Slavonian Grebe

What an amazing bird. Summer plumage turns this ordinary looking bird into a stunner!
Really pleased with the new tripod. Canon 40D, Canon 500mm f.4 IS USM lens. Feilsol 3372 Tripod, Manfrotto 393 Head,

Blue Tit (juvenile)

Went out today with my new tripod and head. I have eventually decided to get a decent tripod, although I couldn't afford a Gitzo. I have a Feisol 3372 carbon fibre, and I am very pleased with it. I have a Manfrotto 393 gimbal style head attached to the tripod.
It was a very dull, showery day up here in Scotland and these shots were taken about 7am in the morning. I am quite please with the sharpness of them as the tripod seems to be rock steady.
1/320; f6.3; ISO 800;

Dipper

Went to a location where the dippers were nesting. They were raising chicks behind a waterfall. Will the dry spell we had, the water was just trickling and so you could see the chicks in the nest. Every 15 mins the parent would come with some juicy bits of food and would cautiously work itself up stream to the nest. It was such a pleasure to watch. I had the camera mounted on a tripod as I had to take very slow shutter speeds as the light was patchy and dark, typical dipper habitat. I was covered with a camo hide...perfect!