Wayne (Whaleman) recently asked me about the grainy quality of some of my safari images. I thought I would reprint my response to him in case some of you were also wondering. Excuses can be seen below. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Its a combination of things, Wayne. Thirty years stored in a paper sleeve under crap conditions and then scanned. I think I was still using ASA 400 film back then and using kit lenses which tend to be rather cheap. When asked I, of course, assure people that the grain is part of my artistic vision. {;-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Perhaps I have a future in politics. Tonight's guest is the Superb Starling. This species is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long. Adults have black heads and iridescent blue-to-green back, upper breast, wings, and tail. The belly is red-orange, separated from the blue breast by a white bar. The Superb Starling has a long and loud song consisting of trills and chatters. It is gregarious and is generally rather tame and unafraid of people. Males and females look exactly the same but, I suppose, they can tell the difference.