House Sparrow

Posted because I very much like the Impressionist-style background.

Canon 1Ds Mk II, Canon 100-400mm L IS USM lens, 1/640th sec, f/5.6, 400mm at ISO 640. Distance to subject: c 8m

Chaffinch

A shot made, I think, by the strong lines formed by the branches and the subtle, defining sunlight.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm L IS USM lens, 1/320th sec, f/7, 400mm at ISO 400. Distance to subject: > 8m

House Sparrow

And another, this time a more conventional shot.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm L IS USM lens, 1/250th sec, f/10, 400mm at ISO 400. Distance to subject: c 6m

House Sparrow

Included here simply because I like the overall feel.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm L IS USM lens, 1/250th sec, f/8, 400mm at ISO 640. Distance to subject: c 5m

Bearded Reedling

Shy, reclusive and beautiful, the Bearded Reedling (or Bearded Tit) certainly repays the investment of a long wait.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM L lens, 1/200th sec, f/5.6, 350mm at ISO 500. Distance: < 8m

Small wonders No 2

The Red-tailed and White-tailed Bumblebees weren't playing ball during my break for lunch today, so I turned the lens on this fly (Polietes lardarius). The compound eyes show well in the second shot.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm L-series prime macro lens, 1/500th sec, f/5, ISO 400

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm L-series prime macro lens, 1/320th sec, f/5, ISO 400

Small wonders

With spring just a day old there was a wonderful feel to the light and the weather today; hopefully a sign of fabulous days to come. Unfortunately, I was tied to my desk most of the day – just a few moments as the sun dropped in the sky to capture this gorgeous Red-tailed Bumblebee and humble Ladybird.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm L-series prime macro lens, 1/400th sec, f/4.5, ISO 800

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm L-series prime macro lens, 1/400th sec, f/2.8, ISO 800

More toads

Three more shots of the garden toads, these getting really quite up close and personal and the macro lenses and wider apertures lending the images some interesting focal priorities and depths of field.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm L IS prime macro lens, 1/320th sec, f/2.8, ISO 500

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm L IS prime macro lens, 1/320th sec, f/2.8, ISO 500

Canon 30D, Canon 60mm prime macro lens, 1/100th sec, f/3.5, ISO 200

Common Toads (Bufo bufo)

These toads are new arrivals in the garden; in all I've counted 13 so far. They are fascinating creatures and I love photographing them – that mix of warty skin, the inscrutable expression, the bulging eyes and the elastic limbs always makes for interesting images. These were taken with the new L-series f/2.8 Canon 100mm prime macro lens and there will be more to follow in which I got even closer.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm prime macro lens, 1/250th sec, f/3.5, ISO 400. Distance to subject: > 20cm

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm prime macro lens, 1/40th sec, f/13, ISO 500. Distance to subject: > 20cm

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100mm prime macro lens, 1/160th sec, f/9, ISO 500. Distance to subject: > 20cm

Bengal Eagle Owl

I stumbled upon a charming blog post about an infant Bengal Eagle Owl called Indie that likes nothing more than to curl up and have a nap in front of the AGA in his owner's kitchen.

You can read the story and see pictures of Indie here

Merlin

Another shot of a captive Merlin (one day I'll see one in the wild, I hope).

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,300th sec, f/9, 400mm at ISO 400

Bald Eagle

I haven't had a chance to get out much recently – very frustrating – so here are a couple more shots from the archives. Is there a more statuesque bird?

European Otter (Lutra lutra)

Too busy to get out much (and the weather and light have been desperate) so here's a European Otter from the files. PS: Reference some of the lovely comments below, I should make it clear that this is a captive animal. Sorry, I never wanted to claim any great fieldcraft to get the shot.