Juvenile Hobby at Walmsley sanctuary, Wadebridge. Sept 10th -19th 2022

 

My only views of a Hobby in the UK have been at about 100 feet in the air or a fleeting fly-past as it seeks dragonflies....but always distant and rarely worth reproducing as a photo.

This young bird wrote a new chapter in my bird photography log and I guess in that of many Cornish birders who came to watch it.

Taking advantage of our newly installed  "predator perch" it spent at lease 10 days on its migration stopover to feed up on our dragonflies. Migrant Hawker was its preferred quarry and at times it was catching them every few minutes.

After it had left (presumably) I searched under its main perches and collected a few dragonfly wings just out of interest.

Who knows where this bird fledged from but it could have been just a few miles up the road as there are a few pairs breeding in this part of the county.

Lets hope that it's marked our reserve in its brain and returns each summer to feed up before it makes its way to Africa. We've been well entertained and always want more!

Here are a selection of my photos......

Osprey in Cornwall. 20th September 2022.

 

After making a third early morning visit to this pool on a tributary of the River Fal it was "3rd time lucky" as this juvenile osprey paid a visit and had 3 unsuccessful dives for fish. 

At neap tide I don't think there were many large Grey Mullet available for it to feed on. The sluice lets water in from the river on a good tide but I tend to wonder if the Osprey has eliminated all of the larger fish available.

However it was exciting to watch this iconic bird as it hunted from the high trees on the pool perimeter.

Several friends and indeed new acquaintances waited silently on the footpath with baited breath and fingers poised on camera shutter buttons.

Each time it twitched there was the sound of shutters being fired and I hold my hand up to having one of the loudest! One of the advantages of the move toward mirrorless cameras is the benefit of silent shutters!

Here are a few images from today.... I came away exhilarated to have watched this bird at close quarters but a wee bit despondent that I didn't get the amount of good images that I expected.

Obviously more practice needed!

Osprey in the rain. Cornwall 13th September 2022.

 

It's got to be a good sign that Ospreys are doing well in Britain & indeed farther to the North and East as Cornwall seems to be getting a regular stop-off for more and more of these iconic birds every year.

Today was one of the worst days for weather this summer, dull and wet but humid. 

After a fabulous summer it doesn't seem right to moan about a bit of rain but when it stops you enjoying such a beautiful bird than who can blame me for feeling hard done by!

That aside I do think the rain gives the photos a bit of atmosphere! 

We were lucky enough to watch 4 dives from this individual of which 3 produced successful fish catches. Only small fish but that was good for me as it then came back to feed much quicker than if it had caught a large fish.

The osprey was regularly mobbed by corvids, crows and jackdaws, and they drove him away from the lake on a few occasions.

Hopefully he will stay around for a few more days so I can get down there again in a bit better weather.

Here are a few images from this morning....

Mobbed by corvids

Mediterranean Gulls on the Camel estuary 2022.

 

346N

Meet Med Gull 346N first ringed as a >3calendar year bird on 21/05/2018 at Antwerpen; Flanders; BELGIUM.

 

346N has come back to the Camel estuary every year since in late summer and into the autumn.

It wintered in the salinas or saltpans of Tavira; Faro Portugal on 22/11/2019.

It also revisited its birthplace at Antwerpen on 5/03/2021.

So much is known about this bird simply by people reporting the colour ring to the Med Gull ringing project.

It is known now that Med gulls have a 2 stage migration where birds leave their breeding grounds in Western Europe and head west and appear with us on the Camel estuary and of course many other areas locally. They then stay from July into October before migrating again south down to Portugal or Spain until finally returning north to their breeding grounds in February or March.

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R9JC

 

This is R9JC a juvenile Med gull ringed as a chick in the nest on 25/06/2022 at the Polder de Sebastopol; Barbâtre; Vendée; Pays de la Loire; France.

This was the first sighting since it's ringing when I photographed it on  30/08/2022 Porthilly, Camel Estuary; St Minver; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W Langdon, Adrian.

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RV6K

 

This is RV6K ringed as a chick at the nest on 01/07/2017 at Polder de Sebastopol; Barbâtre; Vendée; Pays de la Loire; France 46,56N 2,09W.

RV6K has visited the Camel estuary every year since 2017 and has wintered both in Spain and Portugal in that time along with regular visits back to the breeding grounds in France where it was born.

Here are just a few highlights of its lifetime travels below.......

12/08/2017 Le Gourinet; Plozévet; Finistère; Bretagne; France 47,57N 4,24W

13/09/2017 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

02/02/2018 Azurara; Vila do Conde; Porto; ; Portugal 41,21N 8,44W

18/06/2018 ; Henvic; Finistère; Bretagne; France 48,39N 3,57W

11/08/2018 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

14/08/2018 Harlyn Bay; St Merryn; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 5W

24/08/2018 Lanneunet; Plouénan; Finistère; Bretagne; France 48,37N 3,57W

14/10/2018 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

29/03/2019 Polder de Sebastopol; Barbâtre; Vendée; Pays de la Loire; France 46,56N 2,09W

17/09/2019 plage de Porsmilin; Locmaria-Plouzané; Finistère; Bretagne; France 48,22N 4,41W

07/10/2019 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

01/08/2020 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

28/10/2020 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

02/02/2021 River Piles; Gijón; Asturias; Asturias; SPAIN 43,32N 5,39W

02/02/2021 Playa San Lorenzo; Gijón; Asturias; Asturias; SPAIN 43,32N 5,39W

11/02/2021 Port Atlantique La Rochelle; La Rochelle; Charente-Maritime; Nouvelle-Aquitaine; France
46,09N 1,14W

26/03/2021 Polder de Sebastopol; Barbâtre; Vendée; Pays de la Loire; France 46,56N 2,09W

26/07/2021 Camel estuary; Padstow; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

05/01/2022 Playa San Lorenzo; Gijón; Asturias; Asturias; SPAIN 43,32N 5,39W

27/03/2022 les Monteaux; Vivy; Maine-et-Loire; Pays de la Loire; France 47,2N 0,06W female parading with male adult unringed

30/08/2022 Porthilly, Camel Estuary; St Minver; Cornwall; England; United Kingdom 50,32N 4,55W

where I photographed it.

In total to date there have been 61 sightings of RV6K. 

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I have the history of many more of these birds but I'll just show the photos, all of which I photographed from my kayak by drifting past them as they perch on the oyster floats at Porthilly Rock.

32KP

34LR

AK.AN

 

R6HV

R9JC

R0RR

Oyster floats at Porthilly Rock, Cornwall.

Amongst the oyster floats in the kayak