Tel, provided you are all getting good entertainment then I am happy with it
By the way, I notice that Sigma 400-f5.6 in your signature, have you been using it lately? With spring on the doorsteps you might want to dust it off and get it ready Tel. I am here just wondering the great impact the pentax 1.7TC would achieve attached to it, it would lose two stops though, I think. Are there any kingfishers around your side that would make a trip to Linc's a tempting one? , we could both give the sigma a good spin with the TC attached

Thanks Cliff
It certainly was quite an enjoyable day, despite the grey and gloomy weather it was quite fun, and Scott's inputs really lifted spirits up .
I suspect he has some more surprises in store, will keep an eye on the gallery

Mike,
Yes I had the TC attached.
The focal length is always accurate because the moment you switch on the K20 from the off position the first thing that happens is the menu screen comes on with the input focal length request. I noticed that this always happens with the TC attached so I input 500mm when I am attaching the DA*300. So the SR must be working wonderfully in this instances.
When I switch the lenses like I did before, and I had tried with my 100mm macro also it did exactly the same thing, it instantly asked for the focal length, which I input 180 mm, I think. The manual says to input the closest focal length of the lens we are using, as the menu doesnt have 510mm which would be I think the DA*300 with the 1.7TC so I input 500mm and with the 100mm I input 180mm.
Its the advantage of this particular TC, so one more notch for the lovely pentax TC.
One other thing about it is aperture opens up up to 6.7 and that's it, it won't allow bigger apertures at all, and that happens automatically. Now, may be this information is redundant for the experienced ones but thought I might just throw it in as I have been testing it, just in case .
Today from the spot I was taking these photos, the squirrel and the goldfinches ones if I didn't have the TC attached I definitely would have struggled big time. The TC came really handy.
Hope this helps, but if you think of anything else just fire it up and I will put it to test.

hehehe this is another cracker Scott
thanks for the preview, looking forward to seeing it in the gallery

Blimey Scott
These are some great shots. The sharpness is just amazing.
In my personal view I think I would lower a little the brightness, would love to see the dark parts come up a little bit more, in fact just on the second one, and get rid of that very slight haze, but I might well be wrong, my monitor does play tricks at times and its not properly calibrated.
I have two monitors on my desktop and the older one is slighter warmer in colours but I think more than it should be and the other one the LG L206WU is way too bright I think, never got around to try to calibrate it, may be someone here can give me some tips on doing that.
I just moved your images to the other Viewsonic monitor and the top image looks fantastic, its just the second one that I probably would tweak a little but just for the brithness thats all,
Where did you take them?

Looking at these images I got to make a trip to the Whipsnade zoo and take some shots there, just waiting for a good weather. The little ones will love it, took my older one when he was only 3 and he loved it, now he is 6 and with the younger one turning almost 2 its going to be a great time, just hoping the good weather comes quick

I would be happy with those images Scott, what a nice capture

Thanks Scott,
reading that gives me quite a boost to my ego

Same here Scott, I love snapping images and just like you my two little ones were the biggest motivation behind my photographic gear stuff and wildlife is something I really love, although I also love macro and landscape, but that's another story .
Keep snapping and keep giving us the pleasure of seeing those lovely shots . I never get tired of seeing nice images of beautiful birds and wildlife in general

Amin

Scott,
You do know that they are already talking about our compelling obsession with birds, dont you?
After today and this thread I think we won't hear the end of it now , so brace up for some joking comments now.
As far as I am concerned I am certainly not in the same league as you lot, the likes of you, Ken, John Arrowsmith, Jimp, Jackitec, gosh the list goes on and a few that I have seen the shots in the gallery

Well, as much as I would love to say "yup it was my PP" I got to admit truth is you didnt have the full resolution image as I did, you were working on the cropped version so you have a strong reason not to come up with the goods Scott .
But hey, I am still jealous of that lovely shot of the goldfinch you took, hmm was it yesterday? or today, the one that you put up in the gallery, you said it was your first one in the garden.
Got to work out to match that one still .

Dan thank you so much for these links. I really appreciate it . This is another step towards getting acquainted to those lovely birds that have been in my garden and have been flocking in more and more now
Am so looking forward to this spring
Thanks again

How does it look now after reducing the noise?
Comments please as I am still getting to grips with noise reducing aspects. I feel its a constant battle and I need to find a good level point. I lose sharpness as I reduce noise, but when noise is a lot it really ruins the images so much I have been discarding quite a few of them.