My year in pictures

2014 as it happened did not seem a good year. I suppose it might look different by the time I get to the end of this post but as the year progressed it didn 't seem very enjoyable and a large slab of it was decidedly unpleasant.
The year started quite well though not in Kent. For something interesting I had to travel to Hove for the grey phalarope, which after the rain cleared and the sun came out, performed fantastically often being too close to focus on - Kent obviously needs to invest in more paddling pools and forget about spending a fortune on nature reserves that end up as dog-walker parks and on reed beds where you can't see anything..

A Humes warbler hung around in Ramsgate cemetery for a long time. Initially I resisted (I wanted to find my own......stupid idea)  but in the end I folded and managed a couple of record shots and a little gull hung around Dover Harbour for a few weeks.

At the end of January came the Gambia..........and this undoubtedly spoiled the rest of my year. It might even spoil the rest of my photographic life. It was warm, it was sunny, there was hoards of birds and they were approachable. It's difficult to choose highlights - yellow billed shrike, white crowned robin chat, yellow crowned gonolek, broad billed roller - they were all fantastic....and that's before breakfast on  day 1 in the hotel grounds.

Outside the grounds the list continued - little bee-eater, swallow tailed bee-eater, veraux's eagle owl, pied king fisher, great kingfisher but one of my most pleasing shots was of the black winged stilt.

The rest of Feb was a bit of a non-event. A few nuthatch pictures, some very distant lesser spotted woodpecker shots but nothing notable.
March continued in a similar vein until I had another away-day into Sussex for the little gulls at Worthing...............

followed an hour later by the mergansers at Widewater ..............

and then the mealy redpoll at Warnham local nature reserve - the latter visit demonstrating to me just how varied redpolls can look.

Another day trip to Dunge had me connecting with a firecrest in Dengemouth gully - the first of what was, photographically, an excellent year for firecrests.

Locally a Baltic gull showed briefly on Restharrow scrape and left within the hour leaving me asking the question why do local birds only stay a few minutes?.

April was actually quite noteworthy. There was a strong showing of ring ouzels at Sandwich, fulmars kept falling off the cliff face and getting stuck in the brambles at the base of the cliffs  - I had to get 2 out but did they thank me for helping them? Did they heck. I got my best ever shots of a grasshopper warbler at Grove. Finally on Restharrow scrape I saw my first ever blue winged teal, and managed my best shots ever of a little ringed plover.

May started with a bang - a black-winged stilt on the Scrape ( a first for the SBBO) which flew off 2 minutes after I arrived, May went downhill rapidly after that; in fact I'm not sure I saw or photographed anything locally.

We did have 2 trips to Marquenterre in May - only the normal stuff but on the second visit Steve and I spent half the day in the car park photographing juvenile crested tits.

Our luck with the weather on our annual birding trip (to Wales this year) finally ran out. We hardly saw any sun, the cool wet spring had everything several weeks behind in their breeding, and the staff at Gilfach were a pain in the arse having taken an extreme dislike to photographers. Wood warblers were easier to find than previously and still singing heartily but the light was universally poor.

The puffins on Skomer didn't have chicks so the birds weren't returning with sand eels and the kites at Gigrin were a challenge in the poor light - I sound like Marvin.
June was another real struggle.  Rye was visited a couple of times for the terns and provided one of the most pleasing shots of the month but it wasn't a tern it was a tufted duck in flight....I'm easily pleased.

The stars of late June/early July were the peregrines on the cliffs - 3 juveniles were fledged and these were almost totally indifferent to the attentions of the photographers.

Mid July saw the start of my salivary gland problems which continued into November. Whilst I did get out it was often only for a short period. Most of the time I felt ill - I was on antibiotics for a total of 8 weeks during the 4 months it took to get it sorted.
August started with the white wheatear - or should I say the white northern wheatear. Spotted flycatchers seemed to be around in decent numbers and my perseverance in looking for rarities on the rifle range at Kingsdown was rewarded with a wryneck (the fact that I was too ill to walk far and the only birding I did was on the rifle range doesn't come into it). Unfortunately this was a particularly un-cooperative wryneck and I never saw it after the first 2 seconds.

September started with what was possibly the most unusual find of the year - a juvenile turtle dove in my back garden (a reward for being ill and housebound). Quite amazing really in that I didn't see another one all summer - it was gone within the hour though.

