30 October, 2018

Patch Melange


All manner of gubbins from about the Patch, with a variety of photos of the less-sexy bits [as usual service has resumed re: me and anything vaguely approaching interesting]

Scarychurch steeple

Taken after being stopped by an odd-calling phyllosc that turned out to be the inevitable Chiffchaff...

Variety at Tessier

Colour vision test tree

Up close

The rare Technicolour Tree

"Got the pose, where's the snow?"

Still loads of Ladybirds

..And other insects

Right, time to look up.

Winter Is Coming

That breaking wave of cloud being the leading edge of the Arctic air mass coming down last week.

Red Cloud

Yellow sky in the morning..
..time to go birding! :)

That sky is in focus

The sky is burning

Oh me

Oh my

Quite something, that.


As for actual proper written news: Well, I was again surprised yesterday morning on my way to work as I once more had to evade a Hedgehog in the road! Different road, but come on. These are the first two live Hedgehogs I've seen in this country [I did some checking; the only other one was on a long-past hollyday in France. So there you go.], on consecutive Mondays...

Elsewhere and elsewise, I've heard rather than seen Redwings and Fieldfares for the most part, and today another bit of audiomig as at least two Brambling seemed to be circling right overhead [could I get eyes on them? Could I f] - so again after a long wait, it's like buses, isn't it?

No showy striped ones yet, but the odd vocalisation to tease me. One day I will get photos again. One day.


Coming up, a post about a little trip out into the Icy Blast with the Folks which your ears will be relieved to learn does not come in Audio [There were sheep. Lots of sheep. Oh dear], though will come with some quite scenic pictures.


Be Seeing You...


26 October, 2018

Fun Time In The Sun Shine


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

Longships

Wolf Rock

The Armed Knight

Kettle's Bottom
[plus Fillis off the Longships chain]

Shark's Fin

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]]