SKYLARKING AROUND WITH A LITTLE PEST.

So I did finally manage to get out with the camera on Sunday morning for a couple of hours, and took a walk from Hells Mouth to Godrevy looking for Dartford Warblers which have been reported in the area.
I did not get to find any, but there were quite a number of Skylarks, Stonechats, Goldfinches and Linnets moving around, still it is a very large area to cover so maybe next time.
I did manage to get a few shots, although after over a month of no photography I was surprised how rusty I was.
So looking out of the window as I am typing this and the rain is coming down again. I feel if some Boffin checked the Atlantic Ocean they would find the level has dropped by about Two Metres and its all been dumped on the UK over the last Six weeks.Still looking on the bright side I did manage to get the few pics below.

SKYLARK.

SKYLARK.

 STONECHAT.

Right so I found this little lady on the back wall of the house on Tuesday and did not recognize it, so after getting it and looking it up in my books I found it is a Vine Weevil.

Now these are a real pest in the garden, as the grubs eat the roots of mainly pot plants which are killed.

Now my back garden is fully paved and full of pot plants, also with a few fruit and vegetable containers, and as these insects are mainly nocturnal they are difficult to get rid off and the grubs even more so.

One thought is at the end of the season to remove all the plants and sterilize everything with boiling water 

(cruel but maybe the only answer).  

VINE WEEVIL.

VINE WEEVIL.

J CLASS REGATTA FALMOUTH.

No I have not disappeared off the face of the planet, could have been washed away with all the wet weather we have been having,(June was the wettest month since records began OFFICIAL ). At the moment the forecasts for July are not much better.
Anyway it did give me a chance to complete some other things I had to do, so decided to have a blog break and get things finished and I am almost done.
I did manage to get out last weekend and spent an hour at Falmouth where the famous J Class yachts have been racing in Cornwall for the first time,and managed to get a few photo's.
So here are a few of the pics and the write up from the Falmouth Regatta Web Site.

J CLASS REGATTA
FALMOUTH 26-30 June

The J Class Association is pleased to announce outline plans for a series of spectacular regattas in England during 2012 - the Olympic Year. This will be the first time in history that these four imposing yachts will race together in a fleet.
The first regatta will be based in Falmouth, Cornwall, hosted by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. Races will be held in the bay and along the coastline.
David Pitman said, “The J Class Association chose Falmouth as a UK base for its first 2012 regatta because of the great deep water bay, onshore support services and support from an experienced local Club - the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. The waters around the bay offer the opportunity of great courses for both the competitors and spectators, who can view from the many headlands”.
“Spectators in Falmouth will be the first in the UK to view this wonderful fleet. Four J Class yachts, Velsheda, Ranger, Lionheart and Rainbow, each 140 feet in length, weighing around 200 tons and with a crew of up to thirty are expecting to be ready and prepared for racing in June 2012. Enthusiasts from around the world will be coming to Falmouth to view the yachts and watch the racing, which will be reported live around the world. This will be a yachting event not to be missed!” 

OTTER GET OUT MORE OFTEN

Hi Folks.
              Firstly sorry for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks, this has been because of the bad weather we are having at the moment just rain and gales (Talk about flaming June ).
So I have used this time indoors doing a large photographic project I have been planning for sometime, which will be ongoing for a while.
Anyway did manage to get out with Mark last Sunday, we took a trip down to Kenidjack for the Iberian Chiffchaff which has been hanging around for a few days. We did get to see it  but sadly no images.
We were only out for a couple of hours as Mark had to be back early, so on the way home we stopped at Marazion and the best we could manage were two Sandwich Terns out in the Bay, we then stopped at Longrock Pool which is close by and what a suprise there was an Otter hunting around the Pool.
I have to admit this is the first time I have seen an Otter in the wild in Cornwall,so though it was out in the middle of the pool and the lighting was poor I rattled off a few shots.
So here are a few of this lovely animal and I hope we see many more.
So finally posts will be a bit sparse whilst this weather continues and the project is being completed, but the Macro lens is ready, the moth trap is charged just need a break in the weather and a few insects.

