate than the internet. Often, when I have searched the internet for images of a particular species, I have found a mixture of species. That might sometimes be due to different vernacular names, but some are obviously errors. Henry

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45458
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 19 11:16 am Post subject:

through a window that is a very good snap

most of our windows are either old and wonky or new and have some sort of coating .
the single glazed ones can have anything from antique and wonky to triple laminate modern and very few are optical quality

if i can get the wireless remote and smartphone and maybe new pooter direct to talk to the camera even if it is a few yards outside i will be very happy.
if

i just got a snap of mikro and will show once i get the new pooter working.

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2506
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 19 1:13 pm Post subject:

Window is double-glazed with air space between the sealed panes. It would no doubt help if I cleaned it.

Yesterday's high temperature was 91 degrees Fahrenheit when thunderstorm arrived about 4:30 p.m. In 90 minutes the temperature dropped by 20 degrees F. and we got close to an inch of rain in the same time frame.

So yes, weather is unpleasant. Today will be hot, and rain. Ditto tomorrow. And probably Wednesday as well.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 19 7:09 am Post subject:
I don't know how much rain we had yesterday, but it really hammered down a couple of times, and we had a few cracks of thunder to boot. With any luck we should have dry, warmer weather now for a bit. Our weather is less extreme than yours Jam Lady, which suits me very well.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45458
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 19 6:34 pm Post subject:

mikro sammison has had a few adventures and for the last two nights has been digging.
about a kilo of fairly dry and organic soil each night which is far more than the 16 tons coal cutter target on a wt for wt and pick n shovel basis.

very impressive, there was an exploration tunnel adit that must have proved difficult or led to a far better possibility as this hole is directly under it and heads downwards
i'm not sure if it connects to the adits at the other end of the hedge bed.

thinking of the hedge bed it seems to have the makings of a cornish bank
with a few more lumps it might well hold together after the wood eventually rots away.
it started as a strip that was not concreted but has got deeper to about 2' at the wall and 18" at the wood surround

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45458
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 19 5:36 pm Post subject:
here goes. a hoverfly in the bushes

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