TWISTING AND TERNING

Arrived home late afternoon today after spending a day in the North East of the county, and was looking forward to a relaxing evening. Did I get one "No" shortly after arriving home I had a call from a birding pal Paul Freestone to say that there was a Black Tern at St Gothian Sands Godrevy.
So asked the good lady to put the  Dinner on hold and grabbed the gear and headed off, I arrived to find the bird still over the pool ,but boy it was very active and after an hour and 185 shots I called it a day and headed home.

So below are a few images of this beautiful little Autumn visitor.

THE CARRICK ROADS

Our youngest Grandson who is five came to stay on Saturday and a sleepover Saturday night, so on Sat afternoon we took him down to Falmouth to have a look at the boats and things going on out in the bay. He really had a good time exploring along the shoreline,but I think the best part for him was the massive Ice Cream he had just before we left. Anyway I did take the camera and got a few shots of the Carrick Roads, this is the stretch of water that leads into the harbour and the river Fal.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FAL.

ACROSS TO THE ROSELAND PENINSULA.

THE ENTRANCE AND ACROSS TO ST ANTHONY LIGHTHOUSE WITH THE OLD BLOCKHOUSE IN THE FOREGROUND.

BLACK ROCK BUOY WITH A GREY SEAL RESTING ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE.

ONE OF THE MANY YACHTS ENJOYING A LEISURELY

AFTERNOON.

KENNEL VALE

After a week of horrible weather this morning has started dry and there is a definite slight chill in the air, this makes me think the next season is just around the corner. I can say I do like the Autumn with its crisp clear days and intense light which can be a photographers dream.
This shot below is from my library and shows the stream at Kennel Vale last Autumn in one of its most beautiful forms.

KENNEL VALE.

ST IVES , HAYLE ESTUARY AND A COUPLE OF LOVE BIRDS.

Woke up yesterday morning to thick fog which did not look good as had arranged to do a spot of Seawatching with ,Mark, Paul and Ashley on St Ives Island. So I set off at 06.40 and picked up the lads on route,as we neared St Ives the weather became much better.We arrived at about 07.10 and manages to find a parking spot (This is a real problem in the summer) and took the short walk up to the Island. This area is called an island but is in fact a round headland just off the west side of the town. Anyway we got settled in below the Coastguard Station but the conditions were not good, after a few days of strong South Westerlies the forecast was for a good breeze going around to the North West which drives the seabirds close inshore. But the wind had dropped and the sea was flat calm and very little birds were in evidence, the only sightings were 5 Whimbrel flying high offshore and small numbers of Manx Shearwaters, Kittiwakes and Gannets.

So I took the opportunity to take a few shots of the area from the Island. St Ives is a very popular tourist area and is greatly favoured by artists because of the clear and intense lighting that occurs in the region. So below are a few shots taken from the Island.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE TOWN AND HARBOUR.

ANOTHER SHOT OF THE TOWN.

LOOKING NORTH EAST TOWARDS HAYLE ESTUARY, YOU CAN SEE THE FOG BANKS IN THE DISTANCE.

THE SMALL FISHERMAN'S CHURCH ON TOP OF THE ISLAND.

THE HILLS TO THE RIGHT ARE THE START OF THE MOORLAND TOWARDS LANDS END.

So we then headed off to Hayle Estuary where we spent an hour with looking at the Estuary inhabitants.

I'M LATE I'M LATE FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE.

I have been waiting for ages where is he (please note I used the male terminology I'm not a smart bird just chicken.)

Oh there you are whats the excuse this time?

Huh' frightened off by a big gull as you came across the mudflats "That's the biggest Cock and Bull story I've ever heard"

OUT OF MOTHBALLS.

I have not been very active with my photo's or blogging over the last week, I did make a couple of trips up to Stithians Res but the Photo opportunities were few and far between and the weather has not helped, so far August is turning out to be a wash out.
I did manage to get the Moth trap out on one occasion, and the results were much better with 46 moths trapped some of which are new species for me.
So these are a few of the images over the last week, and I hope this weather improves soon so that  I can get out and about for a few more images.

Cormorant.

Flame Shoulder.

Scalloped Hazel.

Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Shuttle-Shaped Dart.

Square Spot Rustic.

Greenshank.

LAZY HAZEY DAYS OF SUMMER.

Have not had much time for Blogging over the last week as I have been busy doing family things and pottering around in the garden. I did manage a few hours on Wednesday morning down at Bottallack with Ashley. Though the weather was not brilliant we did manage to see five Choughs
but only got a few average shots,which was a pity as the reason for going was to try and get some good ones.

For the rest its just been a few shots from around the garden. I did have some good views of a Humming Bird Hawk Moth flying around the garden yesterday, but it was to quick for any Photo's. That's four (or should I say five) that I have seen this year. Well I have to get my skates on shortly as I have to go and pick up two of my Grandchildren for the day as we have them on Mondays and Fridays on the school holidays. So below are a few of the weeks images.

CHOUGH.

DAHLIA.

HOVER FLY = SCAEVA PYRASTRI.

HOVER FLY = SCAEVA PYRASTRI

MEADOW PIPIT WITH THE FIFTH HUMMING BIRD HAWK MOTH.