PS I HOPE TO CATCH UP ON YOUR POSTS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS

OTTER ON LONGROCK POOL.

MONO MONDAY ( WATER PUMP KENIDJACK VALLEY )

This old water pump is located at Kenidjack Valley just to the north of St Just in West Cornwall, alhough now completely Rusted it was once used to either pump sea water to or from the mine workings in the valley. 

LAND'S END & BREW POOL

Things started off pretty dull this morning, as Mark and I headed down to Land's End looking for Spring migrants.
So we started off at Treve Common and walked across to Trinity Cottages at the Top of Sennen and back along the cycle track to Land's End, the most notable thing was the lack of scarce migrants when the rest of the country and the Scilly Isles seem to be getting quite an influx, the only birds in abundance were Whitethroats Swallows House and Sand Martins.
The best part of the morning was coming across two Fox Cubs at Trinity Pool which gave some decent photo opportunities.
So after a very pleasant walk we drove back to Brew Pool near Sennen to visit the water treatment works, this area is also good for turning up good rarities but all that we saw were plenty of Swallows and House Martins.
So below are a few images from this mornings outing.

WHITETHROAT.

SWALLOW.

SWALLOW.

FOX CUB.

FOX CUB

MONO MONDAY (WHEAL UNY MINE / HIND'S SHAFT).

 Awoke Saturday morning to brilliant sunny blue skies with crystal clear visibility, So decided to go out and look for an image for Mono Monday (best laid plans of mice and men) only one image huh!!
Decided I would go to the old Wheal Uny Mine on the South side of Redruth between Carn Brea and the Village of Carnkie.
There are two Engine Houses here the larger one was for pumping water from the shaft (As these were very wet conditions to work in as the mine was prone to flooding), The smaller House was used for brining up the ore.
The first image shows the proximity of the engine houses, and the subsequent plaques describe the images below.

For this final image I lay on the grating and looked down into the shaft with the Camera lens through the grid, and realised later I would need a heck of a Flashgun to light that orifice

BULLER DOWNS AND BEYOND.

Had a couple of fine days on Sunday and Tuesday, so took a walk along the Buller downs which is part of my local area.
I was looking for Spring migrants as this area is a good nesting place for Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and the notorious Cuckoo, managed to see about 6 Whitethroat a couple of Chiffchaff but no Willow Warblers or Cuckoo, although one of the residents of the old Count house said he heard one the previous week.
So below are a few images of the stroll,  I love this area because I was born and raised here about 400 m to the right of this first image.
We had a smallholding the fields of which bordered the hedge on the right of the photo.

BULLER DOWNS

Part of the tin mining trails that run around the Redruth - Camborne area.

The building on the left is an old Count House where the local mine Captain would have lived. This property housed 7 families until 1964 when they were rehoused in the Redruth Area and the building was left to run into disrepair. About 7 years ago two brothers bought it and restored it to its former glory. they turned it into two spacious properties in which they now live.

DUNNOCK.

MEADOW PIPIT.

MEADOW PIPIT.

The reddish sub soil you can see here are the waste deposits from the Tin and Copper mines.

WHITETHROAT.

ACROSS REDRUTH TOWARDS THE COAST.

In the foreground is a typical Cornish stone cottage. beyond Redruth the hill on the Right hand side is St Agnes Beacon and the coast line is part of the North Cliffs on the Atlantic Ocean.

MONO MONDAY ( THE SILVER SURFER ).

Took this image of a sufer during a visit to St Gothian Sands at Godrevy, this is a very popular surfing area with 3 miles of beach everyone has plenty of space.

MORE FROM THE LAST TRIPS.

This is a round up of images taken over the last couple of weeks from trips to, Marazion, Sennen, Gwithian and Porthgwarra.

BLACKBIRD.

CANADA GOOSE.

CHIFFCHAFF.

SEDGE WARBLER.

WHEATEAR.

WHIMBREL.

BLACKTHORN.

SWAN LAKE

Caught this Swan sequence at Marazion Marsh this morning and thought it was pretty impressive,its not often you get them coming straight at you.
Good job I had the camera in continuous shooting mode.