Bearded Tit

canon 5d mark 11, 800 5.6is lens, 1/160 @5.6, iso 400
An interesting day photographing and birding along the Humber in Lincolnshire. The reed-bed specialist put on quite a good show with some nice morning sunshine. The Bearded Tit( male) gave brief views as it came down onto a path within the reeds. A stunning bird, just wished I could have filmed it on some reeds, but just wonderful to watch. A Bittern fly over was nice but just as the sun went behind a cloud so no images, maybe next time. Next on view were Water Rail and Marsh Harrier which were just amazing to watch. The Harrier just got the pulse racing like most raptors do and was great to see hunting over the reeds.
Marsh Harrier

canon 5d mark 11, 8005.6is lens, 1/640@5.6, iso 400 ( no light!)
The Water Rails could be heard calling as only Water rails can and is something which is very hard to describe, certainly makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, scarey! The birds remain hidden most of the time with only breif visits to the margins of reed-beds. However this individual decided to pose on a branch which was sticking out of the reeds. Only takes a second to nail an image, if you are watching in the right place, just wonderful colours and markings.
Water Rail

canon 5d mark 11, 8005.6is lens, 1/250@5.6, iso 400.
To end what was becoming a very nice day out, we went looking for some owls and were no to be disappointed with several Barn Owls and a Short-eared Owl for nice measure. On a camera note the 5d mark 11 seems to be a very capable body with outstanding image qualities with not to bad autofocus, in-fact I have been very pleased on how sharp some of my flight images have been, creating razor sharp images and with great tracking abilities. Static images have been no trouble as expected. Another note is how the camera can capture amazing fine details with great colour rendition, equal to my 1ds mark 111, maybe even better. A great camera and I look forward to using more in the future.
I look forward to returning to the Humber shortly and maybe getting that flying Bitten image I’ve always had in the back of my mind?
Barn Owl

canon 5d mark 11, 8005.6is lens, 1/320@5.6, iso 800.




















