Kicking off this year's odds and sods with Starlings in a rainbow on that extreme rarity: sunshine.
It was early morning, with the sun barely cresting the tree line. We were able to get out for our morning walk as it wasn't raining. This photo is my trusty Canon 80D and Sigma 18-300mm lens zoomed in at 300mm.
Pulling back a bit.
And finally all the way back.
Oh, 2024 got off to a good start with this.
So far my cat, perhaps two neighbouring cats visiting our garden, a local fox and Tawny owl, and this trap have accounted for at least five of the beasties. Sightings of rats in our garden are getting rarer, so I think I'm winning. Two rather timid and wary rats, that I know of, are proving more elusive to catch. I've resorted to buying a lethal trap. The trap was triggered, yesterday, but no rat, sadly. Though a mouse might have triggered it, and was small enough to be within the kill bar.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.
Superb shots of the Egyptian Geese, and it shows that the 80D is still a good DSLR.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Great stuff Angus. I think numbers 1,9 and the last one are my faves, though all well captured ... . I can see you going back to the 80D yet ... .
Nah, ain't going to happen. I switch cameras and lenses around depending on factors like length of walk, ruggedness of walk, light conditions, probabilities of there being wildlife, likely zoom I'd need, etc.
I dragged my 80D along on the Thames walk, partly as I thought there wouldn't be much to see as I reckoned wildfowl would be frightened off by people (how wrong I was), partly as I reckoned I wouldn't be taking long range shots (more or less true) and partly as I reckoned I'd need my 80D's superior auto-focus over my R7 with low contrast subjects e.g. a dull coloured bird against a dull coloured river with low light. In the event, I think my R7 would have coped just as well as light conditions were much better than anticipated - well, initially.
Thanks all all your comments.
Well, it's official. Some parts of GB have had their wettest September since records began in 1834. Our locale (Wokingham area) received over triple the normal amount of rain. Tell me about it.
Work had been suspended on finishing my ditch work. Too wet to saw sodden wood. Too muddy to tramp over garden, particularly pushing a wheelbarrow. I've held off buying top soil. It is supplied by the ton, but will be saturated with all this rain, so I'd end up paying for a lot of water. Plus, shoveling wet soil is a nightmare. However, I've found a place which will deliver what I need by volume. So 4 cubic metres will be dropped off next week. A few days of dryness will help the ground firm up, and the soil to get drier in their drop bags.
Anyway, yesterday we had a break in the never ending rain. It was actually dry. The sun was actually shining. I was able to take my 80D and medium lens (now dusty from sitting on shelf) out on our morning walk.
We always pause along one section of footpath to see if our resident kingfisher is about. We've hardly seen it of late. We were so surprised to see it back, and hunting. It normally sits on a decorative bridge (this Capability Brown design) about 110m from where we stand. Well, it started there when we arrived, but very soon flew over to a post, on the edge of a pond (course hazard, protecting the 17th green), some 30m from us!!!
I was able to reel off a whole load of shots, before it flew off in the general direction of either some fisheries nearby or the larger ponds by the 9th tee.
I was lucky. The air was crystal clear (pollutants had been washed out by rain that fell just after midnight), while the sun was low and intense; lighting up the kingfisher beautifully. Lens extended fully to 300mm - where else? Program mode, as I'm lazy. Fir tree trunk provided anti-shake support.
I didn't catch it diving into the pond to catch a fish.
See what I mean about the sun? Perfect.
The bird spun round to bash the tiddler a different way. I was using continuous shoot mode to take lots of photos. I find this doesn't always work. My 80D doesn't seem either to refocus between shots. It seems to use whatever focus was on the first shot. Unfortunately for me, my first photos wasn't 100% focused on the bird.
Now to consume fish.
All gone.
Quiet reflection i.e. I should fly to another pond.
Camera still focused on stick.
Thanks, Mike, though to be honest I could hardly go wrong. The birds were basically posing right next to me. All that was missing was lighting provided by photographic lights.
Though, we do dream for opportunities like this. Flighty subject, within arms reach, patiently posing for us to photograph.
Lovely shots Angus and a fab opportunity