Walk on the Hill

I took a walk on Corstorphine Hill today. It is something that I like doing but today I also wanted to take a new camera for a walk. It was an afternoon of mixed fortunes - the walk was lovely but it will take me a while to get used to the camera. Also, have you ever deleted the SD card without checking that all of the files have actually transfered to the computer? I have never done that before - until this afternoon. Luckily there weren't many shots lost but one or two of them I wanted to keep.

The hill was relatively quiet in terms of wildlife, possibly because of the number of people about. The highlight for me was four bullfinches, three male and one female, flittering around in the higher branches. Several jays were about I believe but I didn't see them. The buzzards spent a lot of time being mobbed by crows and unfortunately I couldn't get any clean pics of them - although if I had I would probably have inadvertently deleted them :-(

I have a number of cameras though all of my SLRs have been film cameras - three Canons (AT1, A1, T90) and three Contax (139Q, 137MA, RTS). All have their charms. My first digital was a Panasonic Lumix FZ7 which my daughter currently has with her in China. Until now my main digital has been a Leica D-Lux 5 but I have just bought a DSLR - a Nikon D7000 - which I think I'm going to enjoy once I get the hang of it. I know pretty much what to do to get what I want out of the Leica but haven't yet worked it out with the Nikon which, in my defence, I've only had for 24 hours.

Anyway, I've posted below some snaps from the garden. Most were shot through the kitchen window and I've had to play with them a bit in Lightroom. So it goes.

	This wee fellow was hopping around on the decking outside of the patio window. We don't see them often - I can only remember three over the years, but I suspect that there are many more around which sensibly stay out of sight.
	From 2009. This fox was often to be found lazing in this spot for quite a lot of the day so it obviously felt safe. We've had some work done in the garden recently but I'm sure they'll get used to it. They are a feature of life around here and are quite unconcerned by human presence or activity.
	This wee chap was one of brood born and raised under our old greenhouse, now demolished, in 2007. I enjoy having fox cubs around but am not so happy with them living in the garden. The shed behind which it is hiding here is also history.
	The most frequent visitors are currently jackdaws which have worked out how to get food from most of the feeders around the garden, although there is one that they haven't spotted yet. They are quite a pest because they wolf down food and leave none for the rest. They are particularly adept at emptying the peanut feeder in the foreground. Interestingly pigeons have until recently looked forlornly at the birdfeeders and simply strutted around below pecking up seeds which fall. In summer 2012 one juvenile started copying the jackdaws. I haven't seen it lately but I'll be watching for it.
	This female sparrowhawk was photographed at the long end of a digital zoom through the kitchen window during the hard winter in November 2010. Our most recent sparrowhawk has been male but so far has escaped being photographed.
	And finally another eater of peanuts. This mouse was often found in the climbing honeysuckle which is taking over the wall at the back of the house and sat there very still to avoid being seen.