Grey Wagtail and Dipper in North Cornwall streams

Grey Wagtail

This fine female Grey Wagtail was with it's mate feeding on the recently hatched flies and bugs.

Dipper

 

One of the few Dipper shots I took today that had the bird free from heavy shadows!

Common Eider in take-off mode

Common Eider, 2 drakes and a female

Taken from a boat in Batsfjord, Northern Norway.

Eiders .... in Batsfjord, Norway.

 Some of the "target" species of Eider up here at Bastfjord just north of Varangerfjord.

King Eider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

King Eider

Steller's Eider.

Male Common Eider

Aurora borealis... Norway

A few shots of the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis) taken last night 17th March near Kirkenes in Arctic Norway.

I definitely won't be seeing any aurora tonight as it's snowing hard outside at the moment!

Common Frogs

Common frogs

These two frogs were making their way through the garden to our pond this morning.

As you can see the female is well swollen with eggs so I expect to see some more frogs spawn in the pond tomorrow morning,

We had our first spawn a bit later this year on the 4th February.

Common frogs

Grey Phalarope

Grey Phalarope

 

This Grey Phalarope has been at Falmouth for a few days and as we had a break in the foul weather of late I thought I'd take a ride out there to try some shots.

So along with Ed Treverton we made a quick dash down to the south Cornish coast and luckily spotted it within seconds of getting out of the car. Seeing it was one thing but getting across the seaweed strewn rocks to be near it was another!

It was bouncing away merrily on a rapidly rising tide and that along with its constant head bobbing whilst feeding meant I made good use of the "Delete" button on my camera!

Grey Phalarope

Red Throated Diver

Red Throated Diver

 

 

This beautiful Red Throated Diver was spotted flying into our Cornwall Birds reserve at Walmsley sanctuary near Wadebridge yesterday afternoon by Dave Thomas.

Unfortunately it looked to be having problems with oil on its feathers. This was probably why it had made its way inland and I watched it preening itself for quite a long time.

Today it was spotted flying out of the sanctuary but didn't get far as it crashed in the field behind the hides. Luckily one of our members found it and it has now been taken to get urgent veterinary treatment for the oil in its plumage and probably also in its stomach.

I couldn't resist a few photos as it is such a beautiful bird and although I've seen quite a lot of divers I was still amazed at how big it was when in the hand... or hands actually!

Fortunately it appeared quite strong and feisty so we all hope it survives its ordeal and can return to sea as soon as possible.

Our thanks to Geoff and Tom for literally taking it under their wings!