Yesterday, I decided to return to West Stow CP Suffolk to see if I could manage some better images of the Crossbills. Arriving mid-morning, there were already a couple of photographers there but no sign of the Crossbills.

Waiting until after midday, with no action, I tried the hide for the first time. Contrasting with reserves in my home county of Cambridgeshire, the feeders were well stocked with the usual common birds constantly feeding. I took some shots, just to keep me busy.

Quite sharp shots considering that at ISO800, I was only getting 1/50th second shutter speed. The first time that I have really noticed the effect of the 4 stop image stabiliser on the Canon 500 mk2 lense. At least it is some compensation for the poor ISO capability of the Canon 7D.

This hide will be well worth a visit in the new year when the leaves are off the trees and the weather colder. According to local photographers, Nuthatch, Siskin, Redpoll, Goldcrest and Brambling are all regular visitors then.

Back to the car park and there were a couple of Crossbills perched on a nearby tree, looking to come down to drink. I quickly set up on the tripod and down they came to land about 20 feet away and between two puddles. I concentrated on the male first.

Expecting them to drink at the farthest puddle, we were all surprised when they flew over to the puddle that we were standing next to and calmly started to drink. They were just on the minimum focussing distance of the lense and too big on the screen to get all of the bird in without me moving so it was head shots.

After a couple of minutes, they flew off and with no sign of any others after a further wait, it was time to leave.

On the way home, I called in at Fen Drayton LaKes RSPB and was surprised to see birders waiting for the Starling roost. They came in in dribs and drabs and quickly settled to roost in the reed bed so there was no mass murmuration but I took a few images for the Cambridge Bird Club website.

A few more Crossbill images in the Recent Additions section.