Black Neck Grebes

I have been out of circulation for a couple of days, however I visited Drift Reservoir to photograph the two Black Necked Grebe overwintering there. They spent some time in the reserve section at the rear of the dam but patience paid of and they eventually passed close to the hide allowing reasonable photography, although with the cloud cover it meant pushing the ISO to 1000 again.

Stormy Weather

The Coal Tit in the garden was battling against the wind today, it looks like it will overwinter here.

It was low water at Sennen Cove today when I captured the sea images, imagine the scene if it was high tide, you will notice that the shag had to take evasive action to avoid the rough sea.

Your Cornishman Needs You

Hi Folks, I have entered a photo competition on Steve Rogers http://www.swopticsphoto.com/ so visit his site and make your choice.

In the far West of Cornwall we are "starvin down ere" so if oi do win oi am hopin that first prize is a Turkey drum stick, or even a nut roast for Christmas.

Spoonbill At Walmsley

Here are a couple of shots of the Spoonbill at the Walmsley Sanctuary, Wadebridge, Cornwall.

No Commons Just Mega'

Two Mega' in one day, as I have been out of the loop of late today was special. My First Port of call was, The Lost Garden of Heligan and hoping to photograph the long staying Mega find, the American Green Heron. With a little help from local birder Bob Mitchell we located it in what is known as, the Jungle top pond, a dark and gloomy area. This is where the Nikon excels, I set the ISO at 1000 and High ISO noise reduction to high and the results speak for themselves, even at these settings I was lucky to get a shutter speed of 1/400 of a second. Thankfully the statue like pose of the Heron helped matters significantly.

The Green Heron filled the morning then it was onto Wadebridge, the walmsley sanctuary for the American Bittern, Mega number two. Actually I went to Wadebridge reluctantly as I expected it to be rammed with visiting birders. On my arrival there seem to be a mass exodus from the main hide as the Bittern had flown and this was to my advantage, as I was able to jump in a key seat, then low and behold the Bittern flew back into the sanctuary, I had reasonable views but no worthy photographs, however a tick, so two Mega' in one day, can't be bad. Along with them I had two Firecrests ( at Heligan), one Whooper, and one Spoonbill at Walmsley along with all the regular species.

No Mega Only Common

These images of an Oyster Catcher are from my last photographic session at Marazion Beach. With two Mega rarities in the county and I am posting commons. Click on the images to enlarge

No Birds Only Heavy Horses (shires)

I try not to digress from birds and wildlife, but I do like to see heavy horses working. Our county is predominantly a farming, fishing community, and formerly tin mining, and these animals have historically played a specific role in these industries. They are still occasionally used in sensitive areas for woodland management , dray horses and shows etc