On Monday I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to see if migratory birds had arrived and if the resident birds were out. It was a sunny day in the low 40s F and a low wind. For all of the birds shots I used my new (to me) Sony 600f/4 GM with a 2xtc. I found that this configuration of the lens is very sharp, but very sensitive to movement. Except for a few later shots of small birds on a rail for which I used a monopod, all shots were handheld. The best results were using the car windows and leaning against the car. Only a few free hand shots were useful. Another thing I learned was the 1200mm focal length made obtaining focus on flying birds difficult with the narrow field of view. Any future BIF pursuits will probably be without a tc.

The first 6 shots were taken in the area before the auto tour route. Usually dry fields were flooded. I used auto ISO and had a wide variance (e.g, #1 is 5000; #3 is 1250 and #4 is 6400). I adjusted the next few shots to 100 and 160, but I had to lighten the results in post-processing.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

I went looking for dragonflies - saw a few but too far off. A few busy bees didn’t seem to mind my intrusion. I got down low to capture these.

20230411_Bee_The Willows5847pr by Elliott Cobin, on Flickr

20230411_Bee_The Willows5862pr by Elliott Cobin, on Flickr

20230411_Bee_The Willows5878pr by Elliott Cobin, on Flickr

Went to Black Point Friday morning with a fellow Hogger. Thanks for the loan of the 500mm PF Dave! What a SWEET lens! Pleasure to meet you and brother Dan. Sorry we couldn't show you a Kingfisher. As luck would have it, we went back this morning and saw a beautiful male KF close and in great light.
#1 here is a Juvenile Little Blue Heron and a beautiful photo if I do say so!
# 2 and 3 here is a Sora. Looks like a Rail, but my bird book says no it isn't. It's a Krake.??
# 4 and 5 is a...I have no idea! If any one does, please let me know. I've been through my go to Bird ID Book twice and still have no idea.
I hope you like!