Purple Heron and Garganey at College Res.

These images were taken early this morning in dull overcast light. Given the long distance and low light, I was pleased with the results.  The ISO was set to 1250 and they were taken with a D300s. 

Both these species in recent years have been regular at this site.  The Purple Herons always feed in the same area on the south side of the island and roost in the tall trees.  Five years ago, two were present though no breeding occurred.  Purple Heron is an annual vagrant to Cornwall, with records in Spring and Autumn.



Male Garganey, scarce passage migrant in Cornwall, mainly Spring.  Garganey are regularly seen here at College.



This male was accompanied by a female at the weekend though she has since moved on.

Ring-necked Duck displays to Tufted Duck at Stithians Res.

Cornwall's wintering Ring-necked Duck was today seen courting this female Tufted Duck at Stithians Res.  He couldn't keep his eyes off her but she didn't take much notice!  The display included head flicking, neck stretches, skypointing and spraying water, all very similar to a Goldeneye's courtship behaviour. 

All images taken with a Nikon D300s, courtesy of Kate Jones.

Cape Verde Pt 4