Mid September and I had another lifer in the form of an ortolan bunting at Fan Bay - thanks to Phil Smith for letting me know about that.

Late September saw an influx of crests to Kingsdown with both gold and firecrest being present. They ( 2 fire one gold) were inhabiting the last bush on the footpath on the rifle range along with 2 chiffs, a robin and a wren. I stayed for an hour or so snapping away and they were still present when I left.

The end of September brought more firecrests... another 2 but this time in the garden.
October was very quiet photographically but another large influx of ring ouzels mid month brought the normal mixture of pleasure (seeing them) and frustration (not being able to close enough) then came one of the years highlight - an Isabelline shrike on Worth Marsh. I was feeling particularly grim that day but I managed to be there long enough to see it and get a few shots (those who stayed longer did significantly better). Whilst this bird had the decency to hang around all day by the next morning, in accord with most local birds, it was gone.

An unexpected find on the local patch (by the public loos again!) was a late hobby; only the second I have seen in Kingsdown, and there was a pair of stonechats who would almost come "to hand" - well to meal worms only 5 yardsaway.

November started with me in twitch mode (well twitching that didn't require much walking). Lapland buntings are birds I have always had trouble with - difficult to find and even more difficult to get good pictures of. They either don't let me get close or the weather/light is foul (normally both).The lapland bunting was at Swalecliff for several days and despite seeming to be very confiding it remained ignored by most. Given the good weather and I could park close by I went. The sun was shining, the bird was remarkably confiding and I enjoyed a wonderful hour with it.

Then came the desert wheatear. Fantastic.  The only downside being I could only get there the first day.

I did get back to Reculver after the w/e but it had gone and I had to be content with shorelark and snow bunting.
Mid November I had my op to have the salivary gland (and stone) removed and to help my recuperation I invested in the Canon 7D mk 2 - the photographic equivalent of comfort food. As a consequence of the operation it wasn't until late November I finally caught up with the long-staying great grey shrike.

December and another visit to the Kingsdown public loos resulted in some more shots of crests - I was working on the assumption that since the autumn migration had been rubbish there still might be a few late comers waiting to be discovered. I often have these stupid ideas but very occasionally they work out. In this instance in the form or 2 or 3 firecrests and 5+ goldcrests.

Not too bad I suppose but one can always hope for bettER.
Next year things should be a bit better in that I (already) have 2 trips planned - one an actually birding trip to The Gambia and a family holiday to Sri Lanka; both should provide a few photographic opportunities. I might even try twitching a bit more (and perhaps moaning a bit less).
Happy new year to you all and thanks for reading.

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More on the focusing of the Canon 7D mk 2

This is the third blog on the mk 2 and probably the last.
In the last few weeks I have used a few different settings for the focus and will comment on them. It is difficult to provide "proof" that what I say is correct so you'll have to take my word for it (or not).

Focusing and focus options.

I spent 2 sessions at Seasalter trying to photograph the waders in flight. In general the birds were low hence I was trying to photograph small, fast moving, birds against the sea rather than the sky due. For the bulk of the 2 sessions I used the expansion options (center spot surrounded by the 4 or 8 adjacent points). In a previous posting i have already discussed how with these options only the center point is actually focusing the others just assist.
Well trying to photograph small waders against the back ground of the sea was very difficult. The camera took a long time to focus on the bird  (if it managed it at all), though once "locked on" it did hold it very well. I think the problem is that the target was so small the camera had trouble deciding what it was I was actually trying to focus on ( the bird or the sea) and once locked on (which could just as easily be the sea as the bird) it held on to it very well. Anyway it was a frustrating experience even though I managed a few reasonable shots.
As a last resort towards the end of my second session I switched over to spot focus and immediately enjoyed far greater success. The camera locked onto the bird very quickly and once locked on held onto it pretty well (using "case 1" for the tracking) even if I drifted slightly off target now and again.

When the bird were in the sky focusing was very fast no matter which option I used (no background to confuse the point expansion options).

Tracking larger and slower moving subjects such as a gull was very easy with either of the options discussed above. The camera locked on instantly and held onto the subject very well.
Until I discover more about the camera the spot focus will be my default setting from now on.

Another example of the use of spot focusing and tracking was provided by the goosander that were on Restharrow scrape. I've already published some shots of the birds against the sky (Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/26135972@N05/15437104653/) and of them taking off. However I took around 10 shots of them in flight just after take off with grass/fences as background. For the first 3 shots fired the focus missed the birds but the next 6 or 7 were excellent and not once was the focus lost..

