Wednesday walk 18th June

Two Spoonbill were the highlight of our walk yesterday evening, which put on a good show with one bird feeding down in the creeks and then two birds flying at the end of our walk towards Brancaster.
Other highlights included Little Egret, scope filling views of singing Reed Warbler and female Reed Bunting.
As ever Redshank were calling continuously, as were Oystercatcher.
Good views of Skylark singing were also had and a distant Common Buzzard was also seen.
Other birds such as Shelduck, Gadwall, Curlew and large flocks of Starling were also present.

Still singing

The male Spectacled Warbler is still singing and nest building at Burnham Overy Dunes - photographed this morning 11 June 2014).

A Spectacle to behold

The North Norfolk coast has been graced with an influx of migrant birds over the last 10 days or so, including some national rarities.
Starting off with a Slender-Billed Gull at Titchwell at the end of May the coast then turned up 2 Black-Headed Buntings, at West Runton and Cromer. However the start of June threw up a bird which has only occurred in Norfolk once before, and only only 7 times previously across the whole of the British isles.

That bird is a Spectacled Warbler, a member of the Sylvia group of warblers. Just 13cm in length this tiny bird usually spends its summer in southern Iberia, southern France, Italy and across into Cyprus and Israel. However on this occasion this adult male Spectacled Warbler over shot its usual breeding grounds and ended up on the Norfolk coast at Burnham Overy dunes, near Gun Hill.

The British isles do have members of the Sylvia family which may be more familiar. Blackcap, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and Dartford Warbler are all members of the same family as Spectacled Warbler and can be found in many places in the UK.

So disorientated is this bird that it spends most of its time building two nests and singing whenever it gets the chance, including display flights which are quite something to marvel at. A great number of people have had the pleasure of seeing this bird now and in general the bird has been respected and given room to carry out its natural behavior.

With no sign of the bird leaving it will no doubt be enjoyed by many more birders in the next few weeks, some travelling from a long distance outside of Norfolk to see it.

A couple of photos below of the bird and other wildlife of the area (Photo credits Richard Campey & Oliver Reville)

Digiscoping in the age of the smartphone

Smartphones...They are the must have item of the world, from kids to pensioners. Now it seems that bird watchers are tapping into the smartphone market as well. With the development of phone cameras this has opened up a huge range of possibilities to birdwatchers who want to capture their finds with photos.

But a bird 60 metres away isn't going to be easy to get on a smartphone with little or no zoom. This is where the art of digiscoping comes into play and there is a new way that maximises smartphone photography.

The answer is below (Other smart phones are available!), the Viking Smart Phone Adapter. 

So what is it? First of all it comes in two parts, the phone holder and the eyepiece mount. 
The phone holder is of plastic construction and by using clips that are fully adjustable depending on the phone you are using allows the user to hold their phone in place so it is aligned with the hole in the eyepiece mount. 
Literally any smart phone can be fitted to the holder including:

• HTC One
• Samsung Galaxy series
• All Apple Iphones
• Sony Xperia range

and many more! 

The eyepiece mount again is plastic and with a simple "screw click" mechanism attaches to the phone holder. There are various different sizes available depending on the scope being used and this means that if you change your scope you don't have to buy the full kit again, just the eyepiece mount. 

The list of compatible scopes is as follows: 

1 - 39mm - Viking AG
2 - 48mm - Viking ED Pro Zoom, Viking AW Zoom
3 - 55mm - Swarovski ATS/STS Zoom & Kowa TSN 770/880 Series (Zooms and 30x)
4 - 56mm - Leica APO Televid 65/82 Zoom & RSPB HD Zoom
5 - 59mm - Swarovski ATX

It really is a fantastic addition to a birders kit, especially ones interested in digiscoping as it is such a simple system to use. 

For more information please visit:
http://www.onestopnature.co.uk/epages/es143788.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es143788/Products/z100viking


One Stop Nature. 

Weekend sunshine

Everyone's waking up
With the sunshine continuing today we are seeing real signs of Spring - Chiffchaffs are in full song and these local Adders are warming up and getting ready for their next slough.

Spring arrives, and what better time to get outdoors!

