So it's back to blogging. It's ages since I really kept an on-line record of my activities but I've decided to try to get back into it.
What you will see here will be mainly the results of my photographic adventures.
I'm starting with this morning's wander: A hike over the Great Orme followed by a visit to the Conwy RSPB reserve.
My main objective was to try out my new toy. I've just bought a Sigma 120-300 F2.8 zoom with the idea that it will be lighter to carry and better for catching birds in flight. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I'm comparing it all the time to my Canon 500mm F4 and the Sigma is never going to win that fight if the criteria is purely image quality. The Sigma comes into it's own as a walkaround lens. It's far from lightweight but it's a lot easier to carry than the Canon. The most obvious distance is the lack of "reach". Even with a 1.4X converter attached it's still way short of the magnification of the 500mm.
On the Orme I managed to catch up with a load of birds that I hadn't yet seen this year. My first year tick was Chough. A pair was soaring leisurely around above the lighthouse - gorgeous crows! My first Swallow was hawking over the sheep fields, desperately looking for some flying insects. I felt so sorry for it as there was still a really cold wind, in fact, there was still a fair bit of snow where it lay in the shadows of the walls. The bushes by the hawthorns were full of Goldcrests and I found my first Willow Warblers on the way back to the car.
Photo opportunities were few and far between but the stars of the morning were a pair of Stonechats.
The male was busy posing....
... whilst the female was feathering their nest somewhere
Wheatears were probably the commonest birds up there (after Mipits)
A small flock of Starlings were flying around like the Red Arrows on a display
Conwy reserve was quiet with only the usual suspects. Signs of migrants
were few apart from several Chiffchaffs calling plus one Swallow hawking over the pools.
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