Diary of a morning walk

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by John

Hi Gill

The reason I didn't pick out Ruff is that in winter plumage I wouldn't expect so much white around the neck/chest. You can see it has that with its head turned around.

John

Ruff can be very varied in colour though even in winter plumage........

[John]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Ruff can be very varied in colour though even in winter plumage........

True and I suppose that I could be the case here. It's just that I have never seen them that white in winter plumage myself. I have seen female Ruff that white in the summer though when in breeding plumage.

I take your point about the scalloped effect with the plumage though but 1st winter Greenshank can look a bit like that to.

John

[colincurry]

Originally Posted by Seajay

Hey up Colin, that was a great report! An inspiration and some lovely and interesting photos too! You mention your getting on a bit. Tell me - what equipment did you have to lug around? Was everything hand held or did you have a tri or monopod? Were there any hides or do you approach by stealth? Up to press I've used either a static hide at a reserve or my own portable, as I find the bigma too heavy after a short while. I have a Nikon 70-200mm VR and a 2x converter which is a superb combination for scrub and woods but found there were many times when more reach was needed so bought a bigma and converters. (Just could not afford a 600mm Nikon - unless I re-mortgaged).

Hallo Seajay

I am an old geezer but blessed with good health. Walking and birding is good for the body and soul.

I use a Canon 30D and 100-400 L IS USM, and also carry a Nikon 50ED scope and monopod, bins, flask and sandwiches. It is very heavy when all in the rucksack; but seems not too bad when I distribute it around. I am able to carry the scope in a jacket pocket. I hang my bins from a D ring on my rucksack. I fasten the waist straps of the rucksack and clip the tripod mount on the lens over this when not using the camera - this helps to take some of the weight, relieves the strain on the neck and stops the camera from swinging around. I also hope to get a 1.4 extender. You get more cunning as you get older! Also, birding does not involve that much running - unless something special turns up!

Thanks to every who has responded so very nicely to this thread. It is very encouraging.


Colin

[DaiTheDragon]

That seems like the perfect day to me Colin, a lovely walk rewarded with some smashing photographs. It's day's like that that helps you forget the day's when you walk for hours and see nothing. Mind you I seem to get a lot of those lately.
Look forward to reading about your next walkabout and seeing more quality photographs like these.

Dai