Tufted Duck

 some detail on this flying female Tufted - not enough DOF at this distance to get them both in focus - IQ of the R62 is pretty good and although touted at a 24MP sensor it produces 30MP files 

A new lens tested on local wildlife

 Have been looking for a lens that focuses closer then my current 400 DO 2 which is a bit limited on small insects only having a close focus of 3.3m and is also light weight enough to carry around all day in summer - contemplated the Canon RF 100-500 but at nearly £3000 its a daft investment for the summer so I started looking at the new RF 100-400 lens - it focuses down to 0.88m and weighs just 635gms measuring 8x16.5cms but would the quality be good enough; a recent review by Duade Paton https://youtu.be/jVdQT0m3lok sounded very promising for close subjects - Clifton Cameras (no affiliation) https://www.cliftoncameras.co.uk/ were doing it at £650 with free delivery, I opted for 305 days but it came the day after ordering, first class service -- at £650 it costs less than 10% of the price of my 400 DO 2 which is currently £6729! so just how good could it be? Its not weather sealed and Canon skimp and don't give you a lens hood and there is no tripod collar but at they weight who needs a tripod -- 

The last 3 days have been pretty dire light wise but had a go at my garden Wood Mice and a few soft targets at Waters' Edge on 3200 ISO mainly, all with the Canon R6 -I have been surprised at the results - here is a selection - it certainly seems to live up to the review and looking forward to trying it out on some butterflies and odes come the spring 

Waters' Edge and local birds

 in the gales of yesterday I took the shelter offered by Waters' Edge on a sunny day and tried my luck with the local birds that were available -- the Blackcap has been in our garden for the last week 

Smew and local ducks

 With most of the local pits frozen over the gathering on this pit looked almost like the olden days when Pochard and Tufted numbered in the high 100's. At least 110 Goldeneye today and a drake Pintail was a bonus with the 60+ Shoveler. The Smew is clearly a first-winter drake and to complete the patch sawbill year list a female Red-breasted Merganser was on the Humber. A few more waders included 6 Ringed Plovers taking the year's tally to 97 species the highest February count for a few years.