Meet the new boss

(CLICK ON A PIC AND IT WILL GO BIG)

It's with a heavy heart that I have to inform you dear listener that yours and my favourite lens has had to be retired.  Yes the Yashica  100DX Medical best known to you and me as 'The Gyno' (snigger) lens has been resigned to the display cabinet in the west wing library of casa EFRS. It wasn't good for the nerves I tells yah. All that hi voltage flying round was getting to me and despite my brothers pat test I couldn't risk it. We had such good times sticking it in bushs and snapping what ever riggles. May she rest in peace. So what to do now? There was nothing for it but to go out and treat myself to a shiny new Canon 100mm f2.8 IS USM L and yongnuo ring flash. I had high expectations I can tell you.

Sunday was my chance to properly take the new girl for a test drive. Just as well since apart from distant Marsh harriers and a few calling distant cuckoos crows and great white egrets were your lot.  OK there were four hobbys giving fantastic displays and lots of swifts but they were all distant and anyway they're sooo last week!

So it was a heads down sort of day with plenty of builders cleavage if you happened to wander bye! I started off in hamwall but soon ended up in my favourite spot for both insects and peace, Catcott  Heath. In that little glade you get a strange feeling.  I always feel it. Wonderful place.

NURDY WINGE ALERT!!

I have a bit of an issue with our friends at Canon you see I set up the ring flash,  a nice tube one not your cheapo LED ones,  and went to put the speed at 1/320 as I did with my gyno and was a little perturbed to find I couldn't.  Hmm I thought,  I'm stuck at 1/180 that can't be right. It transpires those lovely people have decided that you can't sync at faster than 1/180 with a third party flash. Now if I had bought the real Canon flash I could have done any speed I liked. Thanks Canon!  However if you blank off the four contacts on the shoe leaving just the trigger contact and earth your back to gyno days where the camera doesn't know the flash is there. Keep it simple that's what I say.

This one is a reflection using the 50mm f1.4

And a great white egret to finish things off

So do I like it? Hmm well it's optically better but it just seems,  dare I say it,  a little boring? Doesn't have quit the fun factor as the gyno. It's no easier to use but the light does seem good and it's sharp as a tack. So meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Broad Bodied Balcombes and Hobbies Hawking

The sun was out.  The air was warm so I thought I would get out for a bit rather than brood in the house (thats when the madness can get you... yes I'm still crazy).

Still, a good jaunt to Westhay was on the cards.  I was hoping for Hobbies or maybe even a Cuckoo (you might as well go and see Carl Bovis for one of those...)

The air was alive with screaming Water Rails and babbling warblers.  Eventually I made my way to the raised hide.  I had to wait for a bit as it was a one in one out situation.

Inside were Jerry Hawker (Mr Dragonfly with a surname to match) and Steve Balcombe who is now known as Broad Bodied Balcombe.  Another fellow with a large lens was in there as well but I cant remember his name.  He had some nice Hobby pics.

Jerry informed me that I had missed the Bearded Reedlings (again).

Luckily a Marsh Harrier did come a bit closer than normal.

Slightly better than normal

There were 3 floating about the place, along with a few Hobbies.  But they were not happy about coming anywhere near the hide.

I did feel a little under equipped and slightly intimidated amongst all these giant Nikon/Canon lenses and Manfrotto tripods.  There was plenty of talk about equipment I had never heard of.  Interesting all the same.

A couple of Hobbies did come a little bit closer and I managed one half decent shot

Slightly better than normal

Soon the dynamic trio left the hide (after I helped Jerry with his heavy equipment and winter woollies (it was 20 degrees!).

I was left alone with the Hobbies and a booming Bittern.  Sadly I was too slow to get a swimming Grass snake slithering through the water.

A little later another fellow popped in who looked very much like Lee Dutton.  I shall call him Lee Dutton MKII.    Anyway Lee Dutton MKII knew lots about birds and immediately pointed out a female Cuckoo call - something I have never heard.  I cant really describe really - you will just have to google it.  I just thought they all went "Cuckoo, cuckoo".  You learn something new everyday.

Time was getting on so I headed back to the car, here I was greeted by the thundering beats of Dubstep echoeing out of a a small Citreon car.  Not quite the sounds of the countryside.  I dont think the yoofs were interested in bird spotting but they were enjoying themselves nontheless.

Sadly I dont think the Cuckoos liked it much, any chance of seeing one  quickly evaporated.  Hopefully some more will appear soon along with more Hawking Hobbies and Broad Bodied Balcombes Chasers.