Migrant ... #2

Two monarchs in the garden today, plus a small flock of mixed warblers and the continuing single Blackpoll Warbler from yesterday.  All headed south.  Also had 30 or so waxwings gobbling berries in the yard.  All of this cancelled out my plans to go for a hike - couldn't bear to miss the action in the yard today.  

I've never gotten a decent shot of a butterfly in flight, in spite of many attempts.  And while this isn't perfect, I'm thrilled with it!  The body and head are fairly well focused with lots of motion in the wings.  Another thing to love about my new lens as I would never have been able to get this with any of my other lenses - just not fast enough.  

Speaking of lenses, I ordered a teleconverter today - got a good deal on a used Nikon TC-14E II, which was replaced this year by the 14E III.  However, reviews I'd read suggested that the "old" TC works better with this lens than the newer version, and it was several hundred cheaper, so... done.  It will reduce the lens by 1 F-stop, to f/5 but expand the reach from 300 to 420 mm.  Small sacrifice on the aperture for more reach - seems worth it.  

I posted 4 other shots on Flickr, including another inflight butterfly, waxwings, a bee and a cute shot of an adult goldfinch messily feeding his kid.  Click HERE to view...

Had an unexpected visit from Peggy last night - on her way from Corning into NYC with a stop here for dinner to wait out the inbound NYC traffic.  Great fun, as always.  Peggy, Kura and Ellen are coming out for the weekend - a gathering of the besties!  Always amazing when the four of us can get together, especially with Ellen always traveling and Peggy living part of the year in China.  Anyway, cause to break out Prosecco tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by...

Cheers.