Impressive photos folks. Carol, you caught the chickadee's expression just right there. They're tough little critters and among my favorites. Elisha, I grew up wanting a horse so badly I could hardly stand it, but with a small training track not far away I was able to enjoy these dignified and beautiful animals all summer. You captured their dignity and beauty wonderfully. Ron, I'm impressed with the sharpness and lack of noise in your colorful photos. The Macaw's eye is very expressive.
I often end up using my DA 55-300mm ED for river pictures because I'm fascinated by the current and movement of water, and how the waveforms appear when caught at different shutter speeds. In this one excursion to the river, I was on a high bank with lots of trees in the foreground, so the long lens let me get past the boughs to concentrate on different waveforms and their reflections. Here are two favorites from this trip:
Autumn Reflected Pentax K-200D, DA 55-300mm @ 135mm, 1s, f/27, ISO 100, tripod, cropped. Waveform Pentax K-200D, DA 55-300mm @ 300mm, 1/2s, f/27, ISO 100, tripod, cropped.