Down the Trailway 04/10/2024

Not been out for a while, for a variety of reasons, mainly due to poor weather coinciding with my days off.... still! There was a bit of a family windfall recently, and Mrs PB insisted I treated myself... and who was I to deny her!? A 2nd hand 800mm f6.8 was ordered (from Wex Photographic) on Wednesday afternoon, and it was delivered before lunch Thursday.... hats off to Wex and DPD for that service!! I'll put findings and thoughts of the lens in the Mirrorless thread in a while, but as I went out for a couple of hours in intermittent sunshine, I thought I'd share the results. (As it's been a while since I was out, and it's a new lens, this post is likely to be quite long!) Please note... user error was prevalent thoughout this trip, coz I didn't notice until I got home that the camera was set with -1.0 exposure compensation (AV on Canon). DOH!

First up, a bit of a scruffy distant Pheasant

Followed by a distant Greenfinch

Presumably a Chiffchaff (a bit distant.... can you spot the theme with a big lens in hand? lol)

I think this was the same bird, as one flew over my head from the tree, but the  markings don't look right?

There were several mechanical flying beasts in quick succession

I could hear a buzzard keening from somewhere fairly close, so manoeuvred myself to have a view of the sky, as opposed to the tall trees either side, and a bright pop of colour caught my eye, 2 beautiful Comma's

And a little further along a lovely purple flower... from the minimum focussing distance of 15 feet, the small hairs on the stems were invisible!

And some more bright pops of colour

The Buzzard was still in plaintive crying mode, and then all of a sudden, over the hedgerow...

I took a vast quantity of Red Kite pics, so I'll limit myself to just those two... Further along another new looking butterfly, Speckled Wood (there were also a couple of whites, and a darter of some sort, none of which landed)

Then, finally, the Buzzard put in an appearance

All the while high overhead, Swallows were wheeling, almost directly above me

I could hear various corvids cackling and cawing, and suddenly out of right field...

I could here some more corvid cackling to the other side, and spied what I thought was a Kestrel being "escorted" by a crow.... nope, not a Kestrel... My 3rd ever Hobby 

A fine conclusion to my outing... It was a premature conclusion, because my battery died, and I'd been in a rush to get out and try the new lens, but because the lens hood didn't fit in the "carry about" camera bag I use, I didn't take it and didn't even think of spare batteries 

Anyhow, when I got home, I plonked myself down in the garden to see if anything would come to the feeder whilst I was there (it's only a small garden so quite often nothing appears) but I was graced by Robin

And a youngish looking Goldfinch

Thanks for reading/ viewing. Any thoughts on the early warbler gratefully received

Stay Safe All