Come back Big Bertha
Excellent conditions at Fly Flatts with 100% cloud cover and a damp SW>4.
Another wave of waders had arrived with a single Ringed Plover and 4 Dunlin, one of which was the odd plumage bird see here previously and also by DJS yesterday at Ogden. Quiet otherwise with 3 Teal and the usual species.
With the hope of replacing Big Bertha after her fatal accident yesterday I went armed to the hilt with lenses and converters only to prove what I already knew , Bertha can only be replaced with the same lens.
The Ringed Plover and Dunlins were as far away as possible on the east shoreline and in black peat so at least I tested the lenses in the hardest possible conditions which I suppose was,nt really fair on them.
All the above photos, out of 150 taken, were taken with a 300mm Canon which just could,nt get out far enough to them but using a 1.4x and a 2.0x converter bringing them closer just lost the definition and slowed down the auto focus considerably. They also cut the light down making me reset the camera at low settings.
The 300 mm lens is a perfect lens for woodland birding or taking close up shots from a hide but working at extremes ,as I always do at Fly Flatts, and in all weather conditions its no use kidding myself, if I want the photos I,ve got to have the lens so that is why there,s a Sigma 150-600 sports lens ( Big Bertha 2) arriving possibly Monday. You only live once and they don,t put pockets in shrouds, as my grandmother used to say so it looks like my piggy bank is going under the hammer.
PS. Had a post mortem on Bertha today and shes classed as an uneconomical repair which would be a fortune and no guarantee to lens alignment.
Rainy day tomorrow could mean more waders dropping in.
BS