as the title says got 1/2 way to minsmere at the week end and yep camera was in me mrs car any way i could have had some good shots of some good bird and an otter then to cap it all my mate come round to show me the pics he took of a penuline tit and a really great shot of the otter does it only happen to me ?

No, you are not alone mate. Except it isn't my camera I need, it is usually my binoculars! A few weeks ago, I saw what I thought were 7 Great Crested Grebes!

there's nothing worse than having to draw something because you've forgotten your camera and then no one believes you anyway!

What a shame! I bet that whenever you forget your camera the chances of seeing something amazing increase tenfold. What's that law called again?

Yeah i can relate! Had cripling views of a badger last night and didnt have my camera or video camera!

Half the time, even when I do have a camera, I am just not fast enough on the uptake to take photos .

I was chasing Hooded Mergansers for several weeks--saw plenty of them, but never managed to get a single photo. And I so wanted to join in Jamie's competition this time around, too!

Kingfisher

Half the time, even when I do have a camera, I am just not fast enough on the uptake to take photos .

I was chasing Hooded Mergansers for several weeks--saw plenty of them, but never managed to get a single photo. And I so wanted to join in Jamie's competition this time around, too!

Kingfisher

Well, don't give up Margaret. You will soon get better, and hopefully you will be able to enter in my competition!
I was in a similar position like you a few months ago, but I have found something on my camera that is called "Fast Auto-Focus", and can be found in my "Sport" mode setting. Do you have that on your camera? The Fast Auto Focus is also called "High Speed Shooting".
Fast Auto Focus, on my camera, focuses on the subject in under 0.4sec, so I can easily point and shoot at fast moving objects! It is a really handy tool that one! What camera do you have?