MONO MONDAY & THE GLAUCOUS GULL.

So here is this weeks Mono Monday subject taken at Gwithian on a day when there was a heavy sea running, which can result in some spectacular water spray shots.


I have also included some images taken at Newlyn yesterday morning of the adult Glaucous Gull that has been there for a week or so.

MONO MONDAY.

GWITHIAN.

GLAUCOUS GULL. (NEWLYN HARBOUR).

The gull was very mobile yesterday morning continuously flying around and not settling down so only managed to get flight shots. 

This image is as it was taken with no cropping, the Gull came straight down the pier and directly over my head with just time to get a couple of grab shots.

A FEW MORE FROM NEWQUAY.

Here are a few more images from my trip to Newquay on Monday, when I went to look for the Lesser Scaup.
The species on the lake were just common stuff, Mainly Mallard, Coot and Moorhen with a few Gulls flying around.

BLACK HEADED GULL.

TUFTED DUCKS. M/F

TUFTED DUCK FEMALE

MUSCOVY DUCK.

This species originates from Mexico, Central and South America and  possibly came to UK and Europe and added to bird collections,and over the years escapees have formed feral populations.

I must admit I have not seen one of these for a few years, but there were three on the boating lake. 

LESSER SCAUP SCOPED.

Well this is a first on two counts, No1 two posts on the same day, No2 my first time getting images of a rare Lesser Scaup.
This bird turned up at Newquay Boating Lake yesterday, so this morning the day started dry and sunny and I was on my way.
Newquay is about Twenty Miles North of my home so I was there in 30mins and got onto the bird straight away also it was pretty easy to get reasonable shots as the lake is not so large.
So below are a selection of images of this lovely Duck (The last one I saw was in 2002). The last image is with a Tufted Duck for comparison.
Avery nice visitor from North America.

MONO MONDAY (ALONG THE GT FLAT LODE)

This weeks image is from part of a walk called the Great Flat Lode, this walk is centred around the mining villages of Carn Brea and Carnkie and is part of the wider Mineral Tramway walks situated around the Redruth and Camborne area.
These walks will take you through most of the old mine workings in this part of Cornwall,
The entrance for this part of the walk is on a small side road which is between Buckets Hill and Sleggan Hill which is on the Redruth to Helston road, The refs for this are ;


O/S Maps SW697494


X ;169749            Y;040206


Latitude                Longitude   


50.216953             -5.2288914.


This walk gives superb views of the surrounding area.

LAPWINGS ON THE WING

Managed to get a couple of hours at Stithians Res yesterday afternoon,there  were quite a few birds around mostly Lapwings, Canada Geese, a few Teal, Widgeon, and Snipe. The most noticeable thing was the lack of over wintering Duck, numbers are far down on previous years.I managed only five Tufted Duck and they were far out.
So with 200+ Lapwing around I thought I would have a play and get some flight shots, Now these can be pretty quick in flight and in large numbers which makes it difficult to pick out a single bird.


Add to this the confines of the hide with a small viewing hatch, and a 400mm lens handheld and it made for an interesting 40mins.
So after getting a few bruised fingers and skinned knuckles I thought I'd make do with what I got.
So here's the results of the afternoon.
It was also nice to meet  a young family from Nottingham who were walking around the res a distance of 4 1/2 miles.

THE LAPWING SET.

WIDGEON.

TEAL.

I don't like you pointing that thing at me.

Ha Ha beat you I learned this trick off an Ostrich.

SNIPE

I must learn how to do that.

ON THE ROCKS

Found these rock formations that someone had built at Jubilee Pool Penzance  and obviously someone had put some thought into them.
Pity they would have been washed away on the next high tide.

MONO MONDAY ( BOTTOMS UP ).

Found these drinking jugs hanging outside of an Antique shop in Redruth, and thought they would make a great subject. (Be nice if they were full of cold ale on a warm day ).

GREENFINCH & REED BUNTING.

Just a couple of pics from around the local patch this week, It was good to see a Greenfinch as all my regulars seemed to have succumbed to last winters virus.
Temperatures at the moment are around -1 to -2c so everything is staying undercover from the cold even the Reed Bunting in the second pic is all fluffed up for protection.

GREENFINCH.

REED BUNTING.

MONO MONDAY (CARN BREA CASTLE )

Took this image last week, its of a hunting lodge but is known locally as Carn Brea Castle. It's at the top of a local Carn which overlooks The Redruth /Camborne area.

Carn Brea Castle

The medieval Carn Brea Castle stands near the top of the hill. This was originally built as a chapel, in 1379, probably dedicated to St Micheal before being rebuilt in the 18th century by the Basset family as a hunting lodge. It is considered a folly castle, due to the huge uncut boulders that make up part of its foundations, giving the impression of the building melting into the land. In the 1980s the abandoned building was converted into a Middle Eastern Cuisine restaurant.The stolen Ford Anglia featured in the Harry Potter Films films was found at the Castle in 2006.

Historic text taken from Wikipedia.

Carn Brea Castle.

TEHIDY WOODS AND LOE POOL.

Managed to get out a couple of times this week as the weather has been clear but very cold for this part of the UK, around -5c.
Still as we say you can wrap up against the cold, so the first two images were taken on a walk through Tehidy Country Park.

GREY SQUIRREL.

GREY SQUIRREL.

The next set of images were taken on a trip to Loe Pool near Porthleven which is on the South coast.

The reason for going was to try and see a Female Smew, also known as a redhead which had turned up the day before. Sadly I did not manage to find it although it was reported again later in the day, (knew I should have taken my Scope).

Still it was a very pleasant walk if rather cold and I did manage to take a few images.

LOE POOL.

From the Bar looking North.

CARMINNOE CREEK.

Looking back to Loe Bar.

DUNLIN

GOOSANDER.

PORTHLEVEN

Along the cliffs on the walk back to the car.