Hayle Estuary Wildlife

While waiting for many hours for the Osprey featured in the previous blog I spent much of my time snapping away on the variety of wildlife that passes through Hayle Estuary over time and decided to produce this additional blog of some of the images captured

Shell Duck.

Whimbrel.

Cormorant.

Little Egret.

Black-tailed Godwit

Grey Heron

Canada Goose

Little Grebe predating on a male Palmate Newt

A Little Grebe surfaces from a dive having caught a lively male Palmate Newt.

Holding it behind the head it thrashes the newt against the surface water breaking its neck.

Its game over for the newt as the grebe dispatches it down the hatch and is immediately off looking for another one.

On the same visit to Stithians Southern cut-off I watched the water movement as it ran off of the back of a Canada Goose as it completed   'A Wash & Brush-up '

I finished off  this pleasant visit with an up close and personal portrait of a colourful male Bullfinch

Early Morning Cuckoo

A Canada Goose takes an early flight from the Bartinney pond and presents me with a nice Fly-bye

A group of six Northern Wheatear were foraging on the down for grubs as sunlight lit the early morning dew

A resident Reed Bunting goes straight on the attack when a female Cuckoo is spotted.

A Male Cuckoo arrives at the same time and starts to display to the female who gives him her complete attention and the pair fly off together and all goes quiet for the following hour,

The male Cuckoo eventually returned but there was no sign of the earlier female and the male very soon starts his calling all over again.

The Northern Wheatear took note of the Cuckoo calling before getting back to their more important foraging for grubs.

My aim for today was to capture 'Mating Cuckoo' images,  I think I came close but it was just not to be today,  Even so,  Bartinney was a fine place to spend a few hours on such a bright still morning .