Now that I have the 600mm prime I thought it was about time to get out there & use it on some wildlife.

Whilst reasonable confident with my gear, I have no real fieldcraft knowledge. I posted on the Talk Photography forums that I’d be interested in tagging along with any wildlife photographers in the area & was contacted by Keith, a bird photographer from Milton Keynes. He invited me up to his area for a shoot at Caldecotte Lakes.

We met in a car park beside the lake & set off for a walk round the lake. I had the 600mm on my trusty monopod, Keith had a Canon 100-400mm.

Keith is a regular to the lake & pointed out all the places where particular bird species could normally be found. Unfortunately, most of the usual birds must have been hiding that day.

We started off by trying to locate the local kingfisher in its normal habitat by staking out the branch it usually uses. It didn’t show. We then headed for an area rich with dogwood bushes to locate the bullfinches. They didn’t show either.

The grebes & swans were out in force. I must have seen a dozen or more great crested grebes, certainly more than I’ve seen anywhere else. Sadly, most of them were in the middle of the lake or in a reedbed miles from the nearest vantage point where even the 600mm wouldn’t pull them close enough. Though it was nice to see their famous mirror image courtship dance.

Keith thoughtfully brough along a bag of bread which he chucked into the air so I could get some in flight shots of the airborne gulls.

We then went round to a copse where the treecreepers hang out, only to find none hanging out. We walked round the rest of the lake stopping occasionally to shoot what was available. It probably took 3 hours for us to complete the circuit.

Finally, it was back to the car park where we chatted for a while. We did manage to get a green woodpecker join us & just as we were about to leave the kingfisher showed up. He then quickly disappeared, we waited with lenses akimbo for it to return but, true to the day’s form, he never did.

It would be great to pop back up there when the weather is a bit better & the birds haven’t gone on a day trip. My thanks to Keith (Hairy) from Talk Photography & I’m looking forward to my next visit in the spring.