Restronguet Creek early AM

I returned to Restonguet Creek on the high tide early AM today looking for fishing Osprey.  It was  looking good with no wind and calm waters.

My first subject in very dark conditions was a small flock of gulls flying up river.  The best shutter speed that I could get on these fast moving gulls was 1/6th of a second on a 500mm lens at F4 but I quite liked the surreal exposure achieved.

The light levels were beginning to rise as a small group of Five Oystercatcher passed by and had  much improved with the in-flight arrival of a pair of Mute Swan.

 A little later in the morning it was still overcast with rising wind and darkening cloud conditions to the extent that I was contemplating leaving when a hovering Osprey suddenly appeared flying over the water close to the treeline of the south side of the creek

I missed the Osprey catching a mullet which happened very quickly while I was hurriedly adding my Nikon 1.7 converter to my lens for a better reach over the distance but I did capture the bird in the air with its struggling mullet just as couple of guys in a fast moving Rib flashed by sending the Osprey up over the high treeline and away from the creek.

Yesterday's Mixed bag

My first sighting of an Osprey this morning was of it flying off with a fish in its talons so that was the beginning and end of that shoot !

A local solo Mute Swan was more accommodating as it posed for reflection, preening and close up portrait images.

A  collection of Cormorants were having an early morning get-together but one seemed to prefer the company of a resident Grey Heron.

A raucous Jay departs excitedly with a giant acorn just as a large boxer dog arrived and scattered everything in sight.

I took a look at the old heavy weight boxer's powerful jaws and decided that was just fine by me and it was time that this particular old boy was heading for home anyway !!

Fox Hunt ?

A Fox in excellent condition looks like its on the hunt as it slowly works its way along a river bank.

It picks up the scent of something a bit interesting and moves on with a bit more purpose.

The fox sneaks up on a relaxed Cormorant that is facing away from him and is probably expecting it to fly.

But the Cormorant is going nowhere and looks a little annoyed at the disturbance !

The Fox is taken back by the Cormorants bold stance and decides to go for that " I was just passing and I'm a bit tired anyway " routine as shown below.

The fox then sloped away looking for an easier target while leaving the Cormorant totally unimpressed !!

Little Egret: Fishing close ups

A couple of days ago while I was waiting for Osprey sightings at Carnsew Basin a Little Egret dropped very close to my cover and it kept me busy for an hour with a nice run of close up fishing portraits a few of which are posted below.

After a bit of a battle in which the fish escaped twice the Egret finally wins !

Carnsew Cormorant Rules

This Cormorant's small world is anchored to the bottom of Carnsew Basin on the Hayle Estuary.  This buoy is favoured by all the local bird life but this guy rules while using it as a fishing base.

So off it goes fishing with hardly a splash.

Back on the surface it takes a quick breath and expertly duck dives to find another fish

Another fish goes down the hatch and its time to return to its buoy to digest its fish and dry out those wet wings.

No matter what world you live on there is always someone willing to knock you off your throne but this young gull isn't tough enough and the Cormorant still rules !!

Kingfisher Hover Fishing

Watching a Kingfisher hover to catch fish is a splendid experience for any wildlife photographer or enthusiast,   It tends to happen out of necessity over areas of fish rich waters where no natural high perch points such as trees, hedgerow or rock formations are available near enough for them to easily watch and fish from.

Kingfishers need to be a minimum of a metre above the water to allow their lightweight body to build up enough speed to break the surface water tension while overcoming their own natural buoyancy and the deeper the fish are in the water the more height they require.

If you are lucky enough to witness this behaviour,  Set up your camera and tripod in the area, Invest some time and for sure if you have seen it happen once it will always happen again and you will be ready to catch the action.

Kingfisher hovers duration can extend over thirty seconds in difficult circumstances which should allow time enough to capture this action.

The Kingfisher didn't dive on this occasion but I will hopefully catch the full behaviour sequence next time !

Osprey over Carnsew Basin today

I put in eight hours at Carnsew Basin on the Hayle Estuary looking for Osprey with fish,  I had four separate passes with hovers but none turned into a dive so its portrait shots only this evening

The Osprey didn't find their prey but this evening I had a Little Egret Battling with a large fish just twelve metres from me which will be posted some time tomorrow !

Carnsew Basin early AM

I called in at Carnsew Basin on the Hayle Estuary early AM today looking for sightings of the current Osprey that is on a fishing stop over for a few days before migrating onwards towards west Africa

Carnsew basin was perfectly calm and showing lovely reflections from shore side properties and its prominent church with a late moon setting behind it,  I thought the weird shot above just showing the moon set over the church reflections was interesting.

First up on the wildlife was a fishing Cormorant with an interesting split reflection caused by its own body movement. A distant Kingfisher was followed by a large flock of noisy Canada geese moving out of the estuary and a large volume of ducks moving in.

I finished off with a very bold Rock Pipit that was foraging in the tidal rock banks in front of me for over thirty minutes and what about the Osprey I hear you say !  Well it did finally show and passed by at a rate of knots with five crows snapping at its tail feathers but I will be back again later today to try my luck once more.

I spent a lot of time while waiting for the Osprey working on Cormorant behavior and reflections which will be shown in my next blog !