Reed Buntings

Before the cold wind blew and rain fell this morning, it was lovely to see these Reed Buntings alongside The Cam.   What amazing camouflage they have, particularly the lower image, and what beautiful markings.   Always a delight to see.

I am continuing to use the same lens (100mm-400mm) with x 1.4 convertor, and hand-holding it with automatic focus.

Cat after a Collared Dove

Robin made this bird table to prevent squirrels from stealing food put out for the birds - only partially successful though.   Squirrels have found a way of climbing the wobbly bird table and helping themselves.

Yesterday I noticed one of our cats sitting below the bird table as she had obviously seen there was a bird feeding on the table.   Then she started to crouch down as though she was going to attempt the overhang to get herself onto the table.   Again her endeavours were only partially successful - thankfully.

More Birds

On a recent trip to Wicken Fen it was lovely to see a Marsh Harrier and a Hobby even though they were so far away.   Nearer home, and with the auto-focus wheeze of a 100-400mm lens and x 1.4 convertor, the magnification has made it easier to get 'better' images of a Blue Tit and a Moorhen flying above The Cam.

Bit of a surprise to see this Grey Heron so troubled by a couple of Black-headed Gulls!

Great Crested Grebe Feeding

It has been a very long time since I posted something onto the blog, but here is a break in that pattern!   I have been to Iceland recently and plan to complete a book of images, some of which I hope will appear here in due course.

The wind was 'up' this morning at Clayhithe and The Cam was 'rough'.   I know Great Crested Grebes are pairing up at present and I was hoping to have seen a courtship dance.   Instead I saw a Grebe struggle to swallow what I think is a Rudd fish.   On occasion it had to drop the fish back into the water to re-orientate it for swallowing purposes.    All the time the Grebe was struggling, its mate was nearby with its beak wide open.   I couldn't hear over the wind whether the mate was calling.   Would welcome any explanation on this behaviour.

One of the images captures a Mallard flying past, but I wasn't expecting that and didn't have the focal length to get that sharp!

An exciting development when using a 100mm-400mm lens is to use it with a x 1.4 convertor and get automatic focusing!   Yes, automatic focusing with a convertor, but only the x 1.4 convertor, and not the x 2 convertor in my experience!   This 'wheeze' was shared with me on the Iceland trip and I used it today for the first time at home.   Brilliant.