Again I was using spot focus and for tracking I was using "case 2" - all in all I think this was a very impressive performance and one that I'm sure I could not have achieved with the old 7D.

Speed and accuracy of focusing.
A few days ago I had the pleasure of finding a flock of crests at Kingsdown - 2 or 3 firecrests and 5 or 6 goldcrests. As always these were flitting about in the scrub at a great rate of knots. Now I have on a number occasions taken excellent crest shots with my old 7D but in this session the focusing of the mk 2 was superbly fast and extremely accurate with the vast majority of shots being of a usable quality (from a focusing perspective).
It's difficult to illustrate just how well it performed with images but hopefully some of the attached shots will demonstrate how good the focus was - in the examples shown the birds were partially obscured and/or suffering from a lot of shadows over the subject (and didn't make it onto Flickr for this reason). For cleaner shots see my Flickr site - https://www.flickr.com/photos/26135972@N05/

There is actually a twig between me and the bird in this shot - can just about be seen obscuring the crest

Only a small gap to get through on this one.

A lot of shadow that failed to fool the focus

So it's my belief that the mk 2 focuses a lot faster and more accurately than the old 7D.

As things stand I'm sure I will continue to use spot focus, even for bids in flight. For in-flight birds in the sky the expansion options may be used but at the moment I can't see why I'd use some of the larger arrays. I have yet to try my luck with small fast flying birds in the sky (eg hirundines/swifts) but this will have to wait 'till next summer or possibly my visit to The Gambia in late January. During my last visit to The Gambia my success rate with palm swifts was deplorable so it will be a real test.

A bit more on the Canon 7D mk 2

Since my last post I've not actually been out very much due to the gloomy weather and the near total lack of anything to point the camera at locally (here I am assuming there are people, less sensible than me, who are out there looking). I keep seeing and hearing comments about the mk 2 some of which are complimentary some less so, some from people who have one and some from people who don't. Here's where I am to date.

As I said in my previous post, straight out of the box the focus was clearly off and I had to do some work to sort out the best setting on the focus micro adjustment - I settled for +7. I have since adjusted that to +8 (I did this whilst photographing the great grey shrike - it wasn't moving so I had a chance to experiment in the field). It seems a few people have had trouble with the focus straight out of the box.

Noise and Resolution:
To my mind the noise is noticeably less than the old 7D to the extent that I'm happy to use ISOs above 400 with the mk 2. I have no idea just how high I can go because I haven't tried it but I have taken what I regard as decent shots at ISO 640, and 800 and reasonable shots at ISO 1000.
However increasing the ISO isn't only about noise. It also affects the resolution.
The Review by Techradar assessed the drop off in resolution with ISO setting
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/digital-slrs-hybrids/canon-7d-mark-ii-1264977/review/3#articleContent

Using raw at ISO 100, 200 and 400 the mk 2 scores 30, at ISO 800 this drops to 28, at ISO 1600 it's 26 and at ISO 3200 it's down to 24. Up to ISO 1600 these are better than achieved with the old 7D by 2 points i.e. at ISO 800 the old 7D scores 26 but at ISO 3200 the old 7d scored the same as the new. The resolution differences are larger using JPEG but since I don't shoot in JPEG and I don't know what in-camera processing is going on I have ignored these results.

So when choosing an ISO setting I consider the shutter speed, noise and the resolution.....as a consequence I tend to shoot on lower ISOs and shutter speeds than I really should and hope that by taking enough shots some will catch the bird not moving. For the Chilham great gery shrike I used ISO down as low as 160 to try and maximise resolution - the bird wasn't moving so a high shutter speed was not required. Other factors that come into the equation are whether or not I'm hand holding and how close is the bird. The closer I am to the bird the more relaxed I am about choosing a higher ISO because resolution will be less of an issue.

The other factor that will impact the apparent noise level is what size of image is required. A lot of the time my post cropped images are 2,500 to 3,500 pixels wide. Reducing the pixel count to 1800-2000 (my typical Flickr size) has a beneficial effect on the apparent noise level. The extra pixels of the mk2 therefore has an additional beneficial effect on noise.

Focusing.

