Lynsey

I had one of those moments that Melissa mentioned in her video - I shot this young common kestrel flying away from me rather than towards me and was a little disappointed. The funny thing is he was on his way to inspect a red squirrel on the ground (unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of that!). But when I was looking through the photos it jumped out at me as being intriguing. The bird is flying into the darkness (which looks almost like a cave) with its bright yellow legs dangling below it.

I was using a Canon 5D Mk II (full frame) and 7D (cropped sensor) in combination with a 400 prime and 100-400. These are great lenses but I wanted a bit more range. I tried adding a 1.4 teleconverter but then  remembered (when I'd already arrived at my destination) that autofocus wouldn't work with the combination I had. I tried it with manual focus but I had to bin most of the photos. You can tape the pins to engage autofocus but I was reluctant to try that. So I decided to treat myself to a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. I was unsure about getting a lens with such a big range after mostly using a prime, but so far so good. And I can take pics of the birds that would have been too close with the 400mm. I'm using it with the 7D to get even closer.

I also spent some time watching a family of European barn swallows, observing how the young ones would start opening their mouths and calling before a parent came along to feed them, allowing me to get my camera at the ready.