So Spring has well and truly sprung across the UK as we finally (fingers crossed) seem to have left behind what was a terrible Winter for many. From Norfolk to Cornwall storms battered our coastlines and caused flooding.
While the flooding remains a serious issue in many areas the arrival of Spring, and the sun, may at last give a rest bite to the wind and rain of December-February.
So with the temperatures increasing, wind dropping and sun shining now is the best time to get outside and discover wildlife both in your garden and in the countryside.
Spring migrant birds are arriving, flowers are beginning to bloom and Sunday 9th March saw the highest temperatures of the year, up to 20oC in some places.
North Norfolk is a wonderful place to be in Spring and if you are in the area pop into The One Stop Nature Shop where you will find an expansive range of equipment from Binoculars to magnifiers to wildlife cameras which will enable you to observe more wildlife this Spring.
We also have our local bird sightings which are updated daily with birds found on the Norfolk coast.

Whatever aspect of wildlife you are into, Spring is a fantastic time of year to get outdoors and it finally seems like the weather is playing ball as well.

One Stop Nature.

Weekend High

Light and Easy
We are promised temperatures reaching 18 degrees this weekend so a great time to be out on the coast enjoying the wildlife. The One Stop Nature Shop has some huge savings on compact Nikon binoculars, easy to carry around in pocket,bag or just round your neck, and prices starting from £35

Recent sighting include up to 5 Great Northern Divers and 2 Black-throated Divers  at Blakeney Harbour and Iceland Gull at Thornham Harbour and still some Snow Buntings at Holme.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch - 25th/26th January 2014

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch will take place on the 25th and 26th of January 2014. All you need to do is spend just one hour over this weekend counting the birds in your garden.
The RSPB run this count in order to gauge the health of the countryside, which is a great indicator of the health of the countryside of the United Kingdom.
Lats year 590,000 people took part and recorded 8.2 million birds, giving the RSPB a fantastic insight into the birds that are visiting the gardens of the UK and the health of birds in the UK in general.

With the event just 11 days away now would be a great time to stock up those bird feeders, or maybe invest in some new ones in order to boost the number and variety of birds visiting your garden.

One that we personally recommend here at One Stop Nature is the CJ Apollo easy clean seed feeder. This superb feeder features detachable base, lid and bird stands for easy cleaning and has proven to be massively popular and easy to clean.
Priced at just £19.95 the Apollo would make a great addition to any garden ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch. Do pop in to give it a look or call us on 01485 211223 if you wish to place an order.

For more information on the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch please visit the link below and please do take part, the recordings you collect will prove vital to the future of garden birds in the UK.

Thank you

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/

Dino-Lite Digital Microscopes - A new way into microscopy

At The One Stop Nature Shop we have the largest retail display of microscopes in the UK, with our range of digital microscopes taking centre stage. They are often the first thing visitors notice upon entering the shop, with the high magnification digital microscopes connected to large 27" displays. 

But what is a Dino-Lite? and what makes them so good? Read on to find out...

Originally from Taiwan, Dino-Lite's are now distributed on every continent (Other than Antarctica....) and their success and popularity has led to the creation of a wide range of models. 

The ranges available to One Stop Nature Shop customers consist of: 

"Basic" (£105-£227) - For general purpose applications, where the high image resolution and advanced hardware and software features are not strictly necessary, the Dino-Lite basic series is a good choice. These Dino-Lite models are affordable and an easy-to-use, but still have the same durability and quality as the more advanced Dino-Lite product series. A basic version of the proprietary DinoCapture software is included with each Dino-Lite. The magnification of the microscopes goes from 10x to 70x to around 200x. 

"Professional" (£313-£399) - Dino-Lite Professional digital microscopes give professional users high picture quality as well as comprehensive measurement functions. The 1.3 megapixel image sensor provides a high resolution and sharp picture, with a large field of view. A broad range of models is available in the Professional series including long working distance, high magnification and models with adaptable polarisation. 

"Pro+ 5 megapixel" (£651-£741) - The Dino-Lite 7013 HR models provide crystal clear high resolution images of superior quality. The 5 megapixel sensor makes it possible to display microscopic images, without loss of quality, on large screens or where images should be printed. All 7013 models come in robust aluminium alloy housing for enhanced protection. With the DinoCapture 2.0 software package, you can save images and videos, make time lapse recordings and perform calibrated measurements. 

