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.
Cheers BD, I didn't know there was one, I have a few that might sit well in there
Thank you ILR, they're lovely birds IMO
They are Scozmos always nice to see.
Very nice Scozmos, I find nuthatch are often good for a great pose.
Agreed Mac, I'm just working through a set I got yesterday, one bird was a real poser
I hereby award Scozmos the prize for ace identifier of birds from fuzzy photos. The photos I posted earlier are, as Sozmos said, those of a Goldcrest. Brilliant effort. Well done, mate!
Today, we encountered the smoking gun evidence. Strangely enough, at approximately the same place where we spotted these birds way back during last winter.
It's amazing how one's eyes plays tricks on you. I could have sworn the Goldcrests we saw earlier on were long and thin and much larger than the birds we saw today. The birds we did see today (three of them) were of the tiny proportions I would have expected. In fact, I first mistook them for Wrens, so tiny were they.
This particular bird was, at times, no more than about 8 feet from us. Amazing. It just flitted about, seemingly unconcerned about our presence. It would hover occasionally like a humming bird. Sadly, I wasn't able to photograph this behaviour today.
I'm mulling over getting a used Canon 100-400mm lens during the January sales. My Sigma 18-300mm is good (the above photographs prove it) but it does play up sometimes i.e. not focusing properly. The optics of the Sigma lens are good, but the Canon lens is supposed to be much better. The Canon lens isn't much heavier than the Sigma lens. The extra reach of the Canon lens would be most acceptable - especially as most shots are at extended ranges e.g. the Goldcrest photos are at 300mm, and yet the birds are tiny.
Any wide angle photos can be taken with my mobile.
Well captured Angus. I've never been able to get a decent shot of a Goldcrest. As for the Canon 100-400mm, I believe it is f8 at full zoom. You would probably need to use a high ISO to get shots in shaded, or our usual dull conditions, but it would be great if you got decent light. I use a Canon 70-300L which is f5.6 at full zoom and I do struggle if the conditions are not good. I can manage with stationary objects on slow speeds, but moving things are a no no. See what someone who has one thinks ...