Cordless Dave has kindly lent me his 1.4 extender to try out the autofocus with my 100-400 pump. I have taped three of the connections as advised to see if the autofocus would work. All of these snaps have been taken with extender attached. Some are very long distance. Some are heavily cropped. In general and on the results of this outing, itseems to work fine. It hunts a bit looking for birds in foliage and on expanses of water; but this happens (perhaps to a lesser extent) when without the extender. I shall carry out more experiments.
I had intended to try for a kingisher using my monopod; but this would have been too static on such a freezing morning that I changed my mind. I don't know if anyone has been looking at the "Boots" thread. It has been so wet lately that I have worn wellies. I was very impressed by Boddie's fur-lined pair; but I am a poor pensioner. I checked out warm wellies in St Ives market, and have ended up with two pairs of foam insoles - these make my more wellies more comfortable, and insulate the sole against the gound - they cost me
£1. I therefore began by following the same route as when I saw the fox. Things were pretty quiet; everyone was tucked up in bed where I should have been if I had had any sense. I came to the first gravel pit where I snapped some distant wigeon. This shot has been barely cropped.
Next came the coot who was a fair distance away - a well-cropped shot
This cormorant was an opportunistic snap shot with no time to change settings - again, fairly heavily cropped.
I had to change my route. The route I followed last time entailed crossing a moth-eaten railway sleeper across a ditch. The sleeper was covered in frost; and I am too precious to risk it. So I headed for the river bank. The flood water has receded still further but many of the meadows are still under water, as this uncropped picture of the willow indicates.
Next, I came to a favourite and productive hedgerow, at the end of which is a good coffee place and lots of blackberries in the autumn. I followed a robin and got several snaps. I know there are millions of robins in the
Gallery; but the robin is a candidate for a national English bird; and I have no qualms in including this pic.
This is another well-cropped opportunistic snap.
I looked back along the site of the old railway line and saw a kestrel perched in an overhanging tree. He was a black blob against the sky. However, I took a couple of quick snaps, and walked gradually nearer, snapping as I went. I managed to get within 30 yeards or so before he flew off. I wish he had been in full sun - next time...
Then I cam across a pair of bullfinches. I could not get a clear shot, and they were frightened away by a lady plus dog on one side and a 4x4 on the other. Quite heavily cropped. On two other shots in foliage the AF worked quite quickly.
At the final gravel pit before St Ives, I saw a pair of Goldeneye - these are quite heavily cropped.
The male may be more eye-catching (no pun), but I think the lady is intrisically more attractive (sounds like a good chat up line)
Colin
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