A mixed bunch (UK)

All shots 40D + 400mm f5.6 hand held.

Nothern Wheatear (Male)

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Very nice variety and shots...the Wheatear is my favourite,great low angle!

Hello Roy;

Nice series...

The Wheatear & Warbler tell us that summer's coming - hoo-ray!

Willow Warbler or Chiff-Chaff ? I know they're difficult to tell apart - but doesn't the Willow Warbler have yellow-ish legs, while the Chiff Chaff has darker legs? (There was a similar discussion here recently...)

Cheers;

Lee

lkb-28 wrote in post #5305763
Hello Roy;

Nice series...

The Wheatear & Warbler tell us that summer's coming - hoo-ray!

Willow Warbler or Chiff-Chaff ? I know they're difficult to tell apart - but doesn't the Willow Warbler have yellow-ish legs, while the Chiff Chaff has darker legs? (There was a similar discussion here recently...)

Cheers;

Lee

Hi Lee, thanks for the comments. I put the warbler on the ID section of Bird Forum where all the experts lurk and although a few went for Chiffchaff the vast majority went for WW. these guys were comparing the length of certain feathers and a load of stuff that is beyond my ID skills.

On reflection, there does appear to be slightly more grey around the face than you might see in a Chiff Chaff, so I bow to the collected might of superior knowledge...

These have always been an impossible call for me - and I've always tried to use the legs as my telling point... C'est la vie...

Cheers;

Lee

Excellent series with good variety of species. Very well done Roy.

Love all of them. But the shot of the Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff and the blackthorn blossom takes some beating. BTW it could be a Chiffchaff with those darkish legs - best wait till it sings.

A very nice series, and #4 is a cracker.

Lovely series, 1 and 4 are excellent

Must admit my initial reaction was for Chiffchaff...and I'm sticking to it!

The buzzard is a good effort for a difficult subject. The duck is a pretty good in-flight shot that would have been great if the eye hadn't been in shadow. But shots 1 and 4 are real crackers.
I've been trying to capture a chiff chaff over the last few days without much success, and I would have said this was a chiff chaff too by the colour of its legs, but there seems to be substantially more yellow in the breast feathers than the birds I've been chasing, which points to willow warbler, but it's a difficult call either way. As already said, when they sing there's no doubt. The chiff chaff gives a short "chirrip" repeated half a dozen times or so. The willow warbler's song is more melodious.

Very pretty birds Roy great capture

Love the warbler, all the elements come together exceptionally well=a joy to view.

Thanks for the comments folks.

eccles wrote in post #5309022
The buzzard is a good effort for a difficult subject. The duck is a pretty good in-flight shot that would have been great if the eye hadn't been in shadow. But shots 1 and 4 are real crackers.
I've been trying to capture a chiff chaff over the last few days without much success, and I would have said this was a chiff chaff too by the colour of its legs, but there seems to be substantially more yellow in the breast feathers than the birds I've been chasing, which points to willow warbler, but it's a difficult call either way. As already said, when they sing there's no doubt. The chiff chaff gives a short "chirrip" repeated half a dozen times or so. The willow warbler's song is more melodious.

Thanks for looking 'eccles'. You are right about the duck shot, I would usually ditch a shot like this where the eye was not visible but I liked the colours in this one .