Dawn Chorus.

Now I don't do the whole 'taking photographs of birds' thing. not, at least, the feathered variety. Now there's three very good reasons for this:

1. It just doesn't float my boat! Now I do like to see a great shot of a bird, particularly if they're doing something amusing, like many seagull shots I have seen here on blip, or they add to the composition of a shot because they happen to be there, or because you are taking a shot of something else and they appear or are just in it....like many shots I have seen here on blip, but I wouldn't pack my bags at 4am to go out bird watching...to catch the lesser spotted dweeble warbler in it's natural habitat. No, that's for other people not me. I'm a night person!

2. Because it doesn't float my boat and I'm much happier with a 50mm or 100mm lens about my person, I've never really seen the worth (to me) of a sophisticated zoom lens. So my 70-300mm doesn't have IS. Not a lens for hand held shots at 300mm let me tell you!. QED, that doubtless turns me away from 300mm shots rather than endear me to them...but it's the way it as at the moment. If I use it for portraits, it's on a tripod!

3. There' far too many of you guys out there who are AMAZING at nature shots, birds in particular, guys (and gals - sorry, when I say guys, I'm not being sexist, as I mean lasses as well) who know what they are doing, know when to do it and are in the right place and do it superbly. I'm not going to even attempt to compete.

"So....", I hear you say, "...why oh why have you presented such a shot?"

The answer: To suit my story tonight, that's all. Please don't critique my shot (I know it's rubbish - camera shake!). This was handheld, 300mm, crack of dawn in pyjamas, tired, angry and just wanting a little bit of peace and quiet.

Now believe it or not, I am an animal lover (sorry - must draw the line at cats! - allergies in our house forbid them to be even mentioned), but when it comes to this wee fella, who has had the audacity to build his nest in the tree between our house and our neighbours, on our side, right next to our bedroom window and then do his darn best to deliver a very good impression of an alarm clock......EVERY morning at between 4.15 and 4.30....well I just become very anti-singing at the very least!

Pretty as his/her singing may be and as charming as it was when it first started happening, let me tell you, this morning as I stood trying to shoot him with my camera, twas definitely in my mind that I wished it were a rifle!

And to demonstrate the said audacity of the fella....he just kept right on singing! Fully expected him to take a bow. So best shoot off to bed now, his Bank Holiday Monday performance is due in about 4 hours time. Best not miss that!