Teesmouth Bird Club

One of the best lenses ever made!  Reluctantly decided to sell, but only because it's rarely being used and it deserves a better home.  With its original case and protected by sleeving since new.  There is a single scratch on the outer body but that's cosmetic and the only blemish.  Optically and mechanically immaculate.  Can meet locally to view / try out if interested.  £6500 ovno

Due to upgrade to NL Pures, I have a my old pair of 10x42 ELs for sale.  They're well used and show signs of wear - very slight delamination of coating and a missing screw cover from the front of the barrel - but are optically excellent and mechanically sound.  Can meet locally to try them if interested.  £500 (Bargain!)

Volumes 4-6 complete and professionally bound
Vol 7 Compundlete in Birding World Folder
Volumes 8-14 Complete and professionally bound
Vols 19-22 unbound magazines missing 2 (Vol 19.11 and Vol 22.7)

Any reasonable offers considered

Now sold

Very good physical condition and optically perfect.  A brilliant 'entry level' lens for wildlife photography. Cost ?1000 new - will accept ?450.  Some images attached.

Just a record shot from this morning

Pretty much as good as they get in spotting 'scopes!

Optically perfect and had protective case from new.

Retail at around £2200 at the moment...

30x wide angle eyepiece and stay on protective case included.

This is an absolutely stunning telescope for birding!

First £1250 offer can have it.

email me for details or just to buy :-)

stew.hinley@hotmail.com

Stew

Access via iPhone and Macbook seem perfectly ok so can't think why an iPad should be having problems?

It should be said that you should not go looking for these owls!

I'm sure that once their roosting patterns have been established, the RSPB wardens will be happy to show them to everyone, at a distance which doesn't disturb them.

Stew.

I give up !!!! How about hippopotamus? Water horse.... in GREEK!!!

Hate being a pedant but it's one of my pet hates.... birds, insects etc don't have Latin names, they have scientific names.... Anthophila for example, the genus of this moth is Greek

Hi Martyn... the warbler looks good to me!

Stew

Another tricky one... We live in a generation which has been affected heavily by ourselves, with low numbers of predators.... be it otters, BOPs, Magpies....  so we have got used to artificially high numbers of prey items because of the lack of predators.  As we right the balance (sometimes artificially by reintroduction) the predator / prey balance needs to sort itself out and we need to trust it will as ultimately, predator numbers are controlled by food supply.  Be it anglers, grouse shooters or whatever, the situation will hopefully return to a natural balance and we / they should learn to accept it.

Carp are only here because we put them here... it's not the otter's fault they like to eat them!

Stew

That's the whole dilemma with hunting Keith.  The gamekeepers maintain fantastic habitat, such as heather moorland for grouse, patchwork woodland for pheasants (and previously foxes) and even rich grassland for partridges.  As wildlife enthusiasts we all benefit greatly from their efforts, as does the entire ecosystem - an even more important factor.

Unfortunately, there still exists the philosophy of persecution of raptors and other 'menaces' in an effort to maximise hunting profits for their lords and masters.

What is needed, in my humble opinion, is education.  Until landowners and their gamekeepers accept the theory of a natural balance, where predator numbers are controlled purely by prey availability, we will continue to see the mindless persecution of our wonderful raptors - a very sad state indeed!

Things are improving with generational changes.  I know of 'land workers' who are very proud (and secretive) of their breeding Merlins on moors near to us and this will hopefully become the norm.

Trouble with taking punitive actions which make hunting a less profitable form of farming (for thats what keeping grouse moors is) is that the owners may look for alternatives, like upland sheep farming or endless fields of rape....

The whole thing saddens me!

The unlawful persecution of raptors is, of course, an absolute disgrace but, please remember... without grouse shooting there'd be no moorland heather habitat.. no grouse and no raptors.  Just endless upland sheep farms!

Stew.