Focus ...... or as one of my past Italian colleagues made it sound like ..... fu***** ..... apologies for the language !

One of the benefits of a broadside image of a bird when taken with a 420mm lens combination is that the focus is constant from side to side and top to bottom.

Too often with a head on shot the head is perfectly in focus but the tail and legs may be soft.

The downside with head on shots, in my opinion, is lack  of perspective, I always seem to prefer oblique shots where both eyes are on view but not head on.

Just some thoughts from an amateur who constantly tries to improve his technique.   

Late afternoon sunlit Stonechat .......

Taken from the Peter Scott hide at Titchmarsh LNR. The male, whilst present in the reed beds, was not quite as co-operative.

Long Tailed Tit in my back garden.

A few days ago I pressed some fat balls into the top of this old fencing post in my back garden and it didn't take these little charmers long to find it.

It all helps.

Great warm late afternoon sunshine .....

Here in Northamptonshire after the snow yesterday the Sun shone in a cloudless blue sky in the afternoon.

Wrens are a challenging bird to photograph in my opinion, often heard, rarely out in the open and even more fleetingly still.

This little character paused briefly from foraging in the reed beds to enjoy the late afternoon sun, if only it had turned its head a bit to get its beak in the frame.

First snow of the year ........

'' An apple a day keeps the Doctor away '', an old proverb that is really relevant as the harder weather sets in.

I can't remember seeing so many Blackbirds in my garden, the highest count I witnessed today was nine, both cocks and hens, fighting over the halved apples I had scattered on the  snow covered lawn.

I don't eat apples but buy them in for the birds and they are not very expensive, so add a few packs to your weekly shop over the weekend and help these guys survive the winter.

Yes, its another one ........

How can you ignore the presence of these little chaps, they have such attitude and style that they deserve promotion.

Clean, elegant, dapper ...... all characteristics that enamour these birds to me !.

Of course its a Marsh Tit, whilst they are not particularly rare they can be elusive and certainly not usually too receptive to being  stars of the show.

Cock Chaffinch ........

What a handsome chap this is, common, found everywhere, underrated, very confiding with people ...... this is one cool, confident bird that does not take flight easily, always a pleasure to  be in its presence.

Female Bullfinch

A very tidy looking bird.

Now is one of the best times in the year for photographing Bullfinches as they roam the trees and shrubs feeding, their contact calls are unmistakable and in many cases an early indication of their presence before they are seen.   
The Xeno-canto link below allows you to listen to variations of their calls. 

http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Pyrrhula-pyrrhula

Not a comfortable looking perch .......

The talons of this Male Kestrel really make this image for me, I find my eyes drawn to the posture of the bird, the positioning of its legs and the colour of its claws.

What a smart bird ......

Great eye contact and plumage detail in this image, I think that its a female as the black stripe on  its chest was fairly narrow and does not extend far down its underside.

What a pristine example of the species.

An under cover operator ........

........... out in the open.

The old alternative name for the Dunnock was Hedge Sparrow with some justification, it will be found around hedgerows and any fairly rough vegetation where it feels very safe and secure.

They also spend quite a lot of time in winter investigating leaf litter where their plumage really camouflages them well.

The image was taken at Grafton Park, near Grafton Underwood in East Northamptonshire, it was nice today to meet another regular at the Park again, Adrian with his care worker who both stayed around to watch the woodland birds coming in to feed, Adrian is pretty good at recognizing the various Tit species, particularly Blue Tits and has the same love of the woodlands that I do, time spent in woodlands can be very therapeutic.

Whooper Swans flypast ......

Not the best of shots but a first for me at an inland reserve, I have normally seen this species in good numbers up in Lancashire on the Fylde coast.

Even with a small family group like this their whooping or trumpeting contact call is quite audible and far carrying.