New Lens - love at first click!

Today I got to give my new lens a proper workout, starting with 250 shots taken early this morning in the garden with a very cooperative juvenile male hummer.  I was sitting crouched on the patio when I shot this, about 5 feet from the salvia patch where the little guy was busy gathering nectar.  The light was a little challenging so I lightened this just slightly - didn't want to lose the vibrant color of the flowers of that one single bright red feather on the little flyer.

The lens... Nikons new phase fresnel (PF) glass 300 mm f/4 prime lens mounted on the Nikon D750.  Settings:  1/800, f/5, ISO 1000.  Hand held, because the lens weighs only 1.6 pounds  (755 g)!  It focuses so fast that I wonder if I am even needed and the images are sharp as a tack.  I will soon add a teleconverter to expand the reach a bit past 300.  I was able to get some very good insect shots today at a distance of about 4 feet as well as some good birds shots that didn't suffer overly from severe cropping.  Yep, I'm liking the lens and very glad I've added it to my glass arsenal.  

After the hummer photo shoot, I headed out to one of my favorite trails and hiked a couple of miles, snapping another 200 shots.  Perfect weather right now - cool and dewy in the morning, warming up to nearly 80 by early afternoon.  Same forecast for tomorrow so I plan to head out again after it warms up slightly.  

I posted nine other shots on Flickr, starting HERE with a buckeye butterfly.  It's a range of subjects from butterflies, to dragons to bees to birds - wanted to put the lens through its paces.  

Thanks all the bling on my monarch yesterday!  She must have left late yesterday afternoon as I didn't see her when I went out later.  Meanwhile, in the Monarch Nursery in our office ... four little chrysalides are hanging on a stick in a container, hopefully transforming into butterflies.  I have each one dated as to when it transformed from cat to chrysalis, and based on a 10-14 day "metamorphosis" period, I expect at least two butterflies by the end of this week.  I am starting to see some faint signs of wings in the chrysalis now, which is a good sign.  

TTFN, people...  And Happy Hump Day.