Female Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

The shortest day of the year isn't a sensible day to practice birds in flight shots, but then I have never claimed to be sensible.  A dull damp over cast shortest day doesn't lend itself to noiseless shots at fast shutter speeds.

I managed this shot using a hint I picked up at one of the talks we heard at the Photography and Video show earlier in the year.   It hasn't turned out too badly.