COMMON SCOTER AT SWANPOOL

Took a short drive down to Swanpool at Falmouth yesterday morning as an unusual visitor had turned up on the pool.
Normally spending all its time at sea and on estuaries in winter this Common Scoter decided to  pay a visit to the  land locked water of the pool.
Normally only seen a black specks out at sea it was great to get such close views of this lovely bird, at times it was coming so close the lens could not focus on it, and it was willing to take as much bread as it could get.
So after over 200+ shots I have selected the set below as a good selection  to post.

MARAZION & HAYLE ESTUARY.

Just a few images from  very cold outing to Marazion & Hayle Estuary yesterday morning, at least the weather was fairly bright even though it was below freezing.
So what did I see? at Marazion I managed two year ticks namely Sand Martin of which there were about 20, and One Cetti's Warbler.
I then stopped off at Hayle on the way back as a Little Ringed Plover had been reported the day before on Ryans Field.
I did a scan from the hide but nothing seen, so then went over to the causeway where I met a local Birder John  who found it on the roadside of the field, so managed to get a few images although they are not the best as I was shooting into the light, still its the best I have so far of this lovely little wader. This along with a Whimbrel far out on the mudflats made these two more for the year list which now stands at 123 so all in all a very good morning,
Also if I don't manage to get another post in this week I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter. 

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER.

REDSHANK.

NORTHERN WHEATEAR.

GREYLAG GOOSE.

ST GOTHIAN SANDS TO GODREVY HEAD.

Woke up to a beautiful clear  though cold crisp morning yesterday, and decided to go down to St Gothian Sands & Godrevy to see what was about.
Not a lot of species around, most of the Wildfowl seem to have departed towards their breeding grounds, so decided to walk out to Godrevy Head which is approx 2 miles in each direction and take some scenery and wildlife images to try and give you an idea how this beautiful area looks.

Godrevy Beach with St Gothian Sands pools beyond the Dunes on the left.

One of the earliest Spring visitors this is one of three Male Northern Wheatears I came across. 

Next to Godrevy are the Gwithian & Hayle Towans, shown here at full tide, but when the tide drops you have three miles of golden sands which ends at the entry to Hayle Estuary which you can just see at the far right of the picture.

The view right across St Ives Bay with the town of St Ives are the far right.

A group of Oystercatchers resting on the rocks above the tide line with one Turnstone in the left foreground.

 Another scene across the bay, on the left is the town of Carbis Bay and on the right is St Ives, beyond St Ives is the start of the moorland which continues along the west side of the county to Lands End approx 12 miles away.

Along the footpath towards Godrevy Head and Light.

One of a couple of Rock Pipits I came across during the walk.

Godrevy light stands on a small Island just off the headland and is completely automated these days. 

Close up of the light taken with the 400mm Lens.

Finally this post would not be complete without hearing the familiar drone and seeing this speck arriving across the bay turn into one of the Sea king SAR Helicopters of 771 Navel Air Squadron from RNAS  Culdrose at Helston doing a morning patrol along the coast.

These guys are a really comforting sight for anyone on the sea and along the coast as they give rescue cover 365 days a year, and cannot be given enough praise for the job the do in all weather conditions.

STITHIANS RES 15/03/2013

Well its been a busy old week, spent the first half doing some decorating and earning Brownie points (Its that time of the year again). So no chance of any birding, but did manage to get out to Stithians Res yesterday morning for a couple of hours as there were reports of a couple of Bittern sighted, did not manage to locate them it could be that they were just moving through.
Still did see five Gt Crested Grebes, two of which were displaying and though I took a few images they were to far away for good results and the light was not brilliant.
I did manage to get one half decent shot of one feeding which is below, along with a Reed Bunting and a Robin.
Images are a bit thin on the ground at the moment so hope this weather picks up soon.

GREAT CRESTED GREBE.

REED  BUNTING.

ROBIN.

POEM OF THE YEAR

Thanks to a good friend Kenny T for this, and is a tribute to all us oldies.
Makes a change from Birds.

Poem of the year

The computer swallowed Grandma,
Yes, honestly it’s true!
She pressed 'control and 'enter'
And disappeared from view.
It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.
I've searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I've even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.
In desperation, I asked Mr. Google
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found 'online.'
So, if inside your 'Inbox,'
My Grandma you should see,
Please 'Copy, Scan' and 'Paste' her,
And send her back to me.

This is a tribute to all the Grandmas & Grandpas, Nannies & Pops, who have been fearless and learned to use the Computer.........
They are the greatest!!!



We do not stop playing because we grow old;
We grow old because we stop playing ....

BRENT TO MARAZION TO OYSTERCATCHER AN EIDER.

Bit of a late start yesterday morning, as had to do a school run with our grandson, any finally met up with Brian at around 09 15 and headed off to Marazion to try and find the Glaucous Gull that's been around on and off foe a few days.
Drove into the car park opposite the Mount and started to scan the area where it has been seen but no gulls anywhere, as we were looking the two Brent Geese that ahd been on Little London beach flew in and landed on the shoreline in front of us.
So grabbed the camera and Monopod and off down the beach I went (it was low tide and they were quite a distance away), I would stop and take a few shots and then move slowly forward and take a few more moving a little closer each time, and managed to end up getting a few reasonable images.
Next we had a look on the marsh but nothing much was about except for a nice Meadow Pipit and an Oystercatcher.
We then headed off to Newlyn and stopped at Tolcarne beach on the way for a look,got out of the car lifted up the binos and said to Brian take a look through your scope at the harbour wall in Newlyn I think that's the male Eider.
Once confirmed we walked over to the closest point we could get to it and got a few images, though not the best as the light was wrong with looking into the sun.

MALE EIDER.

MALE EIDER.

MALE EIDER.

BRENT GEESE.

BRENT GOOSE.

MEADOW PIPIT.

OYSTERCATCHER.

THE PEACOCK AND THE GOOSE.

Photographic opportunities have been a bit on the thin side recently, with all the cold easterly winds we have had seems to have kept a lot of birds under cover.
Still did manage a trip down to Marazion on Sunday, had a few species namly Bittern, Black Redstart, and Yellowhammers up on Treen common where it was really chilly to put it mildly.
Best images I could come away with were the Greylag Goose and Rock pipit below.

GREYLAG GOOSE

ROCK PIPIT

So now for something completely unexpected, I received a call from a neighbour this afternoon, He said' Do you know you have a Peacock on the roof of your house? I tell you I was halfway upstairs to get my camera before he finished speaking ( I can see the headlines now' 60+ year old wins Olympic Gold in camera grab sprint ).

So out into the back garden and there it was on a neighbours roof three houses along, so spent the next 20 minutes grabbing a few shots which are below as it made its way to the top of the roof, the only downside is I cannot call it a year or garden tick 'darn it'