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.

Portraits from Ryan's Field

I was out dodging the storms this morning and ended up at Ryan's field just as a rare patch of clear sky flooded sunlight over the low waters of the lagoon.

I worked on a pair of Black-tailed Godwits that flew in to produce a nice landing reflection shot that was followed by some good close pairing.

Next up was a lone contrasting black, white and orange Oystercatcher that also benefited from good sunlight and as the clouds returned a Black-headed Gull provided a couple of flight shots as it departed.

Within a few minutes I took my last image of another Black-tailed Godwit that was taking a soaking as the rain poured down again and this time I decided that enough was enough and headed on home

Ryan's field yesterday

It was a wet and windy morning at Ryan's field yesterday but the local bird life still put on a bit of a show starting with this female Kingfisher patiently waiting for fish to rise.

She was followed by the Black-headed Gull below that was having some trouble getting its prey:  a very lively Ell down the hatch,

A pair of Black-tailed Godwit and Shell Duck were feeding at a more leisurely pace while a lone Red shank and an Oystercatcher seemed to be having trouble finding any

Ryan's Field PM Today,

As the skies cleared around 1pm today I popped into the hide at Ryan's field to see what was showing,  A large mixed group of mainly Golden Plover and Lapwing,  a couple of gulls and a dozen or so Redshanks  were all settled in the shallow water of the lagoon centre and stayed there wading around or sleeping for twenty minutes or so when all hell let loose as a hunting Peregrine came streaking in amid them causing panic and confused take-off movement from all of the resting birds,

Most eventually got away safely but not before the Peregrine had taken its toll on one unfortunate Golden Plover

The Lapwing gradually returned in small groups but the Golden Plover seemed to have had enough and all but a few stragglers had moved on to hopefully safer pastures

Other sightings included a pair of close showing Oystercatcher that might just be the pair that nested on one of the exposed lagoon islands last year raising two fine chicks against all the odds of them being predated.

When the sun shines the wading Redshanks always look good as they feed around the near margins

A lone Curlew seen enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sunshine

A Pair of Shellduck were busy feeding around the lagoon with this male already showing its full mating plumage

So  [ With the exception of one luckless Golden plover ] a good afternoon was had by all !!