First up I must say the mk 2 is a lot qicker to focus than the old 7D.
I'm still getting to grips with the focus settings but I think I now understand what is going on. There are 2 "spot" settings and an additional 2 settings where the center spot is surrounded by either 4 or 8 adjacent focus points (called "AF point expansion" settings by Canon). In all 4 of these settings it seems that it's only the center point that actually does the focusing. In the 2 "expansion" settings it seems these additional focus points only "help", the focusing is still only done by the center point. I naively thought they were all actively focusing and couldn't understand why the outer points weren't being used when the center point had slipped off the subject (eg when in flight).

There are 2 other settings where large blocks of focus point can be selected. In these all the spots can focus and when looking through the viewfinder you can see the active focusing point jumping around. The problem with these settings is you have no control which one will be used when the shutter goes off. If you have a decent depth of field it may not matter that much but if the DOF is short the shot could still be unsatisfactory eg focused on the nearest wing tip and the head is soft.
So in general if the bird is on the ground/perched I use the most accurate spot setting. I did try the AF expansion on the snow buntings but they were rubbish and went straight into the bin. I assume the camera couldn't decide whether it was the bird or shingle I wanted to focus on.
Successful flight shots have been best with the AF expansion options though I've not tried the block options when the subject is difficult to keep the center point on (swallows for example).
Some final thoughts on this section. There were often times with the old 7D when it really seemed to struggle to get an accurate focus (for example high contrast situations or unfavourable light direction - had a lot of this with the juvenile peregrines). This doesnt seem to be a problem with the mk 2; when it has focused it seems to have been very accurate. Whilst the 7D mk 2 can shoot at 10 frames per second there are times when I think the focus is struggling to keep up with the shutter. This, to me, was a very obvious problem with the old 7D where almost every other shot was soft. It is less of a problem with the mk 2 but it still seems to be there. I can't show any examples because I delete all the shots I'm not happy with. I'll have to try and remember to keep some sequences that show this for a future blog.

Tracking Options.

Still in the dark with what's best here. Need more time. I will say the tracking even on the basic setting is superb and far superior to the old 7D and it seems to hold onto the image even when the background gets confusing (using the AF point expansion) as shown in this gadwall shot:

Shot at 1/800th sec at ISO 640

Below are some shots I've taken over the last few days with the ISO listed. I think they are not too bad. In all I have cropped in a lot further than I would normally do for my Flickr posts.

Shot at 1/200th at ISO 800

1/2000th at ISO 400 - these were quite a long way away so pleasing.

1/500th at ISO 400

1/1000 sec at ISO 400

1/160 sec at ISO 640

1/250 at ISO 640

One final thought.

With greater pixel count comes the ability to zoom in further during the processing .......and the more you zoom in the worse the picture will look (same is true for noise). And nobody zooms in as much as a bird photographer. Could it be that (some of) the softness being suggested with the mk 2 is actually down to the inherent sharpness of the lens or even the individuals ability to hold a camera steady enough as these greater magnifications..
On the former point I use the 400mm f5.6 because it's the  sharpest lens at that focal length for the price I'm prepared to pay. On the latter point people have asked me whether I will hand hold now I have more ISOs (and hence shutter speed) to play with. Simple answer..... no. I know how much worse my hand held pictures are to those on the tripod at any shutter speed. The extra ISO/shutter speed may mean I get a few more (hand held) flight shots that are acceptable but it won't change my use of the tripod. I know my limitations.

Great Grey Shrike and Canon 7D mk 2

For some of you this is old news but since my last posting I have been into hospital and had the salivary gland plus it's resident stone removed leaving me with a 2.5 inch cut and I daresay scar but overall things went well, I didn't suffer any nerve damage to the nerve that controls the left side of my mouth so I can jabber away just like I used to. Whilst I felt pretty fragile for a week or so I am now feeling pretty good; better in fact than for 4 months (the time it's taken to get the problem sorted).
To aid my recovery I invested in the Canon 7D mk 2. The on-line reviews seemed good and Steve Ashton and Mike Gould seemed to think it did what was advertised so in I jumped. The camera only arrived Monday afternoon so my experience with it to date is limited.
Straight out of the box I slapped my 400mm f5.6 on it and fired off a few shots Ahhhhhh......they were rubbish. So it was out with the ruler at 45 degrees to check the focusing. Same as with my old 7D - it was front focusing (so is probably the lens and not the camera that was at fault) - so it was time to locate the AF microadjustment. A quick look suggested the degree of correction required was very similar to before at +7.
The next day I spent a little time at Restharrow trying out the tracking - which is superb,  and the focus array options - which I'm still trying to work out. What I will say is that once it has locked onto a subject (ie flying bird) it does stay on it superbly my only problem is that with the wider arrays of focusing points I have no control of where it actually focuses and it's as likely to be the wing tip as the birds head/beak/eye. Still if it was easy.............
On the noise front I was hoping for an improvement and I've got one. Thus far I would say that ISO 800 with the mk 2 is similar to ISO 400 with the mk 1 but there may be more to come in that ignoring the noise controls the amount of noise is very dependent on the "Threshold" selected on the DPP sharpening tool. Certainly the shots I've taken at ISO 800-1000 have been usable with only the minimum of work (and this was before finding the "Threshold" adjustment).

