Being just a Sparrow isn't really a benefit when it comes to raise awareness for a species. Tree    Sparrows were take for granted way to long. Still numerous in certain places we overlooked that the species was and is in trouble. In our modern landscape there simply was no room and suitable habitat left for the species, meanwhile things look a little brighter for their future. They are on a comeback in many areas. This encounter with a family of Tree Sparrows was one of memorable days out in the field. As it was late evening the ISO was up to 800 sometimes even 1600, fill flash was needed to balance the light on the birds with the often much brighter background.

Puffins

A sunny day,  Farne-islands and Puffins....sounds like the perfect combination to make very bird-photographer happy.  Well if only the islands could be visited with the first light, the reality is that the light is more often than not brutally harsh and Puffins as all the other mostly black and white colored seabirds don't really photograph well in harsh light. But enough complained we had about 40 minutes of reasonable light before the boat brought as back to the mainland.  Luckily this also was the time when some Puffins thought it is about time to feed the young.  The 40 minutes would have been even better when the wind would have not blown the birds towards us,  wind blowing towards the sun is ideal as it slows the flying birds down and they usually land and start against the wind.  Nonetheless a great day out and some images which wills stay on the hard-drive.  All pictures taken with the old 400mm/5.6 L Canon lens- Camera body used either 5 DMK III or 7D.

Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) are among our favorite birds. Sadly they are not very common where we live so there is always quite a bit of travel involved. This also means to get up early, like in this case at 2 AM. As we only had one day we wanted to be in Portpatrick as early as possible, the first couple of hours provide the best light for these birds. The strong contrast between the darkest black and the brightest white is a challenge for every sensor, add to these the bright red of the legs and the open beak and you have a exposure - nightmare. Overcast light would be perfect for the bird but often doesn't provide the short exposure time necessary for flight shots. As a second drawback it makes the water look grey and dull. No other than to get up early and hope for the best

Playing around with my equipment, cleaning, adjusting perfect for a day with bad light or in my case when you are stuck in bed.  I am still surprised how sharp the 300mm 4.0 is even when used with 1.4 converter as was the case with the fledgling of the red siskin.

There are these birds I wanted to see and take pictures of as long as I can remember. Among them one of the most impressive birds of the Northern hemisphere the Capercaillie. When my friend Mike told me that he knows an area where a caper could be found I was over the moon.  We decided to drive there the next day, seven hours driving is not something I really adore. But what we found in the forest would have been worth a much longer drive- my first caper. Not shy at all and in perfect condition not a single ruffled feather. Sometimes dreams come true, and even the dull light didn't stop us from taking pictures. A little fill flash helped to bring the colors back, although the highly reflective plumage of the species is not an easy target for flash-photography and mostly the flash was set to -2.3 and even then sometimes was to bright. Despite this challenges this was a weekend we all will not forget.