Bugger

A mixed day today. Highlights were discovering two Kingfishers and a Grey Wagtail on the Roding with Steve. Low point was discovering that I hadn't, as I had thought, got away with dropping my camera on Southend Pier yesterday. I had only just started birding, and had found a Coal Tit in Reservoir Wood. As a patch year-tick, it needed recording, so I raised the camera upwards.... God-dammit, why isn't it focussing. And hang on a minute, why is the viewfinder all blurry? Return the camera to horizontal and all fine again. Eh? Give it a shake - ah. I'm not sure it should be rattling like that... It's been coming for a while to be honest, I tend to be fairly unforgiving. The cameras I use are built like tanks, and more often than not they just bounce and continue working just fine. I've got away with it more than a few times, but this time I've been caught out and am likely going to end up several hundred pounds poorer. Mind you, the Purple Sand was definitely worth it. Grrrrrr.

I returned home and got another camera - I am lucky enough/forward-thinking enough to have a spare in case the worst happens. This meant I could take this, so we can easily see that having a DSLR gathering dust in a cupboard has been an entirely worthwhile use of funds.

Can you see the bird? The habitat is a clue...