Odds & Sods 2023

A fabulous shot, more so as the hare is running at you; and you've had to find it against the background clutter, track it and push shutter. I'd be proud to claim this.

My camera and or lens has a great deal of difficulty focusing on objects heading towards it.

On a more static note.

It's cold.  It's wet.  I'm depressed.

Don't worry. There is nothing wrong with this pigeon. The morning was cold, it had been drizzling, and even I was feeling depressed at yet another overcast, wet day. This bird captured perfectly our moods.

The bird is actually waiting for food to fall from the bird feeder above it. Manna from heaven, as it were. The rusty pole supports my bird feeder.

It perked up at this point. A Grey Squirrel was heading for it. Moments after this next photo, the pigeon waddled off to the right as the squirrel saw it off.

I agree, I am feeling rather depressed too with the continual cold and damp. It is a bit milder today though, so hopefully I will get out for a decent walk this afternoon and blow the cobwebs away.

A small flash of blue, streaking across your line of sight, can only mean one thing in blighty...Kingfisher!

Only my sighting was in a very strange place, the edge of a lake, with the nearest river being quarter of a mile away and the bird heading away from it. Unexpected.  Instinct kicked in, up came camera, desperate search for small missile. Luckily camera was on, with nine spot centre focus, lens at 600mm, I had just finished photographing a Shoveler duck, otherwise: no chance.

The Kingfisher is in this photo. It is roughly 100m from me, heading towards the Shoveler duck with its head under water.

Cropping out the tiny blue smudge reveals this.  Aren't modern cameras wonderful? Point the thing, press shutter release, and amazing detail pops out.

This is my first photo of a Kingfisher, ever. I've only seen a Kingfisher about 10 times - as with most people, it is nowt but a blue flash.

I kept on tracking this little black dot (how it appears through viewfinder) as best I could. Once again, it is in this photo, banking to the left. Hint, the Shoveler duck has a crazy hair style.

Oh well, can't win them all. Good practice though.

By now the beastie was between 150m and 200m from me and hurtling ever forwards, but hey, it's a Kingfisher! and I have it in my sights. Keep clicking, man.

Cropping out.

It banked left sharply just after this photo, and disappeared behind some reeds.

It is always an immense pleasure to see a Kingfisher. I don't have the patience to camp out waiting for one to appear, but (to mangle a military adage) I am a firm believer in: 'If it moves, photograph it. If it's stationary, photograph it.' My only wish was that the weather gods could have been a little kinder and allowed sunshine.

Congrats on your Kingie Angus....the novelty never wears off of seeing one and always striving for a better pic lol....usually you hear them before hou see them so familiarise yourself with their call so you can have a second to get ready ;-)

This Kingfisher was in Ninja stealth mode. It never made a peep.

I saw it again, 20 minutes later, flying along the edge of another lake nearer the Blackwater river. Again, it never made a sound. I wonder if it feels more vulnerable and exposed when flying along side a lake's edge rather than along a river or...perhaps it was heading towards its nest and didn't want to attract attention to itself.

Maybe ma Scottish ones are just a tad too vocal...always wanting noticed so they can laugh at me for being too slow with camera ;-)

Well done Angus on photographing your first Kingie. I saw one a few weeks back sat on a branch close to me. Guess which lens I had on? .... Yup, the wide angle ... . I nearly always have my 70-300L on. It was on a country lane, nowhere near any water ... Strange ...

Two hares this morning, hiding in plain sight as hares do. At first I thought there was only one until I got home and downloaded the camera.