Recently, I had the opportunity to shoot birds (and other critters) at one of the biggest zoos in the world. I am surprised by how well they came out, especially since this was my first time toying with a lens over half a meter long and as heavy as a brick. By the time three hours had gone by, I had come up with several ingenious, if not extremely awkward, ways to carry my camera so as to avoid putting its full weight on my neck strap. Apart from some mild discomfort, the experience was simply great. The 600mm lens let me crop in close while keeping the image sharp, all from many yards away - something which I've always struggled to do with my 300mm telephoto.
The subjects were generally quite well-behaved, with the exception of the sea lions, who rocketed around their enclosure with reckless abandon, presumably filled with immeasurable excitement. I did not get any good pictures of them. Otherwise, the flamingos stood there peacefully (or at least, as peacefully as a flock of flamingos can stand) and the others birds took long enough breaks in their whirring flights for me to immortalize their multi-colored likenesses.
I will be uploading more pictures of these birds once I have finished editing them, though I am still unsure of whether I ought to put them in my Bloom series or if I should just create a new one for fauna.