Pair of Goldfinches on a park tree with some long out of date Christmas decorations.
Prospect Park, Reading, UK Canon R5 Mk II RF200-800mm lens
They so kindly posed in the sun for me for a few minutes, I can but post their photo here.
Prospect Park, Reading, UK
Canon R5 MkII + RF200-800mm lens, ISO800, 1/1250s, F9
Yes, and Reading is not so far away from the Oxfordshire release station, so they got to us fast.
And this photo might explain the acrobatics:
There were six Red Kites over Prospect Park, Reading, UK, engaged in something somwhere between playing, dominance displays and out right squabbles. None of the birds fled the scene over the twenty minutes or more they were at it, so I have to assume there was not an serious fight going on!
Canon R5 MkII RF200-800mm lens 1/1250s. ISO 500-640.
The camera was still the right way up at this point...
I promise the camera was the right way up when I took this.
I'd let the size get too big!
Humph. Picture doesn't seem to be loading. I'll try again later.
Prospect Park, Reading, UK
Canon R5 MkII + RF200-800mm, ISO4000, 1/1250s
Distinctly better quality than my previous post of this breed, because the sun was actually shining! I also found it interesting to see the orange tinge to the crest, which I understand to indicate the male bird - though for a moment I was wondering if I'd actually seen a Firecrest instead.
And then there's this one, where the photo quality is poor, but the interpreted expression amuses me no end:
Some decent weather and so some decent bird shots (go see a couple in /c/birding).
Good luck - they are a delight.
Blue Tit looking cute as they often do, Prospect Park, Reading, UK
Canon R5 MkII RF200-800mm
Snoozing and fluffed up, it somehow appeals to me.
Prospect Park, Reading, UK Canon R5 MkII RF200-800mm
Mmm, repetitive squawking or song, only a jay could tell you.
Jay, Reading, UK squawking about I know nt what (I don't think jays have a "song")
Canon R5 MkII RF800mm
The RSPB have it as a conventicle, and alas, I wasn't close enough to hear their chatter.
Or maybe two as, though its not as sharp, I like the whole "Looking down on the mudwalker" vibe. Usual locations and camera :)
Kayaking sounds more like you need water-proof than water-resistant. For interest, the following is from the "water-resistant" Canon R5 MkII:
Oh, if I'd had a good single shot I'd have posted it - I have been blessed by such in previous years, so I keep clicking and keep hoping.
For those who can count.
Prospect Park, Reading UK
These were all of the same bird over a period of about four minutes, hopping and flapping around like a mad thing.
All undercover on not the brightest of days, resulting in 1/800s at ISO12800, so these thumbnails are really about as good as the "full" (heavily cropped) photos.
Redwing in Prospect Park, Reading, UK
Canon R5 Mk II, RF200-800mm
To a UK bird book, it's just a "Goldfinch" Carduelis Carduelis, I'm afraid. Wikipedia has it as "European Goldfinch" , but that I suspect is just to help confused folk across the big pond.
Male and female broadly look the same, so that's quite possibly a mated pair.