images-naturally!

Along the shoreline at Marazion

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Spent a few hours on the shoreline at Marazion and Penzance yesterday afternoon.

The light was the usual dull colur but it was a Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photographic Group field trip so we just "went for it"..

The tide was out an awful long way and the gulls seemed to be eating starfish, perhaps they were easier to find on the spring tide,

Dunlin and Sanderling

Bar tailed Godwit_01

Purple Sandpiper

Turnstone bathing

Great black backed with starfish

Black Redstart

Ducks

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:03:00 +0000

Following on from Thursday's visit to Walmsley here are a few ducks taking advantage of some unfrozen open water.

Drake Wigeon flies in above a drake Shoveler

Drake Wigeon

Drake Pintail

Drake and duck Mallard

Drake and duck Shoveler

Drake Tufted Duck

Snipe

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:02:00 +0000

I had a couple of hours to spare this afternoon and it was good light so popped out to Walmsley to check out the birdlife.

Most of the reserve was frozen with a few holes in the ice where the ducks were dabbling.

There was a snipe feeding fairly close to the hide so here are a few shots as it fed in the sunshine.

A snipe on the ice

Snipe

The ducks will follow later when I've processed all the files!

Garden birds

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:45:00 +0000

With the forecast for heavy rain and the light appalling I tried a few shots at Jeremy's bird feeders in his garden.

I started off at 1600 ISO and gradually got this down to 400 as the light lifted a little.

Target species was a nuthatch which had been visiting regularly but it was difficult to get clear shots of it and it didn't settle to feed at all.

Nuthatch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Robin

Siskin

Glossy Ibis in the sun

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:03:00 +0000

I thought I'd take advantage of this morning's sunlight to have another go at the Glossy Ibis which is still at Chapel Amble in the flooded meadows.

There was a lot of shooting nearby as pheasants rained from the air but although a bit skittish at first the Ibis took virtually no notice of the shotguns going off within 50 metres or of William and myself as we photographed it in the middle of a part flooded field.

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis coming into land

Glossy Ibis coming in to land

Glossy Ibis

Even more frogs

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

I have to admit I'm hooked on photographing the frogs in my garden pond.... lets face it it's easy and the teapot is only seconds from the pond!

The pond is fast filling up with frog spawn now and I counted 17 mature frogs there this evening........croak city!

Common frogs

Common frog emerging through the spawn.

Common frog...the pondmaster.

Common frog.

Glossy Ibis still showing well

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The nomadic Glossy Ibis was still showing well today out at Chapel Amble, about 2 miles from my home.

All that was needed was some sunlight but alas the dreary grey days seem to have returned.

Anyway here are a few shots of it feeding in the pools and marshes beside the Amble river.

Glossy Ibis

More frogs!

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:20:00 +0000

There has been a lot of activity from the frogs in my garden pond in the past few days with 3 more clumps of spawn being laid.

I just tried some pics in the dark using flash and leaning over the side of the pond so that the camera was as close to the water as possible to get the low viewpoint.

I was using f11 with a diffused flash but depth of field is still lacking in some of the shots when trying to get the tip of the nose and the eyes all in focus together.

Hopefully there'll be more opportunities to get it right in the next few days.


Common frogs

Common frog

Frog's Spawn

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:09:00 +0000

Had our first frog's spawn in the garden pond yesterday 14th January, a couple of weeks later than last year although this is often a month after the West of the County where they have seen it this winter before Christmas.

Anyway some record photos below and hopefully the frog numbers will continue to grow in the coming weeks and there will be a lot more spawn laid.

Common Frog

Common Frog's spawn

Common Frog

Glossy Ibis

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:20:00 +0000

I was fortunate to receive a call from an interested neighbour to Walmsley Sanctuary who suspected that the dark bird feeding in the marshes at the bottom of her garden could have been a Glossy Ibis.

William beat me out there this morning and located the bird in glorious sunlight (such a change from recent grey days ...& months).

Here are a couple of shots and there are a few more on my website at Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Waders and Grebes at Spit beach, Par.

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Headed down to the south coast at lunch time after getting my 2 year "locals pass" for the Eden Project sorted out and having had a good look at the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year photos which are on display at Eden.

I saw the Ring Necked Duck at the Par beach pool but it was always at the far side of the pool and with a gale blowing was really not worth trying for with the camera.

With nothing showing at St.Andrews pool I decided to go down to Spit beach remembering that Nigel had some good Black Redstarts there last weekend.

I couldn't locate the Black Redstarts but did turn up a single Purple Sandpiper amongst a dozen or so Turnstones.
There were also some Oystercatchers roosting on the rocks with a group of 8 Great Crested Grebes in the sea off the harbour wall.

They were difficult to get near so eventually I climbed up on the harbour wall and managed to get a lot closer although the wind was blowing hard and the water was turbulent.

Nigel was however poised with his camera should I fall off the wall!!!

Oystercatchers

Purple sandpiper

Turnstone

Great crested Grebes in the sea off Par harbour

Great crested Grebe in the sea off Par harbour

Goshawk photography

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:30:00 +0000

A small group of us met up on Saturday to photograph a beautiful juvenile female Goshawk which belonged to Wayne and Doreen who had allowed us to hone our photographic skills on their pride and joy.

A few images follow of this bird which is not in the wild and thus possesses all the acoutrements of the falconers trade which on occassions I've managed to hide but in others I've let show.

Male Hen Harrier at Egloshayle

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:45:00 +0000

There was a cracking adult Male Hen Harrier at Egloshayle this morning quartering the fields between Trevarner and Middle Treworder before drifting off across the valley toward Treraven.

Sod's law I only had my "far away lookers" and not my camera!