"TV/VGA" (£296) - For working in environments where you do not want to use a computer, or when a real-time video stream is required, a Dino-Lite with DVI, VGA or direct TV connection might be the best solution. The Dino-Lite series with VGA connection can be plugged directly into a computer monitor (VGA screen) and the DVI and TV models can be connected directly to the TV screen. A great advantage of the High-Speed-Real-time models is that they offer a high frame rate of up to 60 frames per second; ideal in siutiations where real time images are vital.

All Dino-Lite digital microscopes are compatible with the latest Windows and Mac operating systems and also backwards compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP and older Mac operating systems. 

As with a lot of equipment seeing is believing, and this applies to the Dino-Lite range as well. So please follow the links below to the relevant Dino-Lite range that is of interest to you or pop into our shop at Burnham Deepdale to experience Dino-Lite digital microscopes first hand. 

Dino-Lite "Basic" range

Dino-Lite "Professional" range

Dino-Lite "Pro+ 5MP" range

Dino-Lite "TV/VGA" range

Water Bear seen in shop !

Monday 18 November 2013
While a Yellow-breasted Bunting was being found on Blakeney Point today, we found our own very exciting record - a Water Bear or Moss Piglet - in a tiny sample of moss that we had immersed in spring water overnight. The Water Bears, or Tardigrades to give them their proper name, have been referred to as the "hardiest critters on earth" being able to withstand freezing down to -151 C and heated to 200 C , they can dehydrate to just 3% of water and don't need to eat for more than 30 years. They can withstand pressures six times that of the deepest ocean and have been sent to space, where they survived !

So we were elated when we managed to see one in our moss sample. Using a Stereo 3D microscope, on 40x we had our first Tardigrade sighting ! At less than half a millimeter long they are not easy to see,  translucent under a light microscope, and move surprisingly fast, but we managed quickly to capture an image using a mobile phone held up to the eyepiece tube. It's a pretty dreadful picture (below), due to our haste and excitement but our first and we shall be setting up a GX Cam to get better pictures. The hunt is on !

And here are some pictures taken by the North Carolina Museum of Sciences

New arrivals and website changes

A couple of new binoculars have landed at One Stop Nature and both offer fantastic optics at remarkably low prices.
First up is Zeiss's new offering, the Terra ED. Available in both 8x42 and 10x42 this binocular is the cheapest full size binocular Zeiss produce, but that doesn't mean it lacks the same quality and punch that the top Zeiss have despite being just £369 for the 8x42.
Click here to read our full review of the Zeiss Terra ED 8x42
Next up we have an exciting new binocular from Nikon, the Monarch 7 ED 8x30. Brand new to the market this compact and light (435 grams) binocular offers the superb optics of the full size Monarch 7 but at just £259. Combining this light weight with superb optical quality the Monarch 7 ED 8x30 promises to be one of the binoculars to purchase leading up to Christmas.
Please click here for more information on this superb binocular from Nikon.

Viewers of our website may have noticed a few changes taking place today (12/11/2013). As we quickly approach our 2 year anniversary we decided to give the website a make over to make it even more user friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
As ever we welcome all comments on the site and we would love to hear your thoughts on the new look as it progresses over the coming days.

One Stop Nature

Seabirds grace Norfolk coast

The easterlies are returning! But before they do a spell of high speed North to North Westerlies are battering the North Norfolk coast as we speak, as well as many other areas of the North Sea coast.
This is great news for birders, especially those who enjoy seawatching.

Sooty Shearwater, Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Gannet, Little Gull, Red-Throated Diver, Razorbill, Great-Crested Grebe, Wigeon, Common Scoter and 2 Short-Eared Owls in off were all noted past Cley in just a 50 minute spell. With those birders staying longer enjoying fantastic views of Leach's Petrel.

Also along the coast at Holme, Sheringham and Winterton sea birds have been cropping up in good numbers, especially Sooty Shearwaters.

With the Northerlies set to swing round to North Easterlies through Thursday night and into Friday the picture changes again.

The hope is for more seabird movement but also for an arrival of passerines from Scandinavia and beyond. Perhaps One Stop Nature will repeat on the Yellow-Browed Warbler of a week ago, or perhaps something rarer!

Hopefully many birdwatchers will be able to get out there during these conditions and turn up something special for the rest of us to enjoy. As ever do pop in and report your sightings to us here at One Stop Nature and we will put what you have seen on our sightings board outside the shop.

