Goldeneye flock

not expecting the local flock to take flight for no apparent reason, I still had the 2x converter on the 500 lens and it was all hand held at 1250th sec -- no marks for composition but again I was very surprised by the results -- Goldeneye total today 156 maybe a local record on the pits but we have had up to 630 on the Humber although numbers have fallen in recent years with a peak of 320 this winter

Long distance local Long-tailed Ducks

I measured the distance to these Long-tails as 275m so they were to say the least not close -- Canon 1D4, Canon 500f4 and Canon 2x Mark3 -- I have read comments that it is sharper than the Mark 2 -- I was pretty amazed at the detail visible in these heavy crops -- shots in very dull light 400th sec at ISO 640 on monopod with a fair breeze and choppy water surface

Gadwall

Bempton 2x

Canon 1D4, Canon 300 2.8 and Canon 2x Mark 3 -- seems a decent tool but early days -- not convinced about the AF yet on the old lenses but this was a high contrast situation -- more testing needed

300 2.8 1.4x III Bempton

not many birds back and most of the Gannets were low down and in the shade

Mediterranean Gulls

usually reliable at Holbeck car park but the Meds seem to efficient at bread guzzling often ending up with distended necks and paying only brief visits--
same camera lens combo as post below

Scarborough half term mistake

staggered half terms, ours went back this week!! -- went up to hopefully have another go at the Iceland Gull (missing) and try out the new Canon mark 3 converters --

all these with Canon 1D4, Canon 300 2.8 and Canon 1.4x Mark III converter---

Lapwing an under rated wader

well it has been the worst 7 days of weather here that I can recall for a long time -- it has never got light for 4 days with rain, mist, fog, low cloud, drizzle et al -- so watching Lapwings today in the gloom I was struck by just how great a bird they are and I assume we fail to appreciate their qualities due to their abundance in winter and the fact that like most birds people seldom look at them for more than a few seconds if they do not have a rarity status -- in the US this must be a great rarity! there were 3600 at Alkborough last week but most of them will have left the Humber in a couple of weeks