It's highly likely to be going to St.Breock Downs and could well be seen this afternoon at Rosenannon or Tregonetha roosting areas.

Birds at Par pools today

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:41:00 +0000

Spent a few hours in the charmng company of Jeremy and Delia this morning at Par beach pool, then the dunes beyond and finally at St.Andrews pool.

The Little Gull was difficult to latch onto and my pics wer no better than my previous visit for this bird.
There were a few stonechats in the dune areas along with a meadow pipit.

Moving on to the St.Andrews pool brought a failing light level along with a couple of bathing Mute Swans.

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Meadow Pipit

Mute swan bathing

Kestrel

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:51:00 +0000

As I've done very little in the horrible weather we've had lately I thought I'd re-visit some shots I took of a kestrel down at Godrevy a few weeks ago.

Kestrel


Kestrel

Kestrel

Short eared Owl from a great distance!

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Having spent 3 hours down at Marazion and Penzance and not taken a single photograph I was getting pretty fed up after lunch.

Not a bittern in sight in the marshes and the high tide seemed to have pushed all the purple sandpipers off of their roost at Battery rocks, although that may have had something to do with the hardy souled swimmer that was using the rocks as a springboard!

Not to be outdone I thought I'd try Tregonetha Downs to see if there were any birds of prey coming in to roost.
With luck I had great views of a Short eared Owl quartering the moor and better when it perched amongst some small branches.

I managed a couple of shots from a great distance and one is below purely as a record shot of the bird.

Short eared Owl

Common Cranes in Cornwall

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:27:00 +0000

24 Common cranes including 1 juvenile feeding in stubble fields near St.Issey, Wadebridge this morning.
More photos on my website at http://www.adrianlangdon.com/Albums/Common%20Cranes%20in%20Cornwall/album/index.html

Common cranes

Red Deer on the high moors of Cornwall

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Had a great afternoon watching and photographing truly wild red deer on the high moors here in Cornwall yesterday with acknowledged deer expert and good friend Ed Treverton.

We watched 2 good stags and were lucky enough to get some close photos of one of them in very nice light. Also saw 3 hinds and two calves so it was well worth the four hours of hiking in very difficult conditions and putting up with the aching knees this morning!

Red deer stag

Red deer hind

Kestrel

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:21:00 +0000

Spotted this young kestrel hunting from the spindly tops of Christmas trees in the Davidstow plantation area this morning.

I reckon it was probably the same bird that Dibs had photographed a few days before.

It let me drive really close to it and continued to hunt. I got one shot as it crashed into the grass below the tree but it flew off empty handed.

Kestrel

Spot the Snipe

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Snipe are masters of camouflage and the next two shots show 5 then 6 snipe on the edge of an island at Walmsley in the early morning.
You need to look closely to spot them all!
The third image shows one at Davidstow nestled down in the grass near a pool and one would think it stood out a mile! Not so, as I watched it come into land by the pool it then took about ten more minutes to re-locate it as it was motionless and so difficult to see.

5 Snipe

6 Snipe

Snipe

Black tailed Godwits

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:11:00 +0000

There were up to 20 black tailed godwits in the shallows at Walmsley sanctuary this evening as the tide forced birds off the Camel mudflats.
As birds bathed in the fresh water I noticed their habit of wing flapping and jumping a few inches above the water to get their feathers in order. This was my cue to try to get the shot of a bird in action.

Black tailed Godwits

Black tailed Godwit

Great White Egret at Walmsley

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:51:00 +0000

This great white egret at Walmsley sanctuary is quite an impressive bird. Seeing it in flight being shadowed by a little egret was the best way of seeing the difference in size. The latter looking tiny against the new bird on the block!

The big question is whether this is a North American bird or a European one. We have had numerous vagrants blown across the Atlantic on the tails of the hurricanes but also we had one weekend of strong southerlies.

Wherever it's from it seems to be feeding well in the reserve so here's hoping it may stay around for a while.

Great White Egret at Walmsley sanctuary. Cornwall.

Long billed Dowitcher at Davidstow

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Knowing this bird was on the airfield has been driving me mad all day as I'd agreed to work today and I couldn't guarantee that it would stay around until Sunday so as soon as I finished work we drove straight up to Davidstow where we met Will who had just been videoing it and he put me right on the bird.

Just as well really 'cos it was in a totally different part of the field to where most of the waders had been pitching.

See Will's video of the Dowitcher at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTvRamg_Hls
and the Snow buntings at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCAM8Rzmqt0

It was typical Davidstow weather with thick mist and drizzle interspersed with dull light. I managed a few pics and was amazed to see how it fed, like a woodpecker with a long beak, striking hard at the ground in short bursts.

To round off the visit there were 2 snow buntings along the runway which I grabbed shots of in the increasing rain and decreasing light.

Roll on tomorrow!

Long billed Dowitcher


Long billed Dowitcher

Snow bunting

Semi-palmated Sandpiper

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:47:00 +0000

I was traditionally late on the scene yesterday afternoon for this Davidstow special.
It was however very typical Davidstow weather with strong winds and variable amounts of fog, mist & drizzle.

Fortunately for me there were few waders on the airfield and this semi-p was very active and a bit of a poser for the camera. It even caught an earthworm and washed it in the pool near my car. In fact so close that I could get good views of the webbing between its toes which are a bit of an identification clue to this species.

Semi-palmated Sandpiper

Juvenile Cormorant

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian Langdon) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:05:00 +0000

Watched this juvenile cormorant fishing at the top of the tide amongst the rocky inlets at Trebetherick Point this morning.

Juvenile Cormorant


Juvenile Cormorant

Juvenile Cormorant