Jump to content

A Lurker Shows Himself...


Auspex

Recommended Posts

Greetings to all! I've been "lurking" on this fine forum for about six months, enjoying the wonderful melange of helpful erudition and banter. It is high time that I put myself in position to contribute (though such will be modest in comparison to the collective depth of knowledge here).

I have had a fascination with fossils since childhood (50+ years ago), which waxed and waned depending on the demands and distractions of life. Most recently, I have been acquiring fossil bird material for study, pleasure, and display at my birding & nature shop (birding is my other passion). I'd love to be able to do my own prospecting, but small-shop retail is a harsh taskmaster: if it's daylight, I'm working. Maybe someday...

post-423-1209235918_thumb.jpg

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum Auspex. I look forward to seeing your collection.

As for birding, I quite enjoy that too, sometimes I go in the winter to Upstate New York. The wildlife there is beautiful at that time of year.

Tha tighin fodham, fodham, fodham!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest solius symbiosus

Welcome to the forum. Those are some nice looking binocs. I have several pair, but no phase coated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

welcome! those falcons are beautiful. i have alwayshad a strong interest in birds! cant wait to see some pics of your birdfossils :D

"Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"


We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum. I understand how busy owning a shop can be. If you ever have a few hours to get away check out Purse State Park. It's on the MD side of the Potomac and less than an hour from you. There you will find fossils of sharks, rays, crocodiles and more. Let me know if you want more information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum Auspex. I look forward to seeing your collection.

As for birding, I quite enjoy that too, sometimes I go in the winter to Upstate New York. The wildlife there is beautiful at that time of year.

Glad to be here, thank you! BTW: When is it NOT beautiful in Upstate NY? Love the winter solitude, fer shur.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum. Those are some nice looking binocs. I have several pair, but no phase coated.

Thanks!

If you ever feel the need for more binos (you can never have too many), it happens to be a large part of what I do for a living. (In fact, they're probably all I have to offer as barter for fossils).

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome; good to have another old phart on board

Thanks; glad to be on board! (The older I get, the better I was).

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings to all! I've been "lurking" on this fine forum for about six months, enjoying the wonderful melange of helpful erudition and banter. It is high time that I put myself in position to contribute (though such will be modest in comparison to the collective depth of knowledge here).

I have had a fascination with fossils since childhood (50+ years ago), which waxed and waned depending on the demands and distractions of life. Most recently, I have been acquiring fossil bird material for study, pleasure, and display at my birding & nature shop (birding is my other passion). I'd love to be able to do my own prospecting, but small-shop retail is a harsh taskmaster: if it's daylight, I'm working. Maybe someday...

Welcome to the forum, Auspex!

I see you're holding at least one bird in a bare hand. Are they not inclined to bite when held off-balance like that? My Amazon parrot might eventually attempt a punishing bite in that situation.

I sure wish I could see both your birds, but I cannot fully open your very large image.

A portion of the image does open (I see only the bird in your right hand), but not the full image. Nor can I simply scroll left or right to see the image -- the image is just too large for my 17-inch monitor.

When I make a SHQ or HQ image with my six megapixel camera, the resulting image is as large as 39 inches wide by 29 inches high. I have to reduce the image size with my editing software to even work with it conveniently.

You can produce excellent photos with the Standard Quality (SQ) setting on your camera. (See some of Worthy's or Mike Owens' recent posts.) If you are going to post images that are not edited, that is, images directly from your camera, SQ is the camera setting you should be using.

I'd like to see your pix. I hope you can post some images that are accessible to everyone on the forum.

----------Harry Pristis

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the welcome! According to the travel brochures I've been going over, folks in Cape Breton Is. are well known for friendly hospitality. I'm planning a backpacking tour there "someday".

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

welcome! those falcons are beautiful. i have alwayshad a strong interest in birds! cant wait to see some pics of your birdfossils :D

Thanks! I definitely dig raptors; very fortunate to have been involved with the Cape May Raptor Banding Project for a lot of years. Every fall, I get to spend a week studying a hundred or so of these magnificent creatures in the hand.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum. I understand how busy owning a shop can be. If you ever have a few hours to get away check out Purse State Park. It's on the MD side of the Potomac and less than an hour from you. There you will find fossils of sharks, rays, crocodiles and more. Let me know if you want more information.

Thanks for the tip! Never been there; what's the exposure like? Most of my Toothin' Days were spent at Westmorland & Stratford Hall. Somewhere in storage is a footlocker full of Calvert/St. Marys stuff.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum, Auspex!

I see you're holding at least one bird in a bare hand. Are they not inclined to bite when held off-balance like that? My Amazon parrot might eventually attempt a punishing bite in that situation.

I sure wish I could see both your birds, but I cannot fully open your very large image.

A portion of the image does open (I see only the bird in your right hand), but not the full image. Nor can I simply scroll left or right to see the image -- the image is just too large for my 17-inch monitor.

When I make a SHQ or HQ image with my six megapixel camera, the resulting image is as large as 39 inches wide by 29 inches high. I have to reduce the image size with my editing software to even work with it conveniently.

You can produce excellent photos with the Standard Quality (SQ) setting on your camera. (See some of Worthy's or Mike Owens' recent posts.) If you are going to post images that are not edited, that is, images directly from your camera, SQ is the camera setting you should be using.

I'd like to see your pix. I hope you can post some images that are accessible to everyone on the forum.

----------Harry Pristis

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, wild falcons do occasionally bite (buteos & accipiters not so much). Gotta' bare-hand 'em though; no chance of hurting the bird that way.

Sorry about the photo size, I'll get it figured out. The other bird is also a hatch-year tercel (male peregrin). the photo is my wallpaper at work; I call it "Three 'Grins".

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest solius symbiosus
Thanks!

If you ever feel the need for more binos (you can never have too many), it happens to be a large part of what I do for a living. (In fact, they're probably all I have to offer as barter for fossils).

I love my optics. I have 4 pair. Some old cheap 8x42s, a pair of cheap Olympus 10x50s, a nice pair of Fuji 7x50, and a nice pair of Leupold 10x50.

The Fuji and the Leupolds are purged and FMC. I also own 8 telescopes, and an untold amount of eyepeices, filters, and other accessories.

I rarely break the scopes out anymore, as I have developed a passion for binoc astronomy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...