Eclipsed

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Today I found this avian corpse down in our car park, with no obvious signs of injury or attack, but stone dead, nevertheless. We've no idea what it is, but at a good 200mm head to tail, it's not exactly small; however my suspicion is that it's not fully grown, although obviously fledged: could it be an adolescent corvid? It's beak suggests something of the kind, as do the enormous, taloned feet. We'd love to know more: Steve and Margaret - come to our rescue, guys.

Tomorrow's eclipse beckons and our next-door neighbour has given us two pairs of the 'official' eclipse specs with which to view the event, a kind and thoughtful gesture. I've written before of past eclipses I've witnessed [blog posts passim], but this one promises to be pretty special, should the weather stay as it is. I'm determined to record this event properly and in real time, using my iPhone, running the BlackmagicCam app, with the thing mounted on my Manfrotto tripod. Sounds geeky? You bet it is...

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