Sparrowhawk (accipiter nisus) At Stithians

The Bewick Swans were special, but this Sparrowhawk was sublime as it posed perfectly for me in low light conditions, with rain and thick cloud. ISO was 1000 and the shutter speed 1/160th of second.

Bewick Swans (cygnus columbianus) At Stithians

A long day at cold Stithians Reservoir payed dividends today, John Swann and I arrived at the res to find the warden doing his excellent work and clearing the paths to the hides. Asking if the Bewicks had been seen, the answer was a resounding "no" they have only been seen in the afternoon. So it was chin up get in the hides and lets see what comes and go. The morning drifted by with some nice local species, one being a stunning Sparrow Hawk allowing JS to grow his already large year list. By lunch time and the onset of hypothermia, and no Bewick Swans ,we decided to have a look around the fields of the dam, to see if we could find out where they may be feeding.

Unsucessfully we returned to the Stuart Hutchens hide and there they where all eight of them, four adults and four juveniles.

Great Northern Diver, Great Northern Loon, Common Loon

A comment in my last entry prompted me to do this post. One of my favourite followers from Montana asked the question, is the Great Northern Diver the same species as the North American Common Loon? The answer is yes, the Great Northern Diver, The Great Northern Loon and the Common Loon are the same species, their Latin name is Gavia Immer. Their main range is in North American breeding in deep water lakes and bays in woodland, but a breeding population of 300 to 500 birds exists in Iceland. These are more likely, the Great Northern Loons, we see, overwintering in Cornwall, the far south west of England. So thanks for that Mona, that will teach me to be more accurate with my narratives, and to anyone who hasn't checked out Montana girls blog just click on this link below it is well worth it. http://girlinmontana.blogspot.com/

I have uploaded two images I took about a year ago of a Great Northern Loon I captured in Newlyn Harbour.

More From The Cove

Long Tailed Duck

Dunlin

Sanderling

Slavonian Grebe

Great Northern Diver