RED ADMIRAL.

RED ADMIRAL

THE SPAN OF TIME MONOCHROME

I took this image of Redruth Railway Station in the early 1980's as part of a portfolio on bridges that I did for a Photography course. As I remember it was taken early one Sunday morning and as you can see it was completely deserted. I now feel it should have had some human content to bring it together, maybe a couple sharing an embrace on one of the platforms would have given it that extra spark and the poignancy it needs.

REDRUTH STATION.

The West Cornwall Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament passed on 3 August 1846 to take over the Hayle Railway and extend its line westwards to Penzance, and eastward to Truro. It took possession of the Hayle line on 3 November 1846 and set about rebuilding it. A viaduct was built 61 feet (19 m) above the streets of Redruth and a new station was opened at the east end of this on 11 March 1852. On 25 August 1852 the line was continued through a short tunnel at the east end of Redruth station and on to a temporary station at Truro Highertown, and was completed to a station at Newham Wharf in 1855. The present day station at Truro was reached in 1859 but through trains over the Cornwall Railway could not start until 1867 due to the two railways being built to different gauges. The main station buildings were replaced by the Great Western Railway in the 1930s, but the wooden shelter on the westbound platform survives and the footbridge is marked as being erected in 1888.

The original 489 feet (149 m) viaduct was built in timber to the designs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but it was replaced in 1888 by a masonry structure. The line had until now been just a single track with a passing loop in the station, but the new viaduct was wide enough for two tracks once the 7 ft 0 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) gauge rail was no longer required following the abandonment of broad gauge services in 1892. The second line was brought into use in February 1894; a second line was laid eastwards from the station in 1911.


The original Hayle Railway station became a goods depot when the new station opened, access to it being controlled by 'Redruth Junction' signal box which also controlled access to the goods branch line to Tresavean mine. Goods sidings were also provided on both sides of the line at the new station, with a large goods shed on the north side of the line. A new goods depot was opened at Drump Lane, east of the tunnel, in 1912.

Historical text taken from Wikipedia.

KENNAL VALE & STITHIANS RES

Took a walk around Kennal Vale and Stithians Res yesterday morning,things were very quiet on the Avian front with only a Wren seen at Kennal Vale. But it did produce a new insect sighting for me in this Oak Bush Cricket below. With the dense tree canopy and damp conditions underfoot I was hoping for some Fungi but nothing found. So it was off to Stithians Res.

OAK BUSH CRICKET.

On arrival at Stithians I checked out the two Hides on the Southern causeway, water levels have started to drop quite nicely,but nothing of great interest around just the resident species, Mallards.Coot ,Moorhen, Cormorant,Canada Geese and BH,LBB & Herring gulls. In the old hide Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Robin with Jay calling from the far side. So it was back to the Bug hunting and came across this Soldier Fly below which is also a new species for the list. Also had some nice shots of a Noon Fly.

SOLDIER FLY = Arge Pagana.

NOON FLY.

NOON FLY.

RIDING ALONG ON THE CREST OF A WAVE.

Talk about up with the Lark, Arose just after 03.00 hrs as I had to be at Ashleys (Of Ashley Hugos Photography Blog) house at 04.30 hrs as we had to be at St Ives for 05.00 hrs.

The reason for all this middle of the night activity was the first birding pelagic out of St Ives this year. Ashleys mother kindly took us down to the departure quay where a group of twelve motley individuals assembled for six hours of dedicated bird spotting !!!!  As the tide was low we were ferried out to the larger boat which was about 25ft in length. Once everyone was aboard we set off for a point about 7-1/2 miles out into St Ives bay, the forecast was for a moderate 15 mph wind from the North West.

So what were we hoping to see? well the usual is the main three Shearwaters, Kittiwakes, Skuas, and Storm Petrels amongst others, but with the main hope of getting Wilson's Petrel.

The ride out was better than any Roller coaster as the sea was a little choppy and a good Atlantic Ground swell was running, upon reaching our destination the Skipper cut the engines and proceeded Chumming, This procedure involves throwing a mixture of old smelly oily fish parts over the side to attract birds, this with the slight smell of diesel from the engine and the pitching from the boat in the swell was a heady concoction. It certainly seemed to work as from nowhere Gulls,Kittewakes. Storm Petrels turned up interested to investigate what was causing the smell. After a short time some of the chaps started to show less interest, one disappeared below and was not seen for the rest of the trip, another was quite seasick and a few more sat quietly on the seats. Now I have never suffered from seasickness but I have to admit I came darn close on two or three occasions.
I found it was better to stand and go with the movement than to sit down, as for photography it was difficult to hold binoculars talk about a camera with long lens. But I gave it a try and shot about a hundred frames, out of which I ended up with about three and those are not brilliant

All credit to young Ashley he stood there and his camera was firing away like a machine gun I hope he has some great images for his efforts.

So eventually it was back to port where we were greeted by the local friendly seal looking for fish scraps, he should have been seven miles out.

So a hundred shot only two worth posting, rocked from pillar to post, Would I do it all again ?
You bet I would.

For a complete list of what was seen on the day visit  http://www.cornwall-birding.co.uk/

STORM PETREL.

FULMER.

ATLANTIC GREY SEAL.