In the meantime, have a look at the charts below from Magicseaweed.com to see how the winds will change in the next 48 hours, starting at Thursday morning and ending at Saturday morning.

Happy Birding!

One Stop Nature.

 

 

Siberian passerine visits One Stop Nature

As a birdwatcher you can find yourself going all over the country looking for rare birds. But yesterday one of these rare birds decided to visit us here at One Stop Nature.
A Yellow-Browed Warbler, which breeds in Siberia and winters in South East Asia, was heard and then seen yesterday morning by two customers of One Stop Nature.
After another search this petite warbler failed to show again, giving just a couple of blasts of its high pitched "tsoeest" call.
 There has been countless Yellow-Browed Warbler sightings throughout Britain in the last week or so, their arrival boosted by a continuing high pressure and easterly winds.
As ever we welcome any sightings here at One Stop Nature so if you are passing and have seen something interesting do pop in and let us know.
A happy Autumn to all bird watchers out there. 

Puss Moth

A beautiful Puss Moth was seen on our shop wall yesterday. The security lights outside the row of shops at Deepdale Market are attracting a good variety of species. This Puss Moth being the best so far:

Moths and more moths

Saturday 20 July 2013
We are hearing from some of our customers that moths are everywhere. People running moth traps are reporting big catches so we put the OneStop moth trap out last night and below are a few of the ones we caught. They are all released after being photographed.

We are expecting a delivery of Skinner Traps in the next couple of weeks. These will be of a slightly heavier duty design than previous traps.

Garden Tiger Moth at rest

 

Garden Tiger with wings open

 

 Garden Tiger head on

 Leopard Moth

 Poplar Hawk Moth

 Privet Hawk Moths

Toucan play at that game....

As summer finally (fingers crossed) arrives after a very unpredictable month we can all look forward to Wimbledon, Pimms and the great British summer.

First though, take a look at this new binocular from Kite which has landed at The One Stop Nature Shop.

Carrying on with the bird name trend Kite has named their new binocular the Toucan. Priced at under £300 (£299) it represents Kite's cheapest roof prism binocular at this time.

Coming in an 8x42 and 10x42 format to start the Toucan offers the excellent build quality and 30 year warranty that has given Kite such a strong reputation.

First impressions are of an superbly built binocular with very sharp objects and a really high quality feel.

Why not pop in to The One Stop Nature Shop at Burnham Deepdale and try them for yourself....

Rose-Coloured Starling visits local town

This week birders, photographers and the general public have all been treated to stunning views of an adult male Rose-Coloured Starling (Pastor roseus) in Wells-next-the-sea.

It can be found along the road to East Quay in a small garden on the north side of the road.

Its typical breeding range starts in the very east of Europe and extends into Asia minor, moving to India and tropical Asia in winter.

This very confiding bird has been giving excellent views and it is definitely worth popping along and seeing if you are in the area.

A few images below from One Stop Nature staff member Oliver Reville (More at www.flickr.com/oreville1989 & www.ojrnaturalworldphotos.wordpress.com/)

Little Gull

26 April 2013
An adult Little Gull graced Deepdale Marsh for a couple of days. Now (28th) two reported at Titchwell.

Migrants at last

24 April 2013
At last the Norfolk coast is seeing some migrants with sightings of Black Redstarts, Redstarts, Whimbrel and more common migrants such as Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat being reported all along the coast. Still some Ring Ouzels present. Also last week good numbers of Yellow Wagtails.

The One Stop Nature Shop guided walk on saturday turned up seven Common Cranes and two Mediterranean Gulls at Deepdale Marsh. And last night a Montagu's Harrier (this a heavily cropped picture).

The fields behind the shop have many active Hares and when the sun is out they can be seen zooming across the fields and occasionally boxing.

Gardens in Brancaster and Stanhoe still have a few Bramblings

and Lesser Redpoll

Swallows are now on the wires outside the shop. As ever we keep the sightings board outside the shop constantly updated with local bird news.

Trophy Cam video

Mr and Mrs Hamilton kindly sent in some pictures and video from the Trophy Cam that they purchased from us. Here is one of the videos taken in their garden recently.

We still have stock of the 119437 Bushnell Trophy Cam 8MP with HD video at the UK's lowest price of £179 (please note this is a genuine UK import)
 click here to visit our Trophy Cam page