Ukwildlifeo + squishy's tour of Essex

[squishy]

Ok, here's the first 3

A very relaxed water rail sat preening in front of us at Rainham marshes
We were looking for juvenile bearded tits when a pair of these showed up with two chicks hiding further back in the reeds

Ignore the camera info on that one, it was taken at 400mm

Heres my best marsh frog from Rainham
Unfortunately the sun always went in when we found good places to photograph them, so all my shots were taken while it was quite overcast

(I've just remembered this one was at 400mm well, not 150 )

And the massive toad we found next to the lake at Bedford Country Park
(sods law there has to be a blade of grass in front of it's face that I couldnt see in the viewfinder )

(this one was actually 150mm


So were they worth the wait?

[pressld2]

Definitely! Love the toad in particular, great use of shallow dof. I don't think the out of focus grass blade hurts at all - it's not in front of the eye.

Glad to see you got a shot of the water rail out in the open. They weren't so cooperative yesterday. I definitely saw three chicks at once but couldn't be sure if there was a fourth.

Dave P.

[operanut1972]

I don't know, just because you've been trying to sort out the rest of your life seems you think you've got an excuse for tardy image posting! .

Only joking, the images were well worth it!

ATB

[Ukwildlifeo]

3 cracking shots there adam, you certainly got the best water rail shot. I agree with Dave on the toad, the fact it does cross the eye and the grass is all along the toad works for me

[Hobjob]

I'm so jealous of those water rail shots ..........