5th November 2017
Blinded by the light!
Squeezed in a visit to Castle Howard Arboretum yesterday before going to a family Bonfire Party in the afternoon. Couldn't stay long but the hawfinches did appear much to the delight of the many birders present. From the state of the car park and adjoining roads the arboretum must have had a financial field day! [£7 per head]
Any attempt to photograph the hawfinches high up in the hornbeams was a battle against the light which was bright and harsh. Someone moaned: 'The sun's in the wrong place!' I replied [to a complete stranger]: 'No, it's in the right place. It's either the birds or us who are in the wrong place!' Some of the crowd laughed.
A pair of bullfinch were in a small tree and were nicely lit. When one took off I kept my finger on the shutter - I always shoot in al servo mode...
Bullfinch
I thought this photo might be improved by straightening the bird up a bit!
Bullfinch
That's better, isn't it?
Ooops! It's gone!
Bullfinch
Some photos make me smile. I think it's a cannonball finch!
Pointing a 500mm lens [700 mm with extender] hand-held up into a fairly distant hornbeam into the light is tricky. Here's a few of my reasonable efforts. I have used photoshop in some cases to lighten the shadows without over-exposing the whole image. Others worked all right as they were.
Hawfinch
Hawfinch
Call me Bill!!
Hawfinch
