Ravenshill looks like a nice place for a photographic walk Birma, lovely scenery (I like the sheep in the distance), and yes things do look clammy and damp in the last couple of photos at Goodrich? Was there much birdlife around?
Greg

Thanks Greg

The wood on Sunday was very busy with bird life, all being quite loud . Not quite as noisy yesterday, but I guess the rain was dampening spirits. We heard Chiff Chaffs, Blackbirds and Pheasants, and in addition saw Robins, Tits, Pigeons, and Buzzards. Of course there were a fair few LBJs which went unidentified .

I can imagine there would be quite a lot of feathered friends in there looking at the images. Thanks Birma, now I want to go out again

Great images of a very beautiful landscape!

Mark

Love the landscape, Birma. : )

I'm getting accustommed to your neat meadows and valleys.

The shot of the tree looking upward keeps making me dizzy...


Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

Sorry Yildiz I'm a bit of a

I forgot to say thanks...I'm involved with a bigger debacle at the moment, I thought those weatherboards were bad, but pretty easy actually compared to the latest thing...
The bridge is coming along I guess, but they have had some problems apparently, I haven't found out yet exactly what the problems were...

Thanks Mark and Yildiz

That's a great looking bird Greg, though with its pointed beak, and talons, I'd want to stay on its good side!
Here is a photo of the object that gives us warmth, and affects our weather immensely! The Sun!
Taken with a700, 70-200G 100,000ND filter hand held. I am about to buy a 2x teleconverter for more magnification, as that is the cheapest way for me to get 400mm. I don't mind the outlay, since a rare event is about to happen in our sky.
I am preparing for the Venus Transit (passing in front of the sun) that will occur here in North America on June 5th. Luckily I don't work that day, and can drive to wherever there are no clouds, and an unobstructed western horizon. Try to catch it if you can, as it won't happen again until 2117!
Here is a site that will tell you if and when you can see it...
http://www.transitofvenus.org/
And be sure to PROTECT YOUR EYES!

P.S. Greg is so lucky... Most of Australia will be able to see the event in its entirety!

Thanks John that bird is a Magpie Goose, yeah your correct I never really took a lot of notice before they do have a mean looking beak don’t they? and not a lot of webbing in the foot like ducks have, so I don’t suppose they are as goosy looking as some northern hemisphere models.
And duly noted about the Venus transit, this will be my third by Venus and I also saw one by Mercury, of course you are welcome to slip over for the event, I can roll out a camping mattress on the floor. I have one of those large sun filters that fit over the front of the telescope, the metallic powder type, I can see the sun spots in high detail but not the coronas, for that I’d need another specialized expensive eyepiece.
I usually drag the scope out in the street and anyone who wants too can have a look at Venus in front of the Sun, last time it was quite popular, a couple of people from the astronomy club usually come over as well.
That is a good one of the Sun, was that with a Sun filter?
Greg

Greg, that goose flew into the wrong topic What a great capture you've made! That Magpie Goose is in a whole different league than all the LBJ's I'm finding lately. It does look kind of mean with that beak. Looks almost like a vultures beak.

Thanks for the info on the transit John and a great image you've made. You rarely see a celestial body in this manner. Nice! I'll take a look if I can witness the transition from here. Probably not, as we're a cloudy country.

Thanks for the invite Greg, but unfortunately the round trip airfare exceeds my budget for this event! Paying for the Sony 2X teleconverter is expensive enough. I have to look into a film cover for my telescope, so I can use it too. I used a Marumi 100,000 ND filter. Not specifically for the sun, but it reduces light intensity enough for camera use. I still only look through the viewfinder just long enough to compose and shoot. I'd love a dedicated solar telescope, but I just can't justify the extra outlay, plus the adapters to mate a camera to it...
I missed the transit 8 years ago, so I am eager to catch this one. I'll have to see when Mercury will do it again. I assume with its shorter orbit time around the sun, that it occurs more frequently.

Thanks Mark- there are lots of options to view it (assuming it isn't cloudy). I even saw pairs of filters that are designed to place on binoculars.
John

I see what you mean about the Goose flying into the wrong thread Mark; I was just using it to demonstrate to Yildiz that I was a goose too.
John I would not hesitate to recommend the sun filter I got for my telescope, very well made with an aluminium frame that fits over the front of the telescope and optical grade glass with powdered stainless steel medium frosted on to the right amount for comfortable viewing and correct colour reproduction, and it blocks out all the heat from the sun from getting into the optics so everything stays cool. http://thousandoaksoptical.com/solar.html Not totally cheap though.
Greg

Thanks for the recommendation Greg. I stumbled across that site while looking for a camera filter. The cost isn't too bad, I just glad that I have $150 USD in gift cards to Adorama for the teleconverter!

Interesting stuff John and useful links Greg. I think this is one area where Live View and EVF really pay off - no risk of looking at the sun

John, I'll be interested how you get on with the 70-200 + converter in general. This does seem a useful alternative to the 70-400 as you still get the option of the 2.8 lens when you need it.

Hi Greg, : )

No need for any embarressement please.

That's one notable bird of Australia, yet again. They indeed are testimony to some of the dinosaurs that theaded the surface of the planet once. I like her/him, all shape, colours and interesting body parts...looks like potetially good cartoon character. : )

Don't worry about the bridge, apparently your goverment has no idea that you are sharing the progress news with the rest of the world, us, who are more impatient than the avarage Australian citizen to see it progress in fastes t possible mode they know, so our Greg can go and take walk across it.
We'll wait and practice patience....ZEN. : )

From the looks of it, nicer cosmological events and presences are more trendy around the World at the moment.
Love the photo John. : )

Too cloudy and rainy here. No use looking up at the sky at night...


Thanks for sharing everyone,

Yildiz

Hi Yildiz, I’ll have to sally forth and check out progress on the bridge again, when I get a minute, but tomorrow I’ll be driving the neighbours crazy (again) with lots of noise as I cut some roofing iron too size. The weather has been hovering at night around 19 or 20°C for weeks, just right for me, but suddenly last night it got a bit chilly and went down to 15, and I saw on the weather map they had minus 4 in Canberra so winter is cranking up for sure. I’ll probably have to chip the ice out of the birdbath soon.
Greg