You need to call this "Bad Hair Day" that bit sticking up on the left gives it a bit of edge, otherwise the light (or lack of it) lets it down.

Ted, I think its Equestrian talk for "crap"

It looked dead to me, it hadn't moved from the first shot to the second

Oh dear! I'll never get to heaven will I

Your forgetting Tel that at 300mm DoF is going to be very shallow so spot on focusing is paramount, there are no half measures with this you need to get it cock on and also make sure the subject hasn't moved at the same time you press the shutter, this happens to me a lot I think I've nailed the little blighters but theyre soft.

It could be a problem with the lens in so far as its soft at the 300mm end, note that the Dunnock is the best of the bunch but was shot at 260mm.

You need to do some experimenting with a tripod and a static subject.

Nice one Ian, I think the sky is just right but I think the horizon is off a bit (unless the wine is taking effect)

EDIT: actually the horizon is ok its the fence that makes it look off, helps hide the distortion from the lens though

Be honest, do you really want them

Nice shots Don, those hairs on the linx's legs are amazing.

Well this one was well deserved Kris, congratulations.

Looks like a bit of haze to me, in the good old days we would combat this with a UV filter.

Not quite Tracey, it just lacks something to give it scale, it only gets a 99% score from me

Tremendous shot Ralf

How far away were you, is it a telephoto shot?

Thanks for the input folks.

The first shot was pretty early on in the day and the sun had not quite burned the haze off, this was the same day we drove around the other side and I took the B&W view, the sky was still as bland, hence the new sky
I did take quite a few here trying to get a nice crashing wave but the sea was too calm.

The Sanderlings were a pleasure to watch, foraging in the shallows, everytime a wave came they would run away as fast as their little legs would carry them then run back, it was quite comical. quite timid birds though as I couldn't get much closer or they were off, flying 50 or so yards down the beach.

The last shot is also one of my faves, It'll probably end up in a camera club competition, now that I have all your approval and some sound advice from Martin about the top corner

Your learning fast Ted

I always enjoy that stretch of coast Ken, its just a shame the locals don't speak English

Congrats on the new baby Nathan

I've just posted a few pics, two of which were taken with the 50-135.

Its nice owning a zoom lens that doesn't change length

My preferance is for the fourth shot too, the first horse shot looks a bit weird to me, maybe its the wide angle but its eye looks creepy too