Ryan's field early AM

Kingfisher Landing and Take-Off:

Kestrel on the bypass covered handrail:

Black-headed Gulls display before diving for a Crab breakfast:

Little Egret Study

When I arrived at Ryan's Field on the Hayle estuary this morning I could see the above distant Little Egret resting up in the reed beds close to the river bank to the left hand side of the hide.

There was nothing special about that but the intermittent bright sunshine on the fields behind the river was throwing its reflection across the shaded water where the bird was resting to create this green water effect while leaving the egrets own reflection unaffected,

I decided to exit the hide and moved slowly along the river to see what else I could achieve with this bird which as I did so moved out across an adjacent pond to fish,

 I  followed it for around twenty minutes picking off shots of its fishing technique and reflections as I inched closer until with several Three Spin Sticklebacks dispatched it returned to the river bank to rest up again.

Ryan's Field Today

I went back to Trewavas cliffs on the south coast again this morning looking for more Kestrel interaction, The male was present and provided me with several take-off sequences but the female was still missing in action and a biting cold onshore wind drove me off of the cliffs far to early.

Following a bite to eat and a fresh flask of tea I headed off to Ryan's field at the  Hayle Estuary on the north coast where its hide would afford me some photography without being subjected to an endurance test.

Subjects worked on included:  A pair of Shell Duck, Bar tailed Godwit, A squadron  of Long tailed Tits,  Fighting Red Shanks and a flock of Black headed Gulls some of which are posted below.

Avocet at Ryans Field

There had been an Avocet  reported on the CBWPS sightings page for several days now and I finally called in to view it on what was a mainly calm sunny afternoon today,

The bright conditions and calm waters were excellent for working with this bird with its striking black and white plumage and graceful lines reflecting well across the lightly rippled water,

The bird spent most of the two hours that I was there hoovering up small shrimps with that perfectly shaped bill and the last ten minutes cleaning and wing stretching on one of the small islands in front of the hide and it looked very much at home in its new environment,

It is a bird that we see little of at the westerly end of Cornwall and it was a pleasure to work with such a photogenic and approachable subject for a change.

Ryans Field

It was a wet and dismal morning at Ryans field today but the pair of bedraggled looking Robins that had been nesting in the bank in front of the hide were now being kept busy by a couple of recent fledglings that were forever calling to be fed,

Having now had enough breakfast the young fledgling took a test flight into a nearby hedgerow to rest up and digest it before no doubt returning to the adult birds looking for more,

A pair of Canada geese swam passed the hide proudly showing off their fine young family of five goslings

And to complete the scene one of the birds from the two pairs of swallow that are nesting within the hide took a breather from catching flies on a favoured bramble bush,