It has been a while since I got out with the camera, due to spending the last 6 weeks looking after my lovely wife who had broken her arm.
She is out of plaster now, and in a few weeks should be back to 100%.
Anyway a couple of Tree Sparrows (bearing gifts) to get back into things
John there are a few rubber turntable mats on Google, even a rubber / cork one on Amazon (supposed to do wonders for the sound quality).
Rubber one
Rubber / Cork one
What I would call trousers (before you say it) ...
Sunday was better, managed to get a couple of shots of the common black & white Lapwing ... amazing what a bit of sun will do to bring out the hidden iridescent colouring of our wildlife.
500mm f4 here as well Chalky, you would get away with a 300 f4 on a crop sensor body at a pinch, depends how close you can get.
There are also 3rd party zoom lenses available, quality drops a touch but they are a lot cheaper.
Plenty of 2nd hand lenses out there as well.
As the lads have said, it is a Buzzard ... getting decent shots is just getting the basics right, and years of practice.
Best advice to anyone taking a photograph of almost anything is to make sure the sun is behind you, ideally with the light coming over one shoulder onto the subject.