Now for the shrike.
Today was the third time I've gone to see it. The first was a couple of days after my op and I was too tired to hang around waiting so I missed it when it returned for the afternoon. The second time was a week after the op and I dropped in on the way to the William Harvey (to have the stitches removed) and again on the way back but it was a no show for most of the day so I missed it again.
Today I arrived around 8.45, it was cloudy and murky but Ron (I've forgotten his surname) had been there since dawn and pointed it out in the hedgerow adjacent to the playing field. Tick achieved; now the wait for it to come close and hopefully for the sun to come out.
Around 9.00 it came out of the hedge and flew into the large hawthorn by the stream (on the Canterbury side of the bridge). Ron got his scope on it and saw that it was ripping a mouse/vole apart that it had impaled there - I'm sure it had nothing in it's beak when it flew across so this must have been an earlier kill. The shots I got were rubbish but here's one for the record:

Mouse breakfast...yummmy

It stayed there for 10-15 minutes then moved further away to another bush by the stream then onto the top of a small dead tree that was quite close (relatively) to where the stream goes under the A28. I went off to see how close it was. The answer was closer but still not close and the traffic flying past and lack of pavement meant it was not a comfortable place to be. Still I fired off a number of shots and got quite enthusiastic as the sky started clearing.
Whilst there I tried a few changes to the micro adjustment ranging from +7 to +10 but ended up at +8.

It stayed there looking around and attacking the top of a twig for about 15 minutes then at 9.30 it flew to the wires by the Branch road bridge. I was actually relieved to get off the A28.

Caught in the act!

The distance to the bird was very similar to that I had from the A28 but at least I wasn't dicing with death. After a while it flew off and when I refound it it was in the row of bushes over towards the Bagham road. From there it went back into the playing field hedge where it stayed for quite some time though at one point it was on a post in the middle of the field then in the hedge quite close to the playing field pavilion.

Trying to look innocent

Then I lost sight of  and was scanning the distant hedges when some people who just turned up pointed out it was right above me on the wires (I was down by the pavilion where the wires are closer to the road). Fill your boots time the only problem being wires don't make great pictures.

It continued to fiddle about in it's original hawthorn bush, tried chasing a couple of long tailed tits who seemed to want to torment it after it had failed and even chased a snipe but eventually it returned to the wires near the Branch road bridge. The light was now brilliant but those wires are further away than you think.

On it's way back to a distant hedge

All in all a pretty pleasing morning.
A bit of sun, the bird came close, a few people to chat to, (though I'm left wondering whether Mark threw his camera into the river as he threatened) and even Mr Ashton couldn't spoil the fun - despite phoning me every time he drove past along the A28 in his truck..........and his tooting of his horn as he went past.

Desert Wheatear at Reculver

My day started in the hide at Restharrow seeing a lone Mr Ashdown who was busy counting teal - there were a lot to count. I then wandered off to the sea front hoping for some snow buntings to go with my recent Lapland (and not so recent Ortolan bunting) shots but I'd only seen a short-eared owl come in-off when I got a text alert saying there was a desert wheatear at Reculver.

I have seen desert wheatear before,  the one at Sandwich a few years ago,  however after constantly complaining nothing ever turns up locally (I always manage to forget anything good I've seen) and in the knowledge they normally hang around I went.

As I passed the towers I could see a group of people up towards Cold Harbour and another loose group opposite the oyster farm........obviously it wasn't preforming for the crowd and when I reached the oyster farm contingent they told me it was on the roof of the shed. Well I could see something on the roof but the light was right into my eyes so couldn't tell what it was.
After a while the bird disappeared from the roof and I was just about to make my way around the back to look for it when it was spotted on the sea wall.
Half a dozen scurried off after it stopping evry so often to get some shots then moving closer. We actually got very close though the light direction was somewhat sub-optimal being side on.

