Last Tuesday, 29th October, I had a couple of hours or so to spare so I decided to go to Lackford Lakes to try to photograph the Jack Snipe that had been reported there for the past two weeks or so. At first, there were 5 or 6 but the last report was for one or two. My previous efforts for this species had been pretty abysmal so I was not that hopeful.

They were reported from Bernard Hide so I arrived there about 1.00 to be greeted by 2 Common Snipe showing right in front of the hide. One image was a keeper but there were no clear shots of them, despite being within 20 feet or so.

Two Jack Snipe came into view after an hour or so, one feeding on the far bank and one replica orologi asleep in the reeds but just visible. The a vicious hailstorm hit and both disappeared.

After the storm, the one on the far bank started to feed again but about 100 metres away and too far for normal photography. Needs must so I put my Canon 2x MK3 converter onto the 500 MK2., switched to live view to get auto focus (the 7D does not autofocus beyong F5.6) and tried my luck. By this time, there was plenty of light so I steadied the beanbag and started to shoot.

It wouldn't win any competitions but not a bad record shot so I carried on.

The wind was getting rather gusty so it was difficult to get sharpshots - most were unusable but I took loads of images because of this.

Anyway, these are far better than my previous attempts so I was pleased with the visit. May try again soon as the Jack Snipe have previously been seen just outside the hide.

More images in the Recent Additions section.