Another day with the birds!

Today was another day with the birds, with a trip out to Oak Hammock Marsh near Stonewall.  It was a windy day so sadly the birds were few and far between but there were a few surprises.

Songbirds were pretty much nowhere to be seen, but at one point a curious American Tree Sparrow let me check him out as he perched on a nearby bullrush:



A slightly more interesting find was a small cluster of what turned out to be Marbled Godwits.  This was my first time seeing these birds, so I was happy to get a decent capture.



That was about it for keepers at Oak Hammock itself, but on the drive back, my wife noticed something by the side of the road:



I thought this Snowy Owl might have been injured, but once I got close enough, it showed that it was okay:



Sadly, it never turned back to me, but I like the sense of motion as it launched so this was the shot I kept.

Thinking the day might not be so bad we headed to nearby Lockport to see if the Pelicans that gather there were up for a photoshoot.  What we found put a smile on my face:







A great end to a fun day out with the family.

More telephoto fun...

Took the new lens out to Fort Whyte today hoping to get some new critters. I found some of the expected critters like Muskrats, Turtles and Geese, but I got my first Yellow Rumped Warbler and I managed to get nice a close to a Chickadee who posed for a nice shot as well.

Here is today's collection:

New toys...

I miss my 70-200. I miss it a ton. I knew I wanted something with more reach, and the 1.4x teleconverter I was using did sap some sharpness. All last summer, I didn't go for bird walks, nature hikes, zoo trips and the like because I had sold it and lacked a telephoto option.

I thought I wanted a 100-400mm but the push/pull zoom seemed unnatural to use, and the lens is starting to show it's age when you compare it to some more modern options. Financial constraints also meant that I wasn't going to be buying a new lens last year.

Lo and behold cash flow is a bit better, and Canon has launched this little beauty. Since you lose a stop with the teleconverter, compared to the 70-200mm f/2.8L the max f/5.6 is not a huge hit, the IS is generally a bit better, and the autofocus should be faster without the teleconverter. It also takes me from 280mm at the long end to 300mm which is not a huge difference, but it is a little bit longer. I might have to push the ISO up a stop indoors, but for outdoor work it should be a great lens.

So the 70-300L came to the Zoo today for a test run:













And since I have posted any pics of them in a while, here are the kids!







So far, I'm happy with the lens! Tomorrow we are going to try Fort Whyte Alive for some more telephoto fun!