Took these while walking the dogs along the canal towpath at Shireoaks

1/ Robin. He really was that close.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2719/4288086597_f150e3aac0_o.jpg

2/ Swan
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4288846608_c6c87815b7_o.jpg

3/ was surprised to see this
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4288086689_d360829ab5_o.jpg

I believe it is a Mandarin Duck. It had attached itself to a family of Mallards.

Hope you like 'em.

Wow! They are great!

Yes, it is a mandarin drake.

I find robins can often be 'tarts' for the camera - my friend and I had one that followed us around Worsborough Reservoir, every time he tried to take a picture of something the robin got itself in front of the lens!!

Very clear and sharp. Out of interest what camera/lens where you using to get them so sharp in winter light?

Thanks for the comments.

Cuey, shot on a Canon 30D with Sigma 70-300 f4-5.6 APO.

The robin was 1/160 f6.3 at ISO 800.
The swan was 1/640 f5 at ISO 800.
The mandarin was 1/125 f6.3 at ISO 1600.

I had to apply quite a bit of noise reduction to the mandarin. I never usually shoot above ISO 400 on the 30D.

Hopefully things should improve when my new kit arrives in the next few days.

A Canon 7D, Canon 24-70 f2.8, Canon 70-200 f4L IS and a Tamron 10-24

Good captures and that new kit sounds tasty too.

wow that Mandarin Duck looks well

Thanks for the comments.

Cuey, shot on a Canon 30D with Sigma 70-300 f4-5.6 APO.

The robin was 1/160 f6.3 at ISO 800.
The swan was 1/640 f5 at ISO 800.
The mandarin was 1/125 f6.3 at ISO 1600.

I had to apply quite a bit of noise reduction to the mandarin. I never usually shoot above ISO 400 on the 30D.

Hopefully things should improve when my new kit arrives in the next few days.

A Canon 7D, Canon 24-70 f2.8, Canon 70-200 f4L IS and a Tamron 10-24

Thats a damn good shot for 1600 iso. I would never dream on pushing my sony that far and expect a shot without noticable noise. Nice job.

Have just got my 7D.

This is the first shot out of it. A quick snapshot of the dog taken in a poorly lit room at ISO 6400
Straight out of the camera. Only adjusted white balance and resized. no noise reduction applied at all.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4291078419_1a9ed885c3_o.jpg

I know it's not a great shot, I just wanted to check out the high ISO performance.

I'm happy :hihi::hihi::hihi: