www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Just two photos from yesterday, I don't seem to be able to get the oystercatches eye to come a little lighter., one of my favourite birds

One to-day which was a little far away, a single Curlew.

Hi all,
Yes it did eat it Eccles after it had been chased by other numerous other wildfowl,see your point with the pic cropping and it was a bad crop not the speed of the Grebe,Ive had a quick go again although in the other one Ive posted it was like a parting of the Red Sea it was moving that fast.Can anyone tell me if the 2 fish are a bully head and a perch as Ive not much idea about fish though I do seem to remember catching bullyheads in the brook as a kid and Perch having a nasty dorsal.Sorry Shirley I should have said its a Little Grebe.( p.s it looks like a fab! wader area where you live)

Fabulous shots Shaun. I would also be interested to know what the fish is if anyone can ID it.

Pauline

Hi Pauline,
Twitcher is correct. The fish are Bullhead and Perch (the stripey one)
Neil

A bullfinch pair made my day yesterday.

The male
The female
A700 + 500mm F8 AF Reflex.

That has to be a real goody photo even with the long lens, the Bullfinches are so timid there fly off as soon as they see anyone even in the distance. Seen any Siskins yet Eccles?
Shirley

Talking of Siskin, I had 3 in the garden briefly of Wednesday.
I really have to get a birding lens.

Denise

I am correct in remembering that you have a scope Denise, do you use if very much and how do you like it. I'm wondering if its want I'm looking for in taking photos of waders and also garden birds. Have you any examples?
Shirley

Hi Shirley,

My scope is quite old now, and has had a lot of use. I did try digi-scoping with it and my compact and got a couple of OK pics but I wouldn't recommend it. Have a look at my postings on this thread and you can judge for yourself.

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB2/v ... f=8&t=2811

Cheers
Denise

While at Aust recently I met a guy who photographs using a scope with a proper adapter and a Nikon compact. The compact was quite good quality but what made the difference was the quality of his scope, which had an objective that was about 100mm diameter and cost him around £1700. The pictures he could get with that combo were excellent, but you can't use it to get birds in flight or moving around a lot.
Haing said that, there's a guy on the Canon website (POTN) who uses a cheaper scope around £300 with a 'T' mount on his DSLR and he's taken some very nice bird shots with it.

@Shirley, I was a fair way away from the male bullfinch, maybe 30-40 feet, and little bit closer to the female. But you're right that they are very timid and I was lucky that I stopped as soon as I saw them, and although they eventually saw me, because I was barely moving they didn't see me as a threat. I was then able to fire off several shots of the male, then the female, and the male again as they moved around the brambles that they were feeding on. The male shot is about a 1/4 crop, the female a bit bigger, although I caught a bit of motion blur with the female. I have yet to see a siskin.

I caught this great tit today. I know they're common but I think they are delightful birds. Very resourceful and almost as bold as robins once they get to know you.

Cant beat a Great Tit! (That sounded ok in my head ).
Nice pics Eccles,I went to take some pics of the Nuthatches etc On the C Chase yesterday, they put out feed on and around certain fallen trees in an ancient oak woodland I take some myself to bring them down to where I want them anyway a Nuthatch decided he was very bold or hungry and was coming not to my hand but within 10ins of it edging his way along a fallen trunk I was sitting on to get the feed, it was great! I spent an hour fascinated by him and didnt get any pics .
Shaun

have just completed this year's rspb garden birdwatch. ( http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/ for details )
saw:

chaffinches
great tits
blackbirds
rooks
starlings
collared doves
woodpigeons
jackdaws
& a seagull

surprised by the lack of robins...

also 5 squirrels turned up ( 3 grey 2 black )

charles

Blimey, theres some cracking shots going on in here, and I love the lighting on the Short Eared Owl, Jerry.

I saw this Dunnock last week and its the first time I've managed to get a photo of it, the first photo looks as though its caught in the wire but its not, it jumps off the wall and then I'm able to get a photo of the other side of it, some sort of yellow type growth around its neck. The bird has bright eyes and it was able to see the seed which was on the ground but I imagine it muct be suffering to some extent. I've no hope in catching it and I also hope it not contagious to other birds.

On a better note my butterfly feeder had two callers. I am also counting the birds for the big Garden Bird watch to-day and tomorrow.

Went on a bit of a hike today taking in quite a few different habitats and species. Unfortunately I'm not a great birder so can't name most. Processed on my camera club laptop with a rather bright screen rather than my usual PC so might be a bit dark. I'm guessing a bit!


Lapwings and some kind of waterfowl.


I'm guessing male and female of above waterfowl.


Pink Footed Geese? I'm sure I've heard of those and these do have pink feet!


A couple of species of coastal waders of some sort.


Tufted Ducks maybe?


Little Egret quite some way off!


Female Stonechat? These are damn frustrating. Chased 3 of these about in the reeds for ages. Always move to another perch just as you frame them up! At least they never fly far.


Pied Wagtail wading


Barn Owl heading right for me until it hears the 30d shutter. Owls are kinda annoying for being able to do that!


End with a Barn Owl at sunset

Nice pics,FISHiEE,
Barn Owl captures the day well.The wildfowl are Widgeon,the waders are Knot( larger)Sanderling and the geese are Greylag who have pink feet as well as the Pink foooted just to confuse people .
Shaun

Nice one Fishiee,

I love the silhouette of the Barn Owl, wonderful lighting.
The first two pics are Wigeon, the geese are Greylag (Pink-foot are smaller with a slender dark neck) I would say that the waders are Knot and Dunlin, (Sanderling are quite grey) nice Tufted ducks, the middle one almost looks like a Ring-neck, and yes, female Stonechat and female Pied Wagtail.

Denise

Thanks for the ID's

Always hear people talk about Knot and Widgeon so now I know what they are on about.

They did turn out a bit dark now I am back at my PC but not too bad. Think I'll be indoors today. Something of a Gale outside at the moment!

Lovely clear photos and the Lapwings not so many about now my Dad used to call them pee wits, haven't heard one for years.
I enjoyed seeing those photos, did you say you took them with a 30d, Canon.
Shirley