Today (yesterday strictly speaking) was a truly unpleasant day weatherwise. It was gloomy and cold with rain turning to sleet. I took the dog out for a brisk walk in the morning (as is usual these days, I was the only one of the two of us with an element of brisk about them). During one of the many hanging about moments it was nice to see two Grey Wagtails on the stream and hear goldcrests in the tree above. That was about it for pleasantries.
Lunchtime in the kitchen showed the birdfeeders to be exceptionally busy, and a male Bullfinch nearby had me running for the camera, but as always it disappeared into the brambles as soon as I was set up. Everything was still grey and gloomy out so I thought I would try experimenting using high ISO settings and went for the highest, 3200 with no great expectations of success. Using a lens with a minimum focus of 15 feet meant I had to stand on the far side of the kitchen to focus on the feeders which are right by the window (I have a small kitchen). I was pretty pleased with the results although they don't really stand much, if any cropping.
Blue Tit
Sometimes its good to get up close and personal with your common birds, I am often guilty of not really looking at them properly, what lovely creatures Blue Tits are. Well worth a second look.
Although last year my most popular feeder was the one with niger seed in it, the lack of Goldfinches and Siskins coming to feed has meant that the first thing I have seen feeding on them was this Coal Tit.
Coal Tit
My Long Tailed Tit flock remains at 2 or sometimes 3 and they never look as though they are very waterproof somehow.
Long Tailed Tit
We have always had Nuthatches here and I never take them for granted although they are daily visitors. Sometimes they get so tame (or hungry!) that they visit the table while I am still hanging up replenished feeders. They have fantastic feet which enable them to be the only British bird to be able to scamper both up and down tree trunks foraging for insects. A few years ago a pair turned up with a brood of 4 fledgelings, presumably to show them where an easy meal could be had.
Nuthatch
and to push the boundaries, a cropped image...
While all this activity was going on, the Little Egret turned up which was a surprise given the state of the river which is still quite full and coloured. It did splash about a bit and make the odd dart for something, so it clearly has better eyesight than me. Many birders I've met won't be shocked by this revelation. I managed to get a few shots which revealed some of the problems of shooting long distance with a high ISO, particularly noise in out of focus areas closer than the subject, especially when cropping. Nevermind, it shows it was here:
Little Egret
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