Aug 30th Strumpshaw Fen

Kingfisher

It was kind of strange returning to Strumpshaw after just arriving back home from my holiday in Scotland yesterday, but it is great to be back all the same. Though it appears that I have brought the Scottish weather with me. It is raining! Thankfully, I entered the Fen Hide before it got really chucked it down. The only thing though, was that with the wooden flaps of the hide open, the rain was coming in. I kept my camera away from getting wet as best I could and for the time being, it was working normally as I snapped away at the kingfisher, water rail, heron and everything else willingly showing themselves despite the rainy conditions in front of the hide. The kingfisher in particular was coming back and forth during the time I was there, occasionally returning with a fish to either eat now or to position it in it's bill to take away to feed a chick somewhere.

Water Rail

Grey Heron

Cormorant

Shoveler

Little Egret

At Reception Hide, my good fortune took a bad turn. Though there were plenty of gadwalls, shovelers, mallards, a couple of little egrets, a heron or two, cormorants, the odd visit of a kingfisher and a few marsh harriers to look at and enjoy, it was all marred by my camera. It was working like normal to begin with, taking a few good shots of little egrets, but then when turning it back on to try and photograph a kingfisher at a nearby perch, it went faulty. The lens was going in and out uncontrollably before it went black with a message about there being a problem with the lens and to try again later. Then it turns itself off. It appears that moisture had gotten inside the camera just like it did back in January when snow caused it to not work completely until two days of drying out later.

Coot

Gadwall

Grey Heron

My camera was having me worried throughout my shift and I wasn't enjoying being there because of it. Amazingly though, after around an hour of checking and getting the same message, a small miracle happened. It was working again! However, there is still something wrong with it. Before it's malfunction, the image would fill the whole screen at the back of the camera, now it isn't. If you can imagine watching a movie on a widescreen TV with those black bars at the top and bottom of the screen and tip it on its side, that is what the image of my camera looks like. I don't know how to get it back to full screen again. If anyone knows what's wrong and has any advice in fixing it, please let me know. It still works, but I would prefer it to work at its best.