Linda From Maine wrote:
The field of yellow makes a lovely setting. The second one, downloaded and zoomed in, seems to have enough detail so you could crop it and enjoy the result. As cjkorb says, you are trying to get small subjects at distances far too great for your lens. I feel your pain as I have a 55-250. Close-ups of flowers produce crisp, colorful results, with great blurred background. Attempting an eagle in a tree hundreds of feet away...not so much!
Thanks, I didn't bother to crop any of them yet but I may. I think I have spent this year's camera budget already and we have 3/4 of the year to go. A longer lens may be in the future but not this year, I suspect.