We had planned the trip down to Colin Varndell's hide at Netherbury in Dorset for some time and had the day booked well in advance. It was no surprise that being November, the weather didn't favour us, but we had an enjoyable eight hours in a variety of hides. For once it gave me the opportunity to use my 300 f/2.8 lens without a converter and also another chance to use the new Canon 7D Mk ii. This Great Tit shot is just one example of what we got.
In my last blog post I mentioned the long awaited Canon 7D Mk ii camera had arrived. In the main it will be used by Rose with a 100 - 400mm zoom lens to give her a nice balance between reach and weight. Naturally I was keen to give it a try, but prising it from her grasp was a challenge.I did however manage to get three or four hours with it on Portland and attached my 300 f/2.8 lens with the 1.4 x converter, which gave me plenty of reach. I was immediately taken with it and the improvement over the Mk i version we previously used is huge. Always a lover of Kestrels and birds of prey in general, I was really pleased to make this image within the first half dozen frames I shot with it. Nice one Canon!
There has been lots going on since the last blog post, most notably the arrival of the new Canon 7D Mk ii and the announcement of the second generation Canon 100 - 400mm zoom lens. Both are going to become a boon to wildlife togs everywhere if current reviews are to be believed.
We've been out to a variety of locations now with the new camera and made some pleasing images. The latest trip was a weekend in West Sussex, where we attempted to see both RSPB Pagham Harbour and RSPB Medmerry. While we did get to Pagham on Saturday, it coincided with low tide and consequently a lot of distant birds. Sunday saw us at the Arundel Wetlands Centre where I made this Pintail image, alas not with the 7D as Rose was using it. Monday was pencilled in for Medmerry, but sadly heavy rain stopped play, so that will have to wait for another time.
The long process of downloading and generally dealing with the five thousand images we brought from Madagascar is now well underway. It is going to take a while as we tend to be less ruthless than perhaps we should be, but already we have managed to publish some nice shots. The normal Verreaux's Sifaka shot is the one of them dancing across the red dirt road and yes we have some of those. But this female was intently watching Rose photographing other members of the troop, completely ignoring her own baby climbing over her back.
After over two weeks abroad and being busy since our return, today was our first chance to get back out on the local patch. The forecast was good, so we decided to head to RSPB Lodmoor first and then follow that with a visit to RSPB Radipole Lake. Apart from finding out what birds were on offer, it gave us the opportunity to meet up with our friends in the local wildlife paparazzi and also to test the long awaited Canon 7D Mk ii. Rose will make her thoughts on the camera known quite soon, but meanwhile I captured this Stonechat posing beautifully with my normal rig.
