WHITETHROAT

Wednesday 28/04/2010.
Buller Downs.
Weather, High Cloud
Wind S/E FORCE 3/4.

Took a stroll around Buller Downs yesterday morning for about 3 hours, bird activity was a little on the quite side with Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats, Linnets and the normal farmland species. I did however have my first though distant sighting of a Cuckoo sitting on some Telegraph Wires, there was one in this same area last year and I wonder if its a returning bird.
I then did a small circular walk along part of the Tresavean Tramway to the first Bridge, then down off the embankment and up a small lane to the B road that would take me back to the car. I was halfway along when passing a small piece of scrub land a flicker caught the corner of my eye, I saw it was a Whitethroat and it was very mobile. So I spent the next 30 mins standing quietly watching it flit around, it then disappeared behind a bush, thinking that was it I was almost ready to walk on when it flew back and settled on a fence post. It gave me about minute to get a few shots off, So I think the moral of this short post is " Never be in to much haste".

WHITETHROAT.

WHITETHROAT.

ST DAY ROAD CHURCH : REDRUTH. MONOCHROME.

This old church is located at St Day Road on the East side of Redruth, it has been closed for a number of years but is still kept in reasonable order. Its size and style are unique to the area, I have been unable to find the history of its use. I think its quite old although not the oldest Church in Redruth, that honour goes to St Uny Church at Trevingy which I know very well as my Wife and myself were married there , as well as our two Daughters. So maybe I will have to do a few images of it for a future post.

INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY

Set off bright and early on Friday morning with the Sun shining and just a light breeze for the drive down to the Lizard. My plan was to spend a couple of hours birdwatching at the beautiful Kynance Cove, its a place where Dartford Warblers have been breeding for the past few years. Sadly I did not get to see any, but did manage my first distant Whimbrel of the year and also heard a Cuckoo calling. I then walked along the cliffs to get the pic for the blog,and had Wheatears, Meadow Pipits and Stonechats, so no exotic birds but the views more than made up for it.

KYNANCE COVE.

At around 10.30am I arrived at Bass Point and soon after the others arrived and we set about getting the antennas erected and testing that everything was working properly. All this went with only minor hitches and we left by mid afternoon for home and a bit of relaxation before the early start on Saturday.


Arrived at Bass Point at 07.00 on Sat morning and after erecting one antenna which we dropped down on Friday afternoon for safety reasons we commenced operations at 08.00am. The day went very well with some good band conditions and a steady stream of Contacts. We worked stations all across Europe from Cyprus to Norway, Sweden and Finland and out into Western Russia and Siberia. On the Trans Atlantic front it was Eastern to Midwest USA, Canada, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and down to Barbados in the Caribbean. The only downside for me was when I popped out for some lunch and on arriving back Richard G3MRT said he had a lovely contact into St Johns Newfoundland, on looking in the log I saw it was an old friend Rick VO1SA whom I have not spoken to for a few years, and it was a pity to have missed him. So below are a few pics of the Lads during the day.

RICHARD G3MRT                                                GEOFF G0FHT AND KEITH M0RSJ

G3MRT AND YOURS TRULY G4ZKH                   SOME OF THE MUSEUM EQUIPMENT

HOUZAL BAY MONOCHROME

Another monochrome image tonight showing Houzal Bay and The Lizard Lighthouse and Point. This is the most Southerly point in the United Kingdom, and where I will be spending Friday and Saturday as this weekend is the annual Amateur Radio Event International Marconi Day. Four of us will be operating from the small Marconi Museum at Bass Point just behind from where the photo was taken. The weather forcast looks fair which will make a pleasent change from last year
 when it was blowing a hooley and we suffered a lot of damage to the antennas. I will be taking the Cameras, as tomorrow morning I will stop off at Kynance Cove to check for Dartford Warblers, and get a few shots of the beautiful coastal scenery at this point. I also hope to get the Cornish Choughs at Bass Point where they have been on the last two years. So needless to say I will not be posting until next week. So wherever you are have a great weekend.

WILLOW WARBLER

Early start down to Marazion this morning to see if the Savi's Warbler was still around, but unfortunately it had not been heard since yesterday morning so guess its moved on. Still it was a bracing experience with a very cold Easterly  wind to make sure I did not overheat. So left about 09.30am and headed home and decided to walk across Buller Downs to stretch the legs. A few migrants were in evidence, mainly Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats, Linnets all laying claim to territory. I also spent 5 minutes with a lovely Willow Warbler and managed to get a good few pics of which I am using three for tonights post.

