Highlights of Recent Lockdown Walks in Suffolk

Still wandering the local paths and country roads in an approximate 3 mile circle of our house, the nice solid frozen footpaths have gone back to mud so doing more road work, but there is still plenty to see. The photos of Hares, Roe Deer, Tree Creeper, Yellowhammer, Fieldfares, Goldcrest and Kestrel were all taken standing by the side of the road.

These first 4 were all taken just behind where I live.

The rest were taken right by the side of the road, the Tree Creeper, Goldcrest  and Kestrel were very close and obliging, the rest especially the Hares and Deer were a long way off as you might expect. One particular road is very good for views of Hares and we have seen up to 11 in one field.

Can you spot the extras in the Deer Pics and see the colour variation in one of the Fieldfares?

Good luck on your trips out and take care.

Trevor

  • TJS said:
    I'm looking forward to some easing so I can at least get near the coast to see different birds in the marshes, reedbeds and mudflats.

    I'll second that one. The nearest coastal reserve is three hours drive from here, I somehow don't think I can twist that as a drive for exercise.....  LOL  Laughing

  • Wow, yes, I hadn't been zooming in, fantastic detail TJS, look forward to more photos in the future when we can move around more easily.
  • Wonderful photos, TJS, and like others, I look forward to more from you.
  • Now you've found the Zoom function you can go back and look at everybody's photos anew. It doesn't work for every photo, it appears to depend on the resolution of the photo posted and how you Zoom in is different for Smartphone and PC. Enjoy looking back.
    Trevor
  • Trevor these photos are brilliant, I loved them all but the fieldfare in flight stood out for me what shutter speed did you use for these photos
  • The 2 photos of the Fieldfare in flight were taken at !/3200 sec and 1/800 sec as part of a burst. The difference was because in the uncropped full versions of the pictures the faster shutter speed one had more snow in the foreground than the other, differences in the exposure of the bird were adjusted on the computer. The aperture and ISO are fixed so the shutter speed varies with the light to get the fastest shutter speed available, I would suggest at least 1/1000 sec for birds in flight preferably 1/2000 sec.
    Hope this helps.
    Trevor
  • Thanks very much Trevor, were you using shutter priority mode
  • Actually I was using Aperture Priority Mode, my default Mode. It sounds counter-intuitive to use A Mode but I force the camera to use the widest aperture to give the fastest shutter speed available and just increase the ISO if I need to increase the shutter speed, that way you are always using the fastest shutter speed for any given lighting condition.
    Trevor
  • Thanks Trevor for your speedy reply and reason for using Aperture priority all the information is useful to me while I try to get the best options in all situations.
  • TJS said:
    Actually I was using Aperture Priority Mode, my default Mode. It sounds counter-intuitive to use A Mode but I force the camera to use the widest aperture to give the fastest shutter speed available and just increase the ISO if I need to increase the shutter speed, that way you are always using the fastest shutter speed for any given lighting condition.


    Trevor

    An alternative to Aperture Priority is always Shutter Priority, which may be a better option. I say that because sometimes you may need a specific shutter speed, which you can select, whereas AP still has control over the shutter speed.

    Just a thought.