New Toyz ( and it's not even Christmas !)

Took the plunge and got a Nikon D300 Camera and a Nikon 300mm AFS ED f4 prime lens for my hide photography.

It's early days and just getting used to the camera but seems a big improvement on the D70s I have been using over the last 3 years.

All pics were taken at Allenvale Cemetery last week, unfortunately I missed the Waxies with the new rig - too busy catching (or trying to catch) them. All images shot in the open from tripod as fine jpegs and adjusted only for levels and slight unsharp mask to add a bit of 'punch'. Best viewed full size by clicking on them. Not bad for my first attempts with the new combo. I also forgot just how relaxing bird photography is - it's like fishing ! Guess I have been sound recording for too long.

My old Tamron 'BigRon' 200-500 is pretty good but the 300mm is making me try to get closer and giving me better speeds and improved sharpness. I am sure I can get even better results if I stick at it. Combined with the better quality higher ISO of the D300 it really is quite impressive for a sub £2000 rig. It's still a lotta dosh though.

Next on the agenda is some small finches and garden birds to see how the rig will cope with crossbills later next year ! Gonna have to dust off the hides and get some sites baited up (not for crossbills !). Problem is I have a conflict of interests: I am a ringer and also want to catch them !