Yesterday's mixed bag

My day started well with a nice fly-by from a female Sparrowhawk in the morning sunlight.

A cheeky little Stonechat ,  A meadow pipit and a hunting kestrel kept me company while waiting for Short-eared Owls

The first Shortie that I saw landed in the rough grass quite close to me.  It had seen me before landing and kept an eye on me while completing a full body preen and when it eventually left it flew straight down my lens checking me out in a very casual manner.

Come the evening I had a couple of first year Marine & Wildlife students arrive at my home for a night shoot on Fox and Badger in a set that I have constructed in my back garden.   

On their arrival we discussed their requirements.  I explained the likely procedure of the encounter before us and we came up with a remote shutter controlled photographic coarse of action to achieve their goal.

Ewan and Conner proved to be very well mannered intelligent and inquisitive guys that were very dedicated to their course project and I had a very pleasant evening discussing various aspects of wildlife photography with them as we waited for our subjects to arrive on set.

We spent around four hours on this project and the guys went away with both the fox and the Badger in the can,    I have posted my take on their results below :

It was good for me to meet and work with these fine like-minded young guys and I am pleased to show this brief portfolio of what they achieved and I wish them well with their three year degree at Falmouth.

Birds of Prey today

I was out and about early this morning as the best part of today's weather was forecast for early AM.

With a blue sky over mounts bay and a few dramatic clouds near the horizon the sunrise over Newlyn harbour was to die for.

I travelled along the south coast looking for birds of prey along the cliffs.  The first bird I found was a local female peregrine which by the looks of the pale blood stains on her chest it suggested that she had already taken prey but I sat and watched her preening in the morning sunshine in her usual relaxed manner.

Next up was a male Sparrowhawk that flew out over the clifftops above the Peregrine.  This bird was hungry and anything but relaxed as it skillfully and swiftly swooped up and down the cliff shrubs and vegetation looking to surprise any small unwary birds to attack.   It moved on back up and over the cliff tops just as quickly as it had arrived.

Next to show in flight was a more relaxed but perhaps just as lethal hunter: A female kestrel that treated me to a lovely close hover that was totally devoid of any head movement.  What a contrast in hunting styles to the male Sparrowhawk that had gone before her.

Sparrowhawks although common are not an everyday sighting along these cliffs so I was a little surprised when a little later another Sparrowhawk arrived on the scene.  This time it was a female but just like the male before her she was in a hurry as she skillfully worked the up-draughts while looking for prey,

By this time the winds were rising and clouds rapidly filling the southern sky in front of a storm forecast within a few hours so it was time to head for home having very much enjoyed this early start to my day.

Birds of Prey Today

The above sequence montage of a female Peregrine take-off was formed from today' portfolio of images of various birds of prey photographed along the North coast of Cornwall,

The Juvenile Peregrine portrait below is of one of the bird above's three fledgling from last year and it was seen here today as it begged for an aerial prey hand-over from its mother which took evasive action and ignored its plea.

Other Birds of Prey seen today included the Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel images posted below.

Sparrowhawk panics mallard

Another wet day well spent at the Stithians reservoir southern cut-off hide with woodpecker, Water Rail and bullfinch showing well,  A Sparrowhawk was also on show displaying its agile flight skills while hunting for snipe along the water margins, Tracking its progress it was interesting to see the panic escape action of several mallard as the Sparrowhawk passed low over the water creating a nice behaviour sequence opportunity.

Stithians Reservoir,

During wet and windy days when lots of wildlife has gone to ground I often head for the cover of local hides which I select according to wind directions, Time of day for subject choice and natural light angles at the viewing area,  During November and December this year I worked at the Southern cut off hide at Stithians reservoir,  The attraction was not the feeders that subsidise a large variety of local birds but the opportunity to work at close quarters off the feeders on many otherwise shy and unapproachable subjects.

This fine male Great-spotted Woodpecker, Its mate (  and their young during summer months ) all visit the feeders regularly providing you keep your head and lenses well back from the viewing slots,  The trick is to be ready and capture your images prior to them moving directly onto the feeders

Water Rail have been high on my hit list for the last two years with only limited success on birds that were always half hidden by reeds etc at water margins,  I heard through the Grape vine that they were sighted at this feeding station regularly which has proved to be reliable information as I have worked on this bird on each of my last four visits

Many finches visit this location including this fine pair of Greenfinch

During my visits here I had seen this Sparrowhawk pass though on several occasions and during my last visit it surprised me as it flew onto the feeder frame assembly out of the blue.   At just five meters from my lens I knew it would be gone if I tried to move to avoid the out of focus foreground feeder framework,  I moved only my shutter finger for forty minutes as I watched it preen every feather it had while occasionally looking up with those piercing yellow eyes at the sound of my shutter firing,  Wonderful !

The composition of this image has been cropped to remove the out of focus foreground feeder frame and  to produce a pleasing close portrait.