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.

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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.

DREAMS OF GREEN AND GOLD.

Going through my image files this evening and I came across a small set that I took last Summer when I was walking a public footpath across some fields at the back of the house. Sitting here looking at them I got a warm glow and thinking it will not be long before we get these days again.
So after a long cold winter I hope you get some warm feelings from this post, of a Summer Harvest in a small meadow in Cornwall.

THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO STIR.

Spent some time in the garden today although it was still quite cold with a strong South Westerly blowing, still it did not stop this Six Spot Ladybird from testing the climate. It was still very slow in its movements and could really do with some Sunshine as we all could, anyway made sure it was in a nice sheltered spot. The forcast says rain tomorrow and then getting warmer and sunnier, and like the whole of nature I cannot wait.

SIX SPOT LADYBIRD.

HOUSE MARTIN

Early start yesterday morning, met with Mark at 07.00am and headed along the coast road from St Ives to Lands End. The target for today was a Pallid Harrier that has been seen on and off for the past few weeks, needless to say we did not locate it although we had a brief and distant view of a ringtail type harrier but no good identification.
Next stop was at Pendeen Watch where A short seawatch produced two year ticks being Manx Shearwater and Kittiwake.
It was then on to Kenijack where we found our first House Martin for the year, so spent  around 30 minutes trying to get some flight shots of this quick bird. So below is about the best I could get and is really only a record shot.

HOUSE MARTIN.

MY NOT SO FEATHERED FRIEND

Found this Magpie in the garden yesterday and it looks like its really been in the wars, all of its long tail feathers are missing as well as quite a few others. I guess it was on somethings menu and had a lucky escape, still it seemed to be ok as it was feeding well and flew off across neighbouring gardens.