crossbill

[mwphoto]

An old photo taken in November 2010 before I fell out of love with the 7D - taken on the Ceri Ridgeway on the Powys/Shropshire border - a freezing cold day but this beauty made up for the cold

7D, 100-400mm L @ 400mm, 1/800, f10, ISO 500

[mikep]

Re: crossbill

Lovely shot Mark.

I love the blue sky background, shame the tree clutters up the background! Good catch light and a bit of feather detail, not easy at 400mm!

I briefly saw some Crossbills not for from the Dyfi Osprey centre a few years ago. It was at the Bwlch Nant yr Arian Forest Visitor Centre, on the A44 out of Aber (I had to look that one up on Google!) I originally went there to see the 'dozens of Red Kites' that appear daily... I saw 2, a long way a way... none came down for the food, very disappointing!

Thanks for posting, mike.

[mwphoto]

Re: crossbill

Cheers Mike - yeah the branches are a bit of a pain - btw bird was so unfazed I was on foot and handholding - that's around 80% of the full frame so you get the sense of how close. Lots of them around up there. Yeah Nant yr Arian is another good place - had a few shots off the restaurant decking a couple of years back but can't find them now! You were unlucky with the kites then - not a place I go that often to be honest as kites are all around us and I prefer a more natural shot - was there tho in April and I stopped estimating at 200 birds!