Oh dear.
Blame the happies.
So, a very long but very rewarding day, with an actual Lifer [I've almost forgotten what that feels like...] at the start [which is where we want it].
The week had been a long and stressful one, once I'd reluctantly decided that a post-work twitch would give a brief period of fading light and a serious chance of dipping what was said to be an annoyingly elusive bird. Despite the reasonable fears of the traditional weekend bunfight [let alone the Friday Night Special - Saturday Catbirds and all that.....], I got up at work time on Saturday and made entirely reasonable speed west, with only minor delays for over-running road works and insanely slow drivers. Unlike many coming from parts north, I met only a few wisps of mist.
A very nice birder was on traffic control at the field entrance [which has almost no visibility for drivers going in or leaving] where I joined the sunny side of 50 vehicles - this before 8am - and ambled down to see if it had bee- "Oh it's right there."
Cha-ching.
Let's see that first grainy photo again;
Record shot
The sun climbed, the bird flew about, posed, called, posed some more.. It was all good, and apart from the odd sharp word to the inevitable 'stand-in-fronts', it was a pretty quiet affair. Especially when the Catbird flew into the hedge to our immediate left and started calling from the far side. A line assembled and stayed quiet, and the bird - once a Blackbird moved off - came through to the sunny side and posed. Oh my giddy aunt [and her great big camera].
Shots!
"Jeez, how many of you guys are there??"
Yes, utterly unashamed repetition from last post.
Very little cropping required
Red bits!
I have more, I do and I do...
Ahem.
Scaling shot
Smaller than it looked!
Ok, enough.
So, needing to stretch the legs, having seen as good views as possible without it actually landing on my scope, and [gasp] actually wanting to go there..... I ambled down the road to Land's End.
This here sign is chained off.
You have to pay to be pictured with it.
The actual End of Britain
[plus inevitable first and last grocklepot]
Small swell rolling in...
Looking West
Kettle's Bottom
[plus Fillis off the Longships chain]
The Brisons and Cape Cornwall
And don't forget;
Scilly!
[plus trawler]
Ok, ok, enough pretty scenery. There were quite a few small passerines about, with a few showing rather nicely;
Inevitable Mipit
Bathing beauty
Even more confiding was this;
Puffball sp.
[I think this is Lycoperdon mammiform -
despite being in a car park -
as there are old wooden space dividers]
Right. Time to move on. But where to? I know, let's find somewhere to sit down and maybe see an educational bird or three..?
Guard Duck!
Argh! No, not the Muscovy... But some of you know where I went now;
That'll be Drift
From the hide*
'slightly' less distant
I was looking for these three disreputables;
1w Ring-necked Ducks!
Pretty much the only non-adult males I've laid eyes on. Hmm. Well, they were certainly different from the moulty Tufties present, though no classic posing, of course [that would be helpful]
About as close as they got
They were very naughty, staying as far off as they could. Any hint they were getting reasonably close and-
Drat!
Other species gave more obliging views.
Little Egret
The Headless Buzzard Of Penwith
Strikes terror wherever it flies!
Lots of these in the woods
old Armillaria ostoyae, I think
It was a trifle disappointing, as the best gull in the extensive group was a LBB, and only a lone Green Sand lurked up the arm. Oh well.
Onwards!
Ryan's Field, Hayle
Rather different from last visit, with actual birds on display...
Kingfisher action shot!
But never mind blurry grainy nonsense ['What? Now?!?'..]
Little Egret
Showing well
And now, he smiles, please observe some slightly larger heron spp.. I present a series of somewhat gratuitous and possibly unnecessary photos, going well beyond 'record shot' and into 'almost publishable', which isn't bad for a teeny hand-held pocket camera.
Big words, I know.
What do you think?
Great White Egrets
So, two present.
Mirror mirror on the floor...
..Who's got the longest neck of all?
Then the Sun came out
Sexy legs
Frame filler
Ripples
GWE showing well. Great but not jaw-droppingly unlikely, right?
Someone else got in on the act.
"I'm just going to sneak off, stage right.."
"..And appear right in front of you!"
Spooooooooooooon!!
After all that, the Hayle itself was a bit..
Dots in the sunshine
Close for a Redshank
Usual service restored;
some of the 15+ Med Gulls present
It was quite a day.
:D
Be Seeing You...
[[*I do love being a member of CBWPS]]
