... and more puddles

Another go at the raised puddle brought 2 new species for the 'drinking' albums. Any guesses for this one?

It's interesting how just a small change in angle changes the view, providing an abstract of the woodland.  The yellow in the top corner comes from the celandine which are carpeting the floor - tilt the camera up a bit and over the top of the infinity branch the local squirrel could be seen burying the peanuts it had pinched - does it look a bit furtive?

The collared dove was one of the new species, and the infinity branch is a definite improvement,

but it highlights one of the challenges of snapping birds drinking.  They don't hold position and you have to be quick to adjust focus points quickly to try and keep the head sharp and to frame the shot. None of the above shots are quite right - either not as pin sharp as I'd want or framed right.  At present there just aren't enough birds coming down to get many chances, but if we get a dry spell I'm sure it will pick up.  Hopefully they'll land on the right spot though.

So did you guess the first bird?  Drinking species 26 - treecreeper.  It was a bit nervous at first, but eventually settled for long enough ..... and again I hadn't got things quite right, with a piece of branch obscuring the reflection.

Finally a real surprise - my first chiffchaff of the year (still haven't heard one) posing with lunch.

Overall progress, and I'll get there.