Rufford Park

[Tormentil]

A big thankyou to Graham (glsammy) and his wife for an excellent day out at Rufford Park, Sherwwod Forest and a Lay By. We got everything Graham had gauranteed, plus a bonus of some Siskins. And I would not have believed the tameness of that Robin, if I had n't seen it myself!!

Also great to meet another WABer, Matt (matt_xyz). I think we're gonna re-write our letters to Santa, after seeing his flash setup. We were quite impressed. No, not "quite", very. I'm gonna be extra good to HiD for a while, I think.

And a big thanks to Roger (Ollie), my chauffeur for the day.

All in all, a great day out, the rain disappeared and we got some sunshine, but the wind !! Brrrrrrrrrrrr. Amply compensated for, by good company.

Thanks All.
Ben

[glsammy]

I'd also like to add a thank you to you Ben, Roger and Matt. Excellent company, making it a far better day than the weather promised.
Your right re Matts flash set up, I can't wait to see some of the results, my Siskins were all pretty dire! I noticed my Mrs. didn't argue at all when I mentioned getting one..I take that as definite approval!
I don't think Matts shots can match this beauty though:



Now that rates as one of my best ever!

[matt_xyz]

thanks all for a very nice day, especially to Graham and his wife for showing us around.

Here's a few of my images. I'll start with a few of the siskins. They're not brilliant, but were significantly helped by the flash;







and here's what these looked like without flash (and this was with +1 exposure compensation)



I'm still going through my other images, but I think this one has to be my favourite so far;



so thanks to all for the excellent company, and thanks to Graham for bringing his pet birds with him

Matt

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

thanks all for a very nice day, especially to Graham and his wife for showing us around.

Here's a few of my images. I'll start with a few of the siskins. They're not brilliant, but were significantly helped by the flash;



so thanks to all for the excellent company, and thanks to Graham for bringing his pet birds with him

Matt

Well Matt, that's confirmed it. Yours are MILES better than anything I managed to get. I had to use +2 compensation to show any detail, the problem then was the background objects were completely washed out, and still the bird was nothing much more than a muddy mess!
That flash works like a charm.

This is just about my favourite, of the ones I took anyway!

[Tormentil]

This the best I managed with the Siskins, using "onboard" flash.




Must admit, I think your mate was the bees knees, Graham.


Matt & Graham. And the flash set up that made us a bit green with envy.



Graham, how many of those Marsh Tits were Willow Tits? And which ones are which ?

I've wittled 'em down to 30 odd shots and I'm more confused than I was earlier.

[matt_xyz]

nice shots Ben (apart from the last one, although I'm now wondering what Graham was keeping under his hat - it wasn't that tame robin was it? )

Sorry if you're now all putting flashguns on your Christmas pressie list - looks like it might have been an expensive day out

Matt

[glsammy]

Your Siskin is better than anything I managed to get Ben.

I'm please you liked our pal. We're very fond of him. I'm disgusted with his no show mates though..I'll have a stern word with them next time I'm there. Good job the Siskins came as a decent replacement gang!

Crikey, in that shot I almost look like I know what I'm doing..

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

nice shots Ben (apart from the last one, although I'm now wondering what Graham was keeping under his hat - it wasn't that tame robin was it? )

Sorry if you're now all putting flashguns on your Christmas pressie list - looks like it might have been an expensive day out

Matt

It was for poor Roger, fancy not going for a swim to recover that pipe..

[Ollie]

Have to agree a great day out in great company. Many thanks to Graham and Linda for escorting us around. I managed to gt good photos of all you promised Graham. Those Siskin images are great Matt. Didn't get one keeper of them myself. That flash set up is going to pay dividends.

Here's my version of the Nuthatch frozen still on the post.



Roger

[glsammy]

Excellent Roger! Considering you wanted a good shot of a Nuthatch, I don't think you could have asked for a more obliging bird!