juvenile Hobby flash back

managed to get about a bit today and checked 3 Hobby sites that I was unable to get to at fledging time -- just one adult at one nest and no birds anywhere else -- it looks like it has been a very poor season for the delightful Hobby -- thus I flashed back to August 20th 2006 -- I had hidden myself in a copse near where a family of fledged juvenile Hobbies were loafing -- part field craft part total luck and part being in the right place at the right time but this juvenile suddenly landed right in front of me on the outside of the copse and started taking in its environs -note the midge it is watching in image 7-- my equipment a Canon EOS 30D and Canon 300 f4 lens -- not the most pricey or high spec combination but the best juvenile Hobby images I have taken -- all were processed from RAWs, why anyone buys a DSLR and takes JPegs is beyond me; you can always improve on your processed RAWs with better software in years to come -- so here a few of the images -- I seemed to hold my breath for about 30 minutes but when I looked at the times of the first and last image on the camera it was less than six minutes but a close encounter with my favourite bird that I will never forget  - a 30 minute session watching a cracking juvenile Merlin this afternoon gave me ideas fora winter project! but no shots as it was 500m away