www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi Shaun

The field was bordered by woodland on 2 sides and was warm and sheltered. I was watching 4 hares at quite a distance when there was an enormous 'thump' behind me - now I have heard a rabbit give a warning but this was something else. 2 hares had come scampering round the corner not expecting me to be there. Just amazing. I have never seen hares before never mind this close so you can imagine how excited I was. What surprised me most was the variation in their colours. I imagine if I return to that place the crops will be so big I will not get such a great view but I will return at some point.

Pauline

Great story Pauline,
I think the unexpected encounter with wildlife is much better than staking somthing out.You can tell that the Hare is trying
to work out what you are and whether it can get away.
Shaun

We have some very pale brown Rabbits here I suppose they must be crossed at point with a domestic rabbit. There's a cold Northerly wind here for the last couple days so therefor still only the Peacock butterfly I saw last Wednesday. I had four pairs Goldfinches here to-day, I understand that the Goldfinches nest late because of the seed they need for the young. Taken with Sony A100 lens 500mm f8 reflex

Very nice photo of goldfinch. Sezar

Shirley, I wouldn't have expected you to have mastered the 500mm reflex so soon after getting the camera, which is why I recommended that you held off buying it for a while. But judging by that cracking goldfinch shot it looks like I'm wrong.
I use a cheap Jessops model 330 monopod mounted on my camera with the reflex. The pan-tilt lever is just the right length to act as a shoulder brace and it enables me to get good hand held shots with the pod legs retracted. It's a great carry-round birding setup when the light is good.
I shot this heron yesterday with it:

Excellent Goldfinch shot Shirley, well done. Nice Heron Eccles

Thanks for your compliments, the lens, bulky little thing and sometimes difficult to pick out a certain branch or twig your trying to zoom on. I got it last week and the weather has been awful low cloud no blue sky at all it was so misty on Saturday you couldn't see the garden gate. As for butterflies there are none except for the one I saw, is there a saying 'one butterfly doesn't make a summer' or is it swallow. I like the Heron Eccles was it just flying over the water or did you catch it in the sky. At the moment I have the lens on a tripod, I have a Monopod but I just what to get used to useing it. I was impressed on taking a photo of a bird singing in tree, I thought it was a Robin but it turned out to be a Dunnock and the photo was really sharp all my other cameras couldn't do that. Of course if you hadn't put all those lovely photos of the birds on the website taken with this lens I wouldn't have bought it, I would have bought a kitchen carpet instead, I have an idea which will bring the most pleasure.
Shirley

PS. Just one thing Eccles you say with the monopod, with its legs retracted, how many legs does a monopod have

@Shirley, I think all camera autofocus systems will have trouble with clutter that sends them focussing on the wrong item. With a little care, the mirror can be surprisingly selective though, but as you say, it really does need good light to work best. My main gripe with it is the background, if it has out of focus highlights, can sometimes look ugly.
On your question regarding the heron, it was one of a colony that nests every spring in the same spot. The herons' nests are at the tops of tall trees so when they leave the nest to hunt or to gather nesting material they can be seen against the sky.
On the monopod, it does have only one leg which is comprised of four segments. When mentioning 'legs' I meant 'leg segments'.

Yesterday sunny day lots of activity. Today windy and rain.

A nice little dunnock snapped today between showers.
Sony A700 and Sony 500mm AF reflex.

That a lovely dunnock. Today at Isle of wight lots of Black-headed gulls.

Good catch, Sezar. Is that a crab that the gull has caught? If it is, it had better crunch it up properly before trying to swallow it.

Yes it was, took a while but did manage to eat it at the end.

Just for interest.... We had a crabbing Curlew up my neck of the woods.
It would throw the crab, keeping hold of a leg, until the unfortunate beast was literally legless.... then swallow it whole.
Regards, Ina

Not exactly a bird but this is why I needed a long lens, I knew he or she would follow the same route every morning about 7.30 and I moved fast this morning and even though I only got three photos this is the first time I've ever taken a photo of a fox with any camera. Sony A100 with Sony 500mm AF reflex hand held

Some gliding experts were out today... Totally wrong lens of course...

....a pair of Marsh Harriers near Cambridge.
N

hi nick,
on the subject of raptors, out of breath and resting against my car after just finnishing a run around the wooton coppice inclosure newforest, i looked up to see a large hawk circling, by the time i had extracted the camera from my car it was a tiny dot, but i got a couple of shots, which on closer examination turned out to be a goshawk. sorry about the poor quality pics i had to do some hard cropping.
gary.

Saw first swallow of the year! Is it just me or is it a bit early to be seeing swallows?

Also I saw a little Egeret in Strangford Lough today when passing which was a nice sight.

Red Kite and Buzzard in a standoff
The Kite had entered the Buzzards territory so they circled with eyes fixed on each other

quality images of quality birds, well done john! were did you encounter them?

gary.