Honneman's arctic redpoll

It was a great time and a first for Suffolk as a Honneman's arctic redpoll put an appearance in. Colin the finder of this fantastic bird originally put it in as a Lapland bunting but Lee from Bins soon realised it was something far more exciting and the word was out.

I think Aldeburgh fish n chip sales must have reached their end of year target this week as loads of twitchers and photographers descended on the normally peaceful town of Aldeburgh to catch a glimpse of this gorgeous bird.

It was an obliging creature too and did not mind in the least to the hoards of people who came to view it.

Special thanks to Colin as without him this bird may have gone unnoticed.

Minsmere today.

Went to Minsmere today with my new Canon 800mm F5.6 to give it a test run. Performed really well but the birds didn't play their part all that well. Managed to get some snow bunting shots but there were a lot of spotting scopes behind me so i could not get too close for fear of upsetting the birdwatchers.

Back in the game

Well it has been a funny year especially as i sold my 600mm F4 to Sparky and decided to take up street photography. What a mistake that was and now the Leica M9 and lens is sold and i sit here tonight the proud owner of a new Canon 800mm F5.6. She is a beast and i hope to be taking her out to Mins or Shingle street on Monday weather permitting for a test drive. It will also be nice to meet some old friends from my bird photography days. 

Great to be back!!!!

Garden nature

The garden over the last few days has been swarming with Fieldfares, Redwings and the occasional song thrush which is great as it means i can just open the upstairs window and use one of the rooms as a portable hide, Having said that they are still very fickle and flighty so there is an element of luck still when it comes to photographing these species form 15 feet away.

Not much photography this month

As the title suggests it's been all work and no play this month. I did manage to get over to RSPB Minsmere and have a play with some of our smaller avian friends and also managed to get my first coal tit shots of the year. I never have much luck with these so was quite happy to say the least.
On the way to Minsmere we also encountered what i thought was a pair golden pheasant just standing in the road. Anyway we got some photos and showed them to Mr Evans almighty who informed us they were Reeve's pheasants so excellent stuff there. We also managed to get the Hen reedbeds barn owl though it was in near dark conditions (aren't they always)  :( Afterwards we called it a day and retired for tea and medals.

Goldfinch

Bluetits

Barn owl

Reeve's pheasant

Coal tit

Lowestoft

Went down to Lowestoft yesterday to photography more Turnstone and Purple sandpiper shots. I love Turnstones, They have so much character. It was also a chance to re familiarise myself with my 1D mk4 before some serious stuff next week. The Great grey shrike has put an appearance in on one of my sites and i will be trying for that tomorrow.

New camera and Crossbills

Finally decided the 5D mk2 was not really for me this time round as i need quicker autofocus and frames per second so have gone for the 1D mk4 which i stupidly sold last year, Still at least it's a nice shiny new one.
Was at Hollesley photographing Crossbills the other week and had a great time and met some nice people along the way. I was very pleased as this was the first time i had ever seen Crossbills and i wasn't disappointed, They really are lovely looking things with a serious beak on them.