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 !!

Two Peregrine in flight with prey

Today's weather was a bit blustery from the southwest and overcast with Cornish mizzle rolling in on a regular basis but I figured that I might just about manage to get out of the wind at the Peregrine location that I visited a few days ago,  It seemed OK weather wise at first but lacking in Peregrine and then after a while I suddenly heard before seeing a Peregrine being hassled for its prey in flight by what looked like it might be last years offspring which should be self sufficient and within its own territory long before now,

The Peregrine with prey opted to land on a ledge very close to the one used on Friday so I figure that it was the same bird and but for the second birds presence would have stashed it away  The prey had already been well dismembered with just the chest carcass and wings intact and apart from picking a few bits off of its ribs this adult bird didn't show much interest and must have already eaten its fill.

As the weather deteriorated the first bird flew off quite quickly leaving the prey on the open ledge and the second bird perched about ten metres away moved straight in attacking the ribcage immediately while I struggled to achieve some sort of reasonable exposure in the deteriorating gloomy conditions

The second bird soon had the ribcage detached from the redundant wings which it abandoned to fly off out of sight with its grizzly prise and it seemed to me that perhaps one or both of this adult pair of Peregrine might still be feeding their off-spring from last year so close to the time they are about to go through their breeding cycle all over again,

I was getting wet and had struggled to keep my kit dry for long enough so I headed for home early   but still pleased to have seen this surprising Peregrine behaviour !!

Todays bird Portraits

My day started with me heading for the south coast without a camera over my shoulder which feels really weird !!  I was off to Trewavas head to check out one of my Adder hot spots and to make a couple of clearings in brambles and hedgerows to attract any early risers into a safe basking area without to much old bramble and vegetation to foil good photos when they show,  It might seem early for Adders to come out of hibernation but last year I had my first show on the 15th February  [ Posted below ] and the year before was even earlier on the 23rd of January so I have high hopes of a positive sighting before to long,  We just need a couple of frosty nights to chill them down a little followed by warm early morning sunshine to tempt them out,  So watch this space for early Adders !!

I spent the afternoon in the hide at Stithians southern cut-off and came away with a few more portraits of some of the resident birds as posted below,  First up was the resident Male Great Spotted Woodpecker which looked very striking in the dappled sunlight in the woods behind the feeders,

My second show was from an immaculate looking Wood Pigeon in the same location,

A  family of four Moorhen came in from the Cut-off waters to forage under the feeders

And a busy little Wren went out on to the water hunting for fresh water shrimps and insects among semi submerged patches of vegetation

Peregrine take -off Sequence

With the wind coming from the northwest the south coast was the place to be today to make the most of the winter sunshine,  I caught sight of a Peregrine at one of its stashes high on a cliff face at quite a distance but when I watched through my lens I could see that it was without prey and probably just warming up in the sunshine,

The bird was" Watching me like a Hawk" and  I could see by its body language that it was getting ready to go so with a few shots in the can I moved just a little closer to try to make the most of its take -off  in the sequence posted below.

It seemed  like this very fine looking killing machine was off on the hunt once again as it climbed high into the sky above the cliff line and out of sight of all but the most observant birds.

Tehidy Country Park

Tehidy Country Park is well known in Cornwall for its friendly Grey Squirrels and birdlife,  The Squirrels will meet you at the entrance to accept a hand fed payment of peanuts,  { If you don't pay they will probably just take the bag out of your pocket anyway !! }

But I didn't go there for the Squirrels and nuthatches etc today,  I was there to capture images of the Kingfisher catching fish which she does quite often in the small car park pond outside of the entrance so I didn't really have to 'Pay' to get in but the squirrels came out and collected  'Their'  nuts anyway,

Capturing images of a Kingfisher fishing is a bit of a waiting game so I decided to snap away at everything that visited the pond including the Squirrel posted above,  There were eleven adult swan in this small pond which looked uncomfortable busy for its size and I wondered if the Kingfisher would put up with this volume of large birds while trying to catch fish,

My first subject was a very busy Goldcrest which flitted about in the birch trees overhanging the pond,  The pair showed four times during the three hours that I was there,

Next up was a fairly cautious Song Thrush which stayed up in the trees and Ivy looking for berries

The two resident Robins at this pond will like the Squirrels eat out of your hand,  They constantly closely remind you that they are there with their calls and you have to watch out when you move as they tend to get under your tripod or feet,

This young Pied Wagtail was foraging around the car park puddles and seemed to be doing quite well perhaps from people emptying pockets and bags as they came and went from their cars,

A semi-loucistic Raven was one of a pair that seemed to have adopted a mother and child as they exited the park on a side walkway,  They all walked over to the small pond and the mother fed the Swan's that were both in and out of the water and the Raven joined in taking their share of the handout presumably just as they had been doing inside the park,

Several Goldfinch stayed up in the Birch tree canopy preferring what was on offer naturally rather than the hand-outs that were so readily available.

A pair of Mallard ducks and a Black Headed Gull flew in from the park a little to late to take advantage of this new food source and soon departed again.

One of the resident Moorhen made a brief appearance but looked a bit teasy with the volume of Swan on the water

A busy little Wren took no notice of the other birds or hand-outs and carried on foraging the waterline for fresh water shrimps and insects producing for me a nice feeding reflection

There was no show from the Kingfisher today but I will be back to try my luck again when all of the Swan have departed,  They all appear to have been driven off of the main park ponds by a particularly dominant Male,

Jay Today

 To say that the resident Jay at Stithians southern cut-off were camera shy would have to go down on record as an understatement,  Often seen flying by but not stopping if there is even a single window open on the hide and until this morning I have never snapped one here before..... ( IF you want to work with Jay go to Tehidy where they are abundant and reasonably approachable)

Well there has to be a first time for everything and today was to be the day that the Jay gradually moved in branch by branch until it was within range to make a short flight down onto the ground under the feeders to grab a couple of peanuts and was then immediately away over the tree canopy not to be seen again.

I had been busy watching the trees behind the feeders for approaching Woodpecker that were showing well again today so I got an early view of the Jay inching its way forward and was able to pick off shots as it moved between the branches using a Nikon 500mm lens fitted with a 2x Tele-converter which increased my focal length to 1000mm to improve the subject size in the full  frame images.

Other subjects worked on with the same lens assembly included a male Reed Bunting, Blue tit, Sparrow and a lively Robin posted below