Impressive Service

Tuesday March 14

Mulling over an idea for some time, I got down to doing the research on line yesterday. That is, investigating prices, available goods, reviews etc. There ws also the usual search for all the missing 'bits', Pam did all of this. My Swarovski 82 scope is twelve years old, and has been around the world a bit. I love it and use it all the time from the car, but.....

An annoying speck on the front lens fooled me that there was a bird in the sky, time and time again. The screw loosening and tightening the eyepiece swivel was no longer tightening. I need to swivel the eyepiece whilst viewing from the car on the scope for stability.  

Encouraged by Pam, off we went to CleySpy, I wouldn't dream of using any other  store for my optics, they have always treated me very well. To-day was no exception. Greeted by Suzanne and then a 'what can we do for you today', I replied that I was wanting to change my scope. The next question was why did I. I gave the reasons mentioned above. Suzanne looked through the scope, saying that there was nothing wrong with the front lens, maybe it was internal. The conclusion reached by Suzanne and the helpful Andrew. who is the repair expert, was that there was some internal moisture in the zoom eyepiece and that the latter's zoom control ring was loose. They suggested sending the eyepiece to Swarovski for repair (it's well out of warranty). I replied that at my age I was into instant gratification and did not want to be without my scope for the next month, nor in Scotland. 

The end result was:

nothing wrong with my scope, it would be daft to buy a new one. 

I bought a new zoom eyepiece and CleySpy would sell my old eyepiece for me when it was returned.

Excellent service and advice, Thank you. An awful lot cheaper too. 

We then drove to Morston where the male turkey had his tail fully fanned, his wattle bright crimson. The tide was still only just on the ebb so there were few birds visible. A few Redshank and Oystercatchers. The flock of 2-300 Brent Geese in a nearby field suddenly took off as I was looking through them for something different. A Pale-bellied Brent has been in the area again. 

Cley Eye Field had another tightly packed flock of Brent, very difficult to sort through as they were that bit too far away. We did find four Golden Plover which was a month tick. 

Moths 

Yesterday was our best moth catch this year. After a very cold spell, it warmed up enough for there to be 16 moths in the traps. Two of them new for the year.

Grey Shoulder-knot



Red Chestnut 


Greg has said that the first of the year trap will be put out at Cley Centre tomorrow night. Maybe for nothing, but, worth a try.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 12

Image
 Monday May 6 Most of the morning was occupied getting in touch with the car insurance people and then Autoglass - then waiting for Autoglass to get back to us.  A  stone chipped our windscreen on the way through Skye, since then its become a one foot plus horizontal crack on Pam's side. End result. We take the car to Lewis or Skye or wait until we get home. The garage here 'doesn't have the equipment to deal with the sensor in the front screen'. Ian, Heather's husband, says he does them all the time! Ah well, live with it.  Almost the first bird we saw as we drove north was a lovely male Hen Harrier. It was distant but I had to try, one of these days I'll get a decent photo. Original photo before editing, taken with 500mm lens    Edited     As we drove down to Loch Paible, a flock of fifteen Whimbrel dropped in to the near corner.We needed to turn the car, by which time the birds had gone, this Wheatear posed nicely for me.    A short d...
Read more

Moth Migration

Image
 Wednesday October 9 Like birds, moths migrate when the season and weather conditions are right. Recently, we have had easterly winds with a mouth watering fall of birds which we have been unable to walk and see. Many Yellow-browed Warblers, Eastern Crowned Warbler in Shetland, a possible Amur Stonechat and an Asian Desert Warbler in Norfolk. Our moth traps have had a reasonable sprinkling of the migrant moths - although some could be breeding here by now. Palpita Vitrialis Scarce Bordered Straw Delicate   and Rusty Dot Pearl
Read more

Day 19

Image
  Monday May 13   The day started slowly and ended at a gallop. A morning spent doing chores meant an even later start than usual, well past mid-day. Loch Druidibeg was the intended destination but we missed the turning and ended up at Loch Eynort. Both are in South Uist, but Druidibeg is not signposted on the northern approach. We even found a parking space in the small six car parking area, where we sat looking at a pretty empty sea. Eventually, Red-breasted Merganser, Shags, a Great Northern Diver and an Otter on the sea and Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Cuckoo, and a Lesser Redpoll from the small wood alongside. AS we reversed away, Pam noticed the reg plate on the car beside us. It was WOC, Ian and Sue's car. We left them a note and drove on in the rain. We found Druidibeg this time. RSPB Scotland Loch Druidibeg, a community nature reserve formed in partnership with local crofters and the community estate. It is a Special Protection Area and Site...
Read more