What a marvellous photo !  ...and that's a first ?? congrats.               

They can be quite entertaining can't they. They don't seem to understand about there being enough for two and take a side each. I'll post my sparrow photos   where the same situation occurred.

Thanks for the  reply.  I hadn't  heard of that word 'occulted' before in this context. I assumed it was the past tense of 'occult' and I associated that with  the on/off period of  a flashing light. I now see the association with the Moon and Saturn.

Wonderful. Gives me inspiration, it does.

Very good.  I like the  background of the second one, it enhances the moon. Does this occultation occur regularly then ?

I  was sent this link/photo and thought you  might like to see it even though it was taken in  March last year.


http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=323519

With sunsets I think you have to try and judge if there is going to be a good one because as you say they are there and gone very quickly so no time to get to a good location.I need to get away from my home to get a good sunset or anything else for that matter - about 2 miles and by then the moment is lost ,so anticipation plays an important role, having said that it's better to get what you can rather than nothing.

Great shots .Just like the old days  (for me, Lol) when I was a kid.

Many thanks. They are fantastic to watch. I believe they are better to look at around this time of the year when the 'battles of mating' have healed, many had pieces of wing missing.

John. Ref. the vole. I learned something very interesting recently. Voles and the like don't stop and have a pee and then move on. They dribble a trail, constantly, and the eye of the raptors see the ultra-violet  tell tale  trail and that's how they home in on the unsuspecting creature.  Basically, their pee 'glows'  Nature really  is amazing.

Red Kites at the Gigrin Farm Feeding Station.  http://www.aghphotography.co.uk/news8136.html

What a tranquil scene, lovely captures.

Had to reduce res.

Photo hasn't uploaded. I'll go  to TinyPic .

Here are some of my bird photos that I've taken Feb >August. I'm not a birder but I do like to take photos of wildlife. I bought the equipment I have last October so my photography really started from then when  I went out looking for wildlife. I'll post some of my US storm, June, photos in the other forum.

 John..Ref. the speed for these birds that hover at the feeder..The first couple of photos of the starlings were taken  to freeze the motion although as mentioned a blur can give the feeling of 'action'. They were taken at 1/640 sec. @  f5.6.  400mm. ( my lens is f5.6 at 400mm)  and ISO 1600.  I see you have your settings on the photo in the border. I just tried to do that in CS2 but the text won't write in the border. How can I do this ?  I think they were taken on 'spot metering' and in the next day or two I'll try photographing a bird  on partial or evaluative to see if by selecting   a wider focus  area - spot is 3%- partial 9%  I might gather more light but is that going to detract from sharp focusing. ? I'll see what transpires. I'm on a fast learning curve as I've been doing this seriously for only 12 months, well I haven't photographed birds  atall,  prior to February. The Adobe software- is new to me too. That's Lightroom 2 and CS2. I see they've brought out CS4.

The Red Kites were photographed at Gingrin Farm feeding station, Mid-Wales. They are wild and come in batches, pecking order, I suppose, to the feeding station. This is the best option as driving in the area and looking up at the sky  is a recipe for disaster Lol. There were proper birders there too  (they don't like you talking, either.. Lol) so I suppose it's ok - counts as wild. The first one, and my favourite, was taken at 1/2000 sec. f9 ISO 500. and 400mm. hand held.  I've  bought  a Ball Head tripod since, maybe that will be easier. The others were taken at similar speeds- 1/1600-2000 .sec. I have some  photos of smaller birds which I'll post separately.

I was going to post  via TinyPic here but I see by clicking on 'Additional Options' there is an uploading facility.  I'll try this but this starling is 120KB and 192 is the limit I see.

Lovely shots , especially the last one.