New era

I've been thinking about getting a proper camera for a long time, and I've finally done it. I served my digiscoping apprenticeship and decided it was about time I jumped on the DSLR bandwagon.

These are early days. I haven't got a clue of which settings to use; I just know I need to get close. It's not been hugely successful so far, but it's great fun - feels like the photographic equivalent of go-karting!

Now I just need to find some nice, cooperative birds.

And so, at The Lodge this morning...

Blue Tit. Some nestbox inspection going on


Robin preening

Frosty ivy berries



Dunnock singing

Bramble leaves

Wouldn't be complete without some sunlit leaves, would it?

And from yesterday...

Greylag Geese

Bullfinches munching on ash keys

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x II

Brrr

Holly




Cow parsley?


Male Bullfinch

It's still literally freezing here. There hasn't been enough sunlight to melt the snow off the trees, so everything is still snowy-white. Life must be hard for small birds, especially.

Finally caught up with the Hawfinches at Ferry Meadows. At least two birds were present, including a male which showed particularly well in the trees above our heads. A procession of dog-walkers and joggers kept flushing the finches from their food source (presumably some seeds on the ground somewhere) and into view.

It was useful to hear the birds' call again, which reminded me of Grey Wagtail, for some reason...

digiscoped photo taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

'sno fun when it's this cold

Male Bullfinch


Female Bullfinch


Water Rail! (not bad for an action shot?)


Railtrack

There's no disguising the fact that there was next to no light at all today... Some more snow overnight had made everything look very pretty, but taking photos was hard work. Hence the poor standard of the images above.

The Bullfinches seemed unusually confiding. They allowed quite a close approach as they fed on seeds close to the ground. The Water Rail was good fun. It fed busily in some waterside vegetation before legging it through the snow across the footpath - which led to the photo of two of its footprints...


Snowy teasels


Snowy umbellifer

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece