Bartinney Down

I went to Bartinney Down early Am this morning looking for a Short-eared Owl that was recently reported.

No joy with the Owl but I was a little surprised to see the kestrel pictured above out hunting before the sun had risen above the downs.

As the light levels improved I saw this Kestrel dive down on to an old china clay spoil heap and the fact that it stayed down suggested to me that it had caught prey.

I decided to move in closer hoping to capture a Kestrel with prey image but I had to detour via a footpath to avoid trampling through heather and gorse to get there and consequently I arrived just in time to capture the Kestrel taking off after presumably dispatching its prey

As I was now in the area of the partially flooded old china clay pits I decided to drop down inside to check for any late dragonflies around the pond but as I did so the sun dipped behind banking clouds and was not seen again until after I left.

I decided to set my camera tripod up within the limbs of a classic Harry Potter type 

 ' Womping Willow '  tree for cover to wait and see what else might be attracted to the pond

This  classic willow had an amazing amount of burrs on its trunk that would have made a wood turners mouth water !

After a while what looked like a young buzzard flew in and perched on the quarry bank at the other side of the pond,  I caught its flight in but it had picked up on my shutter action and was immediately away again,

Still no sunshine or dragonflies but I noticed a ripple on the waters edge and this rather obliging and colourful frog hopped up onto a stone to pose for me long enough to grab a few Kermit Type portraits.

Bartinney Down is an excellent location for Short-eared Owls once they have migrated down from the north,

It has three or four rough grass fields that are managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust to provide good owl hunting grounds   These fields are set in the surrounding heathland that is predominantly dense heather and gorse for roosting and protection,

 Watch this space over the next couple of months for close images of these very photogenic birds !!