It was beautifully sunny this morning but then it became a bit overcast this afternoon. However, it was really nice not to have to wear a complete set of waterproofs and thermals though, so I made a quick trip to Bushy Park this afternoon.
As this weekend is the RSPBs official garden bird count, I thought I should include a bird photograph today or tomorrow. This is a Ring-necked Parakeet which are common in this area (estimates put the population at well over 30,000 in the South East). They sound really tropical and live in holes in trees, probably made by the Green Woodpeckers.
I’ve been using my 70-200mm f2.8 lens for the first time this year and I have a feeling it may need recalibrating as a number of shots seemed to be ‘back-focussing’ despite me hitting the subject with the central focal point and using shutter speeds of over 1/1000 - another visit to the ‘camera doctor’ before our trip abroad I fear :-(
@whdphotog@barrowlane thank you - I was really lucky and saw a flock of about 30 Waxwings in the Park and a Sparrow Hawk (at separate times). I've never seen Waxwings before but got a few dodgy 'grab' shots to check up on my ID (my Mum's a keen ornithologist and has confirmed!). One male Blackcap in the garden this morning with the usual garden birds which is nice.
@oconnor71 I spent ages this afternoon but the light was very low and they were very high in the trees - this was cropped right down. I might have another go tomorrow as its meant to be sunny all day!
