Thanks - This works :)

Outstanding. The one with the moon is over the top. No pun intended

WOW, thanks everyone. What a super response. I'm busy marking each location on Google Earth. Glad I have a 1T external hard drive. I'll need it with all these great suggestions. Again - thanks all. Keep them coming if there are more. I've been known to go to some crazy places to photograph fur or feathers. :)

Fellow UHH members. I need your suggestions please. My wife and I are starting a 6 to 8 week photograph/sightseeing adventure Feb 3, 2015. Oh, the joys of retirement. We plan on driving to central Florida for several weeks of birding then follow the Gulf of Mexico around to Corpus Christi TX. WHAT SHOULD WE NOT MISS!!! Any subject is fair game. I can cover from 18mm to 700mm. Fur and feathers are foremost but landscapes are starting to gain popularity.

Flight seems to be instinctive - Landing NOT SO MUCH :(
These guys seem to fly with such ease but crash-land during the first week. We were so lucky. We had four chicks for the first time in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As of a week ago they were all healthy and hunting on their own. The attached photo is from June 26, 2014

Common Loon (male) coming up after a dive. A slow drift in a kayak paid off :)

For the second year in a row "I MISSED THEM" i.e. Baby Wood Ducks leaving the nest box. I've been trying to capture the exit of the baby Wood Ducks for two years now. I thought I had a good chance this year. A friend of mine has four nest boxes about 10 yards apart next to a small river in his back yard. It only takes the baby Wood Ducks about 5 minutes to exit the nest box SO you have to be there at the right time. All the eggs hatch within an hour or so of each other 30 to 31 days after Momma lays the last egg. So last week my friend calls and said Sunday will be 30 days and there are nests in all four boxes. Statics show that the ducklings leave the nest between 7AM and 11AM.
So for the last four out of five days I get up at 5AM and make the 20 mile drive to the nests. You guessed it the only day I didn't go (Wednesday - because it was raining like hell) three of the broods left the nest. This morning I was back out there hoping to score on the last remaining nest. Mind you this morning it was 32 degrees out --COLD--. I waited for about three hours. Ducks flying around but no activity in the nest box. I gave up and as I was leaving I opened the door to the box slightly to check and DAMN the hen WAS in there and the eggs had hatched. She certainly wasn't going to come out with the chicks now so I left. My friend call this evening to inform me that the hen and the babies left the nest box late this afternoon. Maybe next year will be my lucky year. OH, to my surprise one of the nest was actually a Hooded Merganser. No baby pics but here are some of the adults.

Spot on

Taken at Dakotah Winery in Chiefland Fl
Taste a little wine - take a few pics of their resident Wood Ducks.
Although tame they can fly at will. Stay on the deck in back of the tasting room and your OK. Take one step off of the deck and they're gone. My wife does not object to my going there to take pics. Well as long as she can go to sample the wine. :lol:

I've been using mine for about two weeks now with a D7100 & Sigma 150 x 500 and love it. SMOOTH & LIGHT. Money well spent. I would recommend this item. On top of everything else is looks good.

Three boys all dressed up - strutting their stuff - looking for a date - not much luck here.

Go figure

My wife and I returning to Michigan from Florida birding trip stop for the sunset boat tour into the East end of the Okefenokee Swamp in Ga. The guide shows up and pulls out a camera. Yada Yada etc and somehow a tiny camera store in Montana is mentioned. I said are you talking about Carter (AKA MT Shooter) at Carters Camera Cottage.
Yup, go figure it was OKERON (the Guide) that is also an UHH member. Oh, by the way we only swapped good stories about Carters shop. Can't wait for my Nest Gimbel to show up.

regards Dave C AKA Eaglespotter

They are Golden Club (Orontium Aquaticum) the locals call them Never Wet Flowers because even if you dunk the flowers in water they surface like a bobber and never look wet. An yea there were Alligators (Mom and babies) swimming amongst the flowers. Thanks OKERON (park boat guide and UHH member) for the great tour.

MT As always I enjoy your reviews. I started out with a Opteka GH1 for my Sigma 150 x 500 because of the price point. But as time went on the mount on the Opteka started to become questionable. Soft Al and steel screw. I tried to get parts but the "Customer Service" at Opteka is NON existent. So far 9 e-mails and 16 days have past and still no results from Opteka. Can't wait for your evaluation of this new unit. Will you have mail order available out of you store? Again thanks for all of your reviews, they help a lot.

Thanks everyone for your ideas.
I'll skip the following suggestions, however, in order to maintain my 43 year marriage.
#1. Asking my wife to sit in the back seat. The dog has claims on that.
#2. Asking my wife to use the trunk. Certainly a divorce involved with that one.
#3. Drilling holes in the head liner and suspending the lens with wire ties.
It's my wife's new car so another divorce opportunity there.

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday everyone.