Back to Black

Finally something else to post from the UK, I've not finished with postings about what I seen in Thailand so watch out for some Brown-winged-Kingfisher shots later. The absence of any Little Gulls at Seaforth and Croby Marina has seen me look elsewhere for my photopgraphic 'fix' recently. I am fortunate that I travel over larges swathes of the country in the course of my job and sometimes at this time of year if I get up at Stupid O'clock I can have a couple of hours out with the camera before my first meeting of the day. BLack Grouse has always been one of those birds that I have always wanted to photograph properly ever since I picked up my first camera. It's just that in the UK without a Schedule 1 License it's pretty damn difficult unless you happen to chance upon a lek that can be seen from the comfort of your car. On a still morning the the whipping sounds and burbling of  birds at a  busy lek are amazing. The sounds just don't fit with the bird. Having had my fill of still images on a couple of previos visits I thought I'd use the most under used function of my Canon EOS 7D and record some video from the comfort of my car. I'm quite pleased with the results for what is only my third attempt at video. I'm amazed at just house much sound is recorded from the in-built mic, I may even invest in a dedicated hotshoe mounted mic. Taken using my EF 500mm with 1.4x TC I turned off the IS stabiliser and  the whole ensemble was sat on a bean bag