Jumping Jack Flash

I spent several hours with the Kestrel today but not much action or Photography achieved so I called in at the Marsh on my way home looking for the elusive Bittern,  No joy there either and the only bit of 'Wild Life' that I did see was  by way of 'Jumping Jack Flash'  flying from wall to wall,  Impressed I watched and recorded it on fast frames as he did it again and produced this Montage of his skill which I emailed on to him,

By request from these talented lads I have compiled this second jump sequence completed by No 10   ( Sorry I do not know his name )on the same day

Cornish kestrel part 4

What a beautiful warm sunny  and windless day yesterday turned out to be, Katie was already active and sunning herself when I arrived at her nest site early,

After posing for a few portrait images Kate was off for a little hunting.

She went missing in action for a couple of hours then returned to put on an aerial hunting,hovering and stooping display on the cliffs and fields above her nest site,

Returning to her farourite tree She inspected her prey but seemed reluctant to eat it showing signs that she was already well fed

Flying to one of her local stash points near her nest she buries the vole under vegetation to consume later,  She flies off along the coast to a location where she regularly takes a dust bath but this time its to far away for the camera. she then disappears further along the coast and out of sight until I left seven hours after arriving,  I went home hungry but happy !  Still no sign of her mate settling in!

Young bull grey seal

I spent the whole day following Kestrel on the south coast and as I walked along the rocks from Trevean Cove to Stackhouse Cove I was shadowed by a young inquisitive male Grey Seal,  I stopped to snap it several times as it followed off shore and in the end I set up my tripod at the waters edge and had to reduce my 500 mm lens from 6m-infinity down to full focus at 3.5m as it moved towards me without showing any aggressive behaviour in fact it was a delight to see one so inquisitive and close,  I just love it ! when I get good interactions.

Cornish Kestrel Part 3

Still no interaction from Kevin our male Kestrel but Kate had a busy day yesterday with lots of comings and goings from favoured perch points so I locked my focal point at her usual landing branch and waited for a landing sequence which I took at eleven frames a second..

Four frames taken in less than half a second and merged into one image

With her movement being quite predictable I also decided to try for a take-off sequence which is a bit tricky capturing the start of the movement,  I missed the first two but got there on the third attempt around two hours later,  I just love working with this bird!

Cornish Kestrel Part 2

I spent part of my day day at a Kestrel site on the south coast and it was not the lack of shows that eventually ent me home but the cold north winds,   BRRRRR!   Our female Kestrel Kate was there when I arrived But the Male Kevin nowhere to be seen as yet,  Kate chilled out, preened and stretched for nearly an hour in her favourite Tamerisk tree presumable waiting for her mate to turn up with a prey offering but it was not to be.

Katy flies off either to find her mate or her lunch.

She return to the same tree twenty minutes later with a large vole.

Then changes her mind and flies in my direction and lands on a ledge ten yards in front of me,  Thank You!

dismembers the Vole and dispatches it all,   flesh,fur and leg bones all down in just five minutes

After checking through the vegetation finding bits that she had missed she flew back to the original tree

Looking all fluffed up and contented she looked ready for a nap and I was cold and ready to go home to a warming log fire

Grey Heron nesting behaviour

I spent some time PM today watching and photographing a Pair of Grey Heron's nesting behaviour near the railway bridge at Marazion Marsh, 

The male returns to the nest with a reed and both birds go through a greeting ceremony to show their approval

The male hands over the reed to the female

The female adds the reed to the ever growing nest which certainly looks a bit small when both birds are on it

When the reed is in place both birds often preen each others plumage and it is at this time that mating often occurs

Not so on this occasion so the male flies off ,  'presumable to find a larger stick!'

I think this Pair of Grey Heron will be worth following especially with their close proximity to the elevated road section near the railway bridge which affords clear views of  the nest site so I shall be checking them out again over the weekend.

The east wind will blow,

The east wind will blow and we shall have 'Heron'  well that's the way it was at Marazion marsh today with no less than ten sighted around the central channel all at the same time, the image below shows nine of them and the tenth was just out of frame on a short willow perch,  I guess the main reason for this surprising assembly was to avoid the cutting easterly winds that blew at 90 degrees over the north to south channel, It was interesting to note that they were all at least a pecking distance apart,

Most other life along the marsh had taken cover else where but I did see 41 Curlew resting and feeding in the field behind Longrock Pool along with two  Roe Deer

It was only 3pm but I'd had enough of the biting cold wind and headed for home,    Part timer!!

There are two sides to a Grey Heron

I worked with two Grey Heron today and the contrast in behaviour and appearance was amazing!

The first set of three images below was photographed just off of the Hayle causeway bridge in changeable weather conditions this morning and I feel that they portray the Herons sinister hunting nature in the raw,

The Grim Reaper

Makes another strike

And this one may be a bit more than just another mouthful but it marks the end for yet another flounder

By contrast to the above feeding behaviour I worked with another Grey Heron at Marazion Marsh this afternoon in calm sunny conditions and these three images below show the Grey Heron responding to the call to find a mate,

The first requirement seems to be a long soak in the marsh of at least 20 minutes

next comes a quick shake out and a long serious preen of all plumage

Follow this with a little strutting along the marsh margins and the plan seems to be attracting the desired attention, So there may be a few more Grey Heron around next year,  Flounder beware!!

Longrock Roe Deer

With good clear weather forecast for early Am today I revisited what is becoming known as the deer field behind Longrock pool, It was a colourful dawn with the wind conveniently blowing towards my chosen viewing point along the high hedgerow of Short Lane,  Three deer were already out of the woodland grazing on the far side of the field which is a bit of a stretch for my 500mm lens in early morning light,  I took a few record shots and waited to see if they moved any closer,  One disappeared into the far hedgerow and the other two slowly and carefully browsed along the hedgerow in my direction,  I spent the next hour taking random images when occasional passing traffic drowned out the sound of my shutter movement and eventually left them still browsing away on the field and hedgerow,  A nice way to start any day!

head up at the sound of a single shutter release

Lush grass

looking relaxed and easy

Cattle Egret portraits

Cattle Egret have been regularly sighted in west Cornwall over the last couple of weeks but I have never seemed to be in the right place at the right time,  Well today I finally caught up with one in St Erth at lunch time in fields south of the station,  It was in a very mucky field of cows along with Nine Little Egrets and a doxen Curlew,  All of the egrets were busy feeding between the legs and heads of the large herd of cows which paid no heed to them or their close feeding habits.