Rye Return

Having spent last weekend in Yorkshire staying with friends there were no real opportunities for wildlife photography hence no posting this week. Today however I returned to Rye Mead nature reserve in the hope of photographing the young Kingfishers who should have fledged. As you can see I was lucky to capture an adult Kingfisher feeding a young Kingfisher in tree branch adjacent to the lake. You can see the difference between the Young Kingfisher and the adult as it is less colourful and looks quite brown . The image is not very sharp as the area where they perched was quite a distance away and it was quite dark. I was also using a 2x Sigma telecoverter on my Sigma 300mm f2.8 and I have come to the conclusion that this is not a good combination. I was however one of the very few in the packed hide who managed to get an image of them together. The male Kingfisher also briefly perched on the pole closest to the hide about thirty feet away but fustratingly stayed there less than a second and no one managed to get a shot of this. I have also included a photo of a sandy looking kestrel that is nesting about twenty feet high in a box attached to a powerline in the Reserve car park. Finally I have included an out of focus image of a snake that was swimming across the lake as seen from the Kingfisher hide today. I don't have any idea what type of snake it is but it was chased away by an aggressive looking coot and dived under the water when the coot approached it. It was a good day in the hide and although I only planned to stay for two hours was still there four hours later.

Back With The King

Not quite the return of Elvis but decided to go back to Rye Meads Nature Reserve to check on the latest news of the nesting Kingfishers. According to reports at the Reserve the pair have been feeding their chicks so there has been plenty of activity with both male and female Kingfishers busy feeding their young. I saw plenty of activity at the nest site during my visit early in the week with both male and female busy bringing in fish to the nest. There were plenty of photo opportunities and I managed to capture a few images of them sitting on a pole having caught a fish. The light was however still quite difficult and fustratingly the Kingfishers seemed to prefer to sit on the pole that was closest to the nest and a long way from the hide so the images could have been sharper. As it was a very hot day both Kingfishers also spent some time diving into the water to either cool off or drink and I tried a couple of flight shots which I have included but I feel did not really come off. [I'm sure Bob would have nailed them]. The young Kingfishers are expected to fledge over this weekend and it is usual for their parents to only feed them for up to 3 or 4 days after this has happened. There may be better photo opportunities next week if the young can be persuaded to perch on the pole closest to the hide. The other exciting news from the Reserve is that this pair of Kingfishers aleady seem to be exploring another nest site so their is hope that there may be a new brood of young Kingfishers in the coming weeks.

More Images From Cornwall Last Weekend

I have saved these images from last weekend in order to have something to publish this weekend. The first two images were taken on the coastal path between Botallack and Kenidjack Castle. They are a Whitethroat and a Linnet[I think] which was demonstrating great balance and agility on one leg. The other images were taken at Trenow Cove, East of Marazion and show a pair of Black-tailed Godwit I believe.[Let me know if they are Bar-tailed Godwit]. These pair were quite trusting and allowed me to get within of 20 metres of them but it was a cloudy, misty day so the poor light did not help the images.

Stoned, Choughed off and all Sedged out

Having travelled down to Marazion for the weekend on Friday and staying until Monday I had high expectations of some of the images I might capture especially with the outlook of a dry weather forecast. This was obviously misplaced confidence. I visited Marazion Marsh on Friday,Saturday and Sunday morning and took these photos of the above birds. You may recognise them as more or less the same birds I captured 3 weeks ago at Marazion when I was last down. Talk about a disapointment. I did however venture further afield driving to the following places Sennen, Lands End, Cudden Point, Prussia Cove, Cot Valley, Polgigga, Men An Tol, Zennor and walking miles hoping to photo some,any raptor. The only thing I saw was a distant Buzzard outside of St.Just which decided to fly off when I reached for the Sigma 500mm . Undeterred I travelled to Nanquidno as I knew I would be able to locate a Chough and I reasoned that this would be an acceptable back up plan. Yea you guessed it no Choughs and not much else. Having read the reports today online I see the seas are awash with Basking sharks in the very places I spent hours visiting this weekend. I suppose this helps us appreciate the moments when we get it right and take that special image.On a more satisfying note I had a fantastic Sunday night in Camborne with my brother Chris and friend Dennis watching the Cornish Pirates beat Munster A in the final of the British and Irish cup in front of a very large passionate Cornish crowd. What a weekend!

Return of the Black and Golds

Well I suppose Black and Gold may be stretching it a bit but most Cornish people will know what I mean when I refer to this. The return of breeding Choughs to Cornwall must be seen as one of the best wildlife highlights to occur in my lifetime and something I am quite thrilled about. I remember being told about the Cornish Chough being the emblem bird of Cornwall whilst attending local Schools and how they disappeared from the Cornish cliffs in the 1960s or early 197os. Having read about their return to Cornwall it took me a few years to actually see any but during the last couple of years I have usually spotted the Choughs that inhabit the cliffs near to Sennen and last weekend I located two in their usual place. These birds looked quite young and had a glossy sheen to their feathers and allowed me to get within 20 metres of them. I have decided include my best six images of them as I am never tired of seeing them or looking for them in their natural habitat.

Winning Weekend in Camborne

I spent last weekend in Cornwall staying in Marazion so I had plenty of time to be out with the Camera visiting as many places as I could. The idea was to combine some photography with the Semi Final of The British and Irish cup in which the Cornish Pirates were participating. The answer is yes as a Redruth born man I am prepared to go to Camborne on certain occasions although I still have difficulty with the local language. In terms of the places I visited this included Stithians Dam and I met Matt who showed me the Southern cut off hide. I also visited Sennen and Lands End twice walking the coastal path twice, Nanquidno,Porthgwarra and Marazion marsh. I'm afraid I saw very little to get excited about but was able to get close up to some Choughs which I will publish in my next post. These images include a Wren and Stonechat at Marazion Marsh, a Northern Wheatear and Stonechat at Sennen, and a Sedge Warbler on Marazion Marsh. The weekend finished on a high with the Cornish Pirates reaching the final of The British and Irish cup so the good news for me is that I will be able to come down again for a weekend in three weeks as the final is at Camborne.

Kingfisher Blues Part 2

Following my earlier trip to Rye Meads nature reserve I travelled up there again on the 17th April hoping to add to my images of the Kingfishers there. The day was bright and sunny and this is reflected in the above images. There was however less action with the male and female Kingfishers taking it in turns to sit on a pole in the middle of the lake about 50 metres away. For good measure I have included a flight photo which was almost taken at the correct speed and an image of a Kestrel with what looks like a freshly caught vole taken back to its specially constructed nesting box. Incidently this box has been placed about 50 metres above the sandbank constructed for the Kingfishers lets hope there is not a nasty twist in this particular story.