[jacamar]

That's probably a first year male, not a female.

The pic was taken on May 8, 2012 at Point Pelee and I don't think the males would have reached that stage by then. I was surprised when I saw it but both the Sibley and Natural Geographic guides refer to variable red/rufous tinge on the wing coverts. I find I see a lot of things in photographs that I never notice in the field.

[RockvilleBob]

Moved in just down the street.

DA*300 & AF1.7 TC

There goes the neighborhood

[pete-tarmigan]

That's probably a first year male, not a female.

It has far too much streaking to be a first summer male. However, I don't have my copy of Pyle et al. (1987) with me to confirm that (Pyle, P., Howell, S.N.G., Yunick, R.P., and DeSante, D.F. 1987. Identification guide to North American passerines. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA.).

I don't own a copy of the following, but it likely would also be illuminating: Jaramillo, A., and P. Burke. 1999. New World Blackbirds : The Icterids. Princeton University Press, 432 pp.

[derekkite]

A coyote not far from home. Hide the cats.

[luftfluss]

A coyote not far from home. Hide the cats.

How cool! I've only ever seen a coyote 3 times in the wild, but never close enough or long enough for a pic.

[WPRESTO]

A coyote not far from home. Hide the cats.

Find a book called "Urban Howls" about following coyotes in eastern MessyChewBits for, as I recall, several years. NOT ONE cat taken.

BUT, I believe o e of our cats did fall victim to a coyote because: 1) I saw the coyote in our back yard several times after the cat disappeared, and I had never seen one here before; 2) the coyote obviously had a set path that it was following, and was completely unperturbed by our dogs barking wildly, apparently well aware they were confined to a pen; 3) there was no other reason for our cat to disappear (she was healthy, not all that old, never wandered, no trace of her could be found despite long searches); 4) at least three, possibly five other cats went missing in the area within a few weeks of our cat's disappearance, based on fliers stapled to telephone poles.

[wtlwdwgn]

Coyote in Yellowstone NP a long way off. K-3 and Sigma 150-500, 1:1 crop.

[derekkite]

How cool! I've only ever seen a coyote 3 times in the wild, but never close enough or long enough for a pic.

We hear these ones yipping sometimes which gets all the dogs in the neighborhood howling.

A few years ago the Canada geese would bed down at night in an empty field a short ways away. A few times there would be a huge racket with the geese honking and the coyotes yipping and barking.

[swip]

Here is a Nuthatch. Taken with my K-5/FA*600mm f4 ED [IF] .Not from my car

A very lovely shot. Looks kind of like the red breasted nuthatch in North America.

---------- Post added 03-14-16 at 10:28 PM ----------

I took my camera with me to work today and after work I went back to the area where I saw the snowy owls two days ago. It was getting dark and with a light drizzle.
To my surprise I saw two male snowy owls on separate hydro poles. I took the pictures in my car with the lens resting on the side mirror. I tried not to up the ISO too much to retain as much detail as possible.
This is the second male I saw. Exposure at 1/25s. I was surprised the image turned out as sharp as it did.
It actually dived and flew passed me for something on the ground but it was just too dark to take any BIF shots. I will certainly go back tomorrow to see if they are still around and hoping for better lighting.




I also saw some snow geese on the way. Weather aside, not a bad day at all.

[luftfluss]

1/25s??? Well done!

[jeffshaddix]

Hey guys - I'm in the market for a good 300+ lens on a budget (~$300), and looking for suggestions. I've narrowed it down so far to:

Takumar 300/4 Type 2 Preset
Pentax-K 300/4
Pentax-FA 300/4.5 (this one is pushing the budget)
Pentax-A 400/5.6

Any recommendations in that list or elsewhere for ~$300? Also, has anyone tested how the DA 55-300 stacks up to these older designs? Are the old primes even worth it comparatively (in rendering not build)?

[luftfluss]

Hey guys - I'm in the market for a good 300+ lens on a budget (~$300), and looking for suggestions. I've narrowed it down so far to:

Takumar 300/4 Type 2 Preset
Pentax-K 300/4
Pentax-FA 300/4.5 (this one is pushing the budget)
Pentax-A 400/5.6

Any recommendations in that list or elsewhere for ~$300? Also, has anyone tested how the DA 55-300 stacks up to these older designs? Are the old primes even worth it comparatively (in rendering not build)?

Hey Jeff, I've owned the DA 55-300 (two copies, actually), a SMC Tak 300/4 (same optically as the K version) and ten days ago I acquired the lovely A 400/5.6. I recently posted a few A400 photos here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/122-lens-clubs/55946-300mm-plus-lens-club...ml#post3567792

The FA 300/4.5 would obviously be the easiest, most reliable lens of the bunch because of excellent optics and AF.

IME, the Tak 300's are noticeably sharper than the 55-300. The main bugaboo is CA - the old 300's have a lot of that. Much can be ameliorated in PP. I really enjoy shooting with the longs Taks, although having to manually manage the aperture can be a pita.

A downside to the Taks is the minimum focus distance is very long.

Here's a trio from the SMC Tak 300/4:

[derekkite]

Hey guys - I'm in the market for a good 300+ lens on a budget (~$300), and looking for suggestions. I've narrowed it down so far to:

Takumar 300/4 Type 2 Preset
Pentax-K 300/4
Pentax-FA 300/4.5 (this one is pushing the budget)
Pentax-A 400/5.6

Any recommendations in that list or elsewhere for ~$300? Also, has anyone tested how the DA 55-300 stacks up to these older designs? Are the old primes even worth it comparatively (in rendering not build)?

The FA300 would be worth getting.

The others need to be stopped down to f8 to control aberrations. The A400 seems to do a nice job. The 55-300 is nice at f8.

[rod_grant]

luftfluss, nice images.
I like the leaf on the bear's nose - was it much trouble to get it to stick there?

[danmdan]

And waiting in the background ----