Long manuel lens

Yesterday was an excellent day for steady hands and my new, manual long lens. I saw a bunny that just sat there, waiting, while my dog behaved perfectly. I saw a deer in a spot I usually don't. I saw the reddest fox I've ever seen. 

Alas, I didn't have those.

Today this black squirrel kindly gave me many opportunities to work on the focus. There is no stabilization in the camera or the lens. It is a funky lens, a reflex or mirror or catadioptric lens. It was inexpensive. It is crazy light and small and I got it in case my longest zoom, 230mm, (315mm equivalent) isn't enough for the camelids in Reserva Nacional de Salinas Aguada Blanca, Peru. It is 450mm equivalent. 


Hooray for digital with zero marginal cost per shot. I'll have a monopod with me in Peru. As long as they hold still...


I saw a sign at the Nature Center that said the black squirrels in the DC area were introduced from Canada! Eight black squirrels were sent to the National Zoo, in 1902, in exchange for some of our grey squirrels. The zoo released them! It was 1902 and the only difference is color, so they weren't exactly an invasive species.