New Lens is Finally Here!

After placing an order for a new Tamron zoom lens way back in February, it has finally arrived. I don't know why but apparently the same lens came out much earlier in the year for Canon camera mounts but there was a delay for Nikon mounts. This Tuesday after work was the first time I've been able to bring it out to the park and really get to test it out. I noticed some difficulty right off the bat in that my focus was not very good or off of where I wanted it to be. This was very apparent when I was shooting a juvenile Tree Swallow sitting on the chain link fence at the baseball fields. The top of the fence was in focus but the bird was not. It did seem though like I could get further away subjects in focus easier. So when I spotted the Indigo Bunting on the north side I was able to catch 1 or 2 pics with a little more detail. At the baseball fields on the opposite side of the park I noticed what appeared to be Brown-headed Cowbirds searching through the bright green grass. But some of these birds had a much longer and thinner bill that the Cowbirds. I believe they were juvenile European Starlings who have not grown into to their fully dark plumage yet. The head and bill shape sure seem like a Starling anyway. There were a couple more perched on the chain link fencing here as well and one even had hints of the light spotting that Starlings would show as an adult. The last bird I tried to get a photo of today was a Gray Catbird who was doing a good job hiding from me in the leaves. I maneuvered around until I could at least see his face. This was probably the photo with the most detail I got today. Other birds spotted today included; Song Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Mallard, American Robin and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female). Feeling a little frustrated by the focus of my new lens I headed home to figure out what I was doing wrong.