A few walkers were trying to get along the wall and very kindly hung back until we had got shots as good as we were going to get and when they went past the bird they walked on the inland side of the road (as we'd asked) so increasing the chance it would be flushed onto the shingle.....which it duly was.

Now the bird was down-light of us but it rapidly moved down to the rock pile about 400 yards east of the towers. The bird stayed there for a while (everyone staying on the sea wall) then it made it's way back west towards the towers along the shingle.....we all followed.

Once back at the towers it moved onto the rocks beside the railing and it was here it was the closest and the light direction was good. Unfortunately it didn't stay long in any one place and when it did it was facing us but I managed my best shots here.

After a short while the bird flew back along the beach to the eastern rock pile and everyone moved after it. I did think about leaving because I doubted that I would improve on what I had in the bag but I wanted to catch up with Steve and Mike and probe them about their new 7D mk2's.
We sat on the shingle as the bird fluttered around the rocks and shingle but it never came quite close enough (in comparison with my earlier views).

If it stood still it was very difficult to see on the shngle

Eventually it went back to the tower rocks and sat for a long time just watching us watching it - brilliant views but just a little too distant for my 400mm lens. It did however have a scramble up one of the rocks and showed off it's tail brilliantly.

It sat on the rocks for quite some time then disappeared west which was when I gave up.

Turning out to be a good week really .......and I've ordered a 7D Mk 2

Lapland bunting at Swalecliff

As most of you will know I've not been out much these last few months but the light is well and truly at the end of the tunnel.
I have been suffering from a stone in my salivary gland and it's a whopper - 1.7cm long and 1.2 cm wide. It's blocked the salivary duct so saliva builds up in the gland and the result is I have a lump on my throat the size of an egg but the real problem has been the infections. Since this started (July 18th) I've had 6 weeks on anti-biotics and a week on antifungals (I managed to get oral thrush; a common problem with prolonged antibiotic treatment).
Anyway I'm to be operated on next week when the salivary gland will be removed and hopefully that will be the end of the matter. It will mean one night in hospital (possibly 2 depending on how much bleeding takes place and when the drains come out.........to much detail?)

Today started at the hospital for a "Pre-assessment clinic" where blood tests, an ECG were run and a lot of forms filled in. After it was over and because the sun was out and because you can park close I drove up to Swalecliff to try my luck with the Lapland bunting.
I've not had a lot of luck with Laplands over the years, I've never found my own one and normally I can't find the ones other people have seen and when I have located one I've either failed to get clear shot or the weather has been poor (normally both).
Anyway as I arrived a guy with a camera was leaving but he told me where it had been - near a white sign -  and where it had gone - out onto the shingle. I could see another case of  "you should have been here 10 minutes ago" looming along with the disappointment.
I wandered along the seaward path past the white sign and on to the wooden bridge (where all the reports on Bird guides say it is) and back several times then finally found it back near the sign. It was on the small bit of shingle between the path and the water but it flew off onto the seaward shingle banks almost as soon as I'd spotted it and certainly before I'd got the camera onto it.
Still, I now knew where it was so it was a matter of waiting and hoping. I didn't have to wait too long before it returned and I was as happy as Larry clicking away to my hearts content.
It did return to the shingle banks a couple of times as people/dogs wandered past but always returned pretty quickly. The last time it was in camera range I was clicking away some 6-8 yards from it when 2 dog walkers (plus dogs) walked past and it totally ignored them!!! They couldn't have been more than 3 yards away from it.
This was by far the closest I have got to a Lapland bunting and the only time I have seen one when the sun was shining. All my previous shots have been binned!!!!

A shot to show it's red neck

The chap I saw first up had also told me of some black redstarts in the church yard so after taking some 300 shots of the bunting I went over there. As I approached I could hear a black redstart calling and on the fence - 20-30 yards away - was a cracking male. Only downside I was facing into the sun.
Anyway I moved into the churchyard and sneaked up on him - still on the fence.

Male black redstart

He actually spent a lot of time in the trees, sometimes very close, but getting past the foliage without spooking him was a struggle as was shooting into the sky.

I did take a few pictures of the female but most of the time was spent on the male.
By now it was 3.00 pm I'd been in the field 2.5 hrs and after a morning at the hospital I was well and truly cream crackered.