Woodpecker Chick Portraits

 I have spent considerable time at this nest location where the chicks now spend most of their time squabbling over the prime feeding position in the entrance to the narrow nest hole.

I still don't know how many chicks there are or which one is showing in any particular shot.

Light levels are poor and there is never any direct sunlight to the nests downward facing hole and I am looking forward to capturing the moment when they all fledge !

Doe Roe Deer Encounter

A doe Roe Deer emerges from the cover of the flower speckled reed beds out on the moor.

I am unfortunately up-wind of her and with her nose in the air she immediately picks up my scent.

I stayed down out of her sight and with no visual danger she settles down again and eventually even starts to move into a more favoured position in relation to the wind and much closer to me.

She eventually comes to close for me to remain undetected,  She picks up on the sound of my single shutter actions coming from my hidden position, She looks up in my direction, turns and then heads off back into the same cover that she came from but not without leaving me with a nice record of this encounter

This was a lovely encounter with a very sensitive animal which responded to her sense of sound and smell to stay out of trouble without even seeing me at any time !

Grub Up !

The woodpecker chicks were still packing in the grubs and insects today with constant little battles between them for prime time in the narrow entrance to the nest.

The adult birds seem to have endless energy and enthusiasm for their role as providers and are keeping up their non-stop pace from dawn to dusk.

Fox, Badger and our Ferrell Cat

Last night was busy in our garden with no less than three Badgers and two fox foraging around their well used trails

The fox were first on the scene just before dark and they posed quite nicely for a few portraits without any particular concern about my use of flash exposure.

The first Badger arrived at the same time as our cat so they had a bit of a stand off until the badger got within two feet at which time the cat wisely decided to back-off and once the cat was out of the way the badger continued foraging around the garden.

More woodpecker feeding

The Woodpeckers at St Erth were showing well again yesterday and the chicks are getting bolder at the nest entrance as the days towards them leaving count down.

The adult birds have been stepping up their feeding rate and quite often returning at the same time. which all adds to the photo interest.

They are also finding it difficult to enter the nest to clean it out as there is now always at least one chick blocking the entrance hole and it must be getting tight for space inside as the chicks develop.

A brief pause in the action provides a family portrait !

Nesting Woodpecker

The male woodpecker above has been carrying out early AM nest cleaning duties and exits the nest hole to dump it.

As he exits the female arrives with fresh food for her chicks and the first youngster that hears her scrabbles into the hole hungry for her offerings

As the female departs the male is already back with more food for the next chick that shows which looks likely to be the more mature of the brood.

He or she is learning fast and waits at the hole for ' seconds ' as it sees the female return with another beck full of food

The convoy of food keeps coming throughout the day,  The chicks are already developing their bright red cap plumage and will soon be tempted out from their restricted dark nest environment

Peregrine wake-up Call

A young male Peregrine returns to the territory that it now shares with an older female mate.

She scream's to be supplied with her entitled share of his kill but he is having none of it.

He had consumed the bulk of this recent kill before returning and now to avoid handing it over he finishes what is left.

With the prey eaten he thinks he has won the day again and flies to a favoured resting point to digest his meal.

But the truth of the matter is that he is robbing himself of the opportunity to father young because the female has not at the end of May laid any of his fertilised eggs and nor will she until he shows willing to support both her and any ongoing brood.! 

Red Kites in Cornwall

While working on Cuckoo portraits at Bartinney Down this morning a Red Kite appeared flying low out of nowhere.

I was caught in open ground without any cover so the bird clocked me immediately and went into a spiral flight that put to much space between us in no time at all.

I used my camera settings that were preset for Cuckoo portraits in sunlight and fired away in cloud cover until the bird became a dot in the distance as it headed on towards Lands End six miles away.

 

Exposures were not the best but I was so pleased to get this short encounter with the visiting Red Kite and hoped at the time that I might just see it again in a few hours when it headed back up country !

First glimpse of the Woodpecker chicks

This afternoon we were treated to our first glimpse of the woodpecker chicks as its face filled the hole to their nest chamber.  The eyes of both woodpecker and chick are set closed to reduce the danger of damage from powerful beaks.

No this isn't another chick but the male emerging from the nest with a beak full of muck which the returning female just manages to side step.

The male emerges from the tight nest entrance and flies off to dump the much and return to food collecting

The female deposits her supply of crushed nuts and fat ball into a hungry mouth and is off again on another round trip.

As the male returns again we get just one more glimpse of another chicks head and can look forward to several of them fledging before to long now !