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Hi all
Yes, today has been a good friday so far. A few days ago my new scope
arrived - the leightweight Kowa TS611, 20-60x zoom, 60mm diameter.
I had deliberately chosen this leight jewel as I had previously owned a
larger Kowa, a lump of a thing to carry around. I haven't had a scope for almost
five years now after I sold my first one (reluctantly) to help finance a world
trip.
Anyway today was my first opportunity to try it out. After a very cold
morning the sun had quickly warmed things up and around lunchtime it was around
25C. I headed for the local wetland (Hart Lagoon, near Waikerie, some of you who
have been to Gluepot might know it). The scope was every bit as good as I
expected, of course it not being made of ED glass (I didn't want to pay an extra
$900 for that) at 60x magnification some purple edging occurs. Also it is nice
and bright for the 60mm diameter, I don't know what its performance will be
under overcast conditions though.
The water in the lagoon was flowing out over the edges as the River
Murray is yet again rising. There was a lot of activity, mainly ducks including
many hundreds of Pink-eared Duck, and quite a few Aus. Shovelers and around 25
Caspian Terns. Between all this I spotted one or two Freckled Ducks! All
ducks kept going under to feed, their bums sticking up, so it was not an easy
count, but after about 20 minutes I concluded there were at least 8 Freckleds
there.
A very satisfying result, Freckled Ducks are quite rare in the settled
parts of SA, every year one or two turn up at different places but never before
had I seen 8.
For those of you who are heading to Gluepot, Hart Lagoon is a short detour
and well worth a visit - it's only 200 m down from the Waikerie Caravan Park.
Check it out on www.riverland.net.au/~rwlap/wetlands.html
Cheers
Peter Waanders
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