CLOSE

ENCOUNTERS WITH

A WILLOW WARBLER.

ME NO SAVI

Did not manage to get out birding over the weekend as I did s Few jobs around home, so yesterday morning I took a drive to Marazion as a Savi's Warbler had been reported over the last couple of days. Now this bird will be a lifer for me, so arriving at 07.30am there were already few people looking for it, and it was heard reeling for the next 30mins but unfortunately it did not show and kept hidden in the reeds. Still the trip was not wasted as on the edge of the marshes was a very nice Little Ringed Plover and also the first Sedge Warbler of the year.

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER.

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER.

SEDGE WARBLER.

GREY HERON.

ST MICHEALS MOUNT MONOCHROME

I started photography back in the mid 1960s with a very cheap Helina 35mm film camera and shot everything in Monochrome as I could not afford colour film and processing costs and still have a life. Then in the 1970s I bought a complete secondhand darkroom outfit and boy was I hooked, a very old friend who is no longer with us taught me all the principles of B & W Processing and Printing. He was a member of the local Camera Club and persuaded me to join and enter club competitions. The first year I got Best beginner and the second year Best Intermediate, and I continued with the club until the early 1980s when work and home commitments left me little time for Photography. So I contented myself using Colour Slide Film until the Digital Revolution. Since then I have still played with B&W Imaging and keep a file of converted images for my own pleasure which I tweak as I feel necessary. So occasoinally I would like to share the odd image with you.

ST MICHEALS MOUNT.

FIVE INTO ONE WILL GO.

Well we have been having a beautiful spell of dry sunny weather over the last week, and its been a case of spending a lot of time outside and very little on the computer.  This is the reason for the lack of posts, so I have  put a selection of the last five days all together.Some are from the local patch, the Great White Egret is from Marazion and the Wheatears from Lands End. There as also been some activity with insects in the garden, so the Macro setup has been dusted off .The insects with scientific names are apparently uncommon so nice to get a few new species around, I think I will have to start an insect log.The insect images have been enlarged as the little beauties are only between 5 - 10 mm in length. So hope you enjoy the selection and I'm off out into the Sunshine.

____________________________________________________________________________________

DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE

Ever since I have started photographing birds I have had a secret ambition that only my wife knew about,and this morning that ambition has been realised. It was to find and photograph one of  in my opinion the most beautiful and elusive birds in Britain THE GREEN WOODPECKER. So on a lovely sunny Spring morning I took a walk around one of my local patches, you can imagine my pure delight when I saw a distant bird feeding on the ground, on looking through my Binoculars revealed a gorgeous male Green Woodpecker. So slowly edging a bit closer I got as close as possible without revealing myself and spent the next 10 minutes photographing this beauty, my only wish was that I had a 5 or 600mm lens as it was still right on the edge of my focal range and my 1x4 extender was at home.Still I had my time with this bird and for that I am truly delighted, so Shrike and Green Woodpecker both in one week it cannot get much better, or can it? (Bring on the Dodo).

THE

BEAUTIFUL.

GREEN.

WOODPECKER.

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.

SHRIKE OF MY LIFE.

Wednesday 07/04/2010.
Time 07.30 am
Weather Dry / Overcast
Location Church Cove, The Lizard.

So here I was at last looking for a rare year tick the Woodchat Shrike that has been here for a few days. I was just hoping it was still around as it had been seen yesterday, and at least it was dry if not the best of light. So after taking a couple of location shots for the blog I settled down and started to scan the area it had been seen. After a while I was joined by two other visiting birders and we spent forty five minutes without a sighting. then a local stopped and said sometimes it has been seen along the road to the lifeboat station.So the two of us who were left walked up towards the lifboat station, and as we reached the top the other chap spotted it on some Gorse bushes to our left. So I spent the next twenty minutes taking images and moving closer until a workman walked across the field and flushed it. So all in all it was a good morning with the time I had available, and drove home in a very happy frame of mind. I have also included two shots of a nice male Chaffinch which was hanging around.

CHURCH COVE.

CHURCH COVE FROM THE AREA THE SHRIKE WAS SEEN.

WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

CHAFFINCH.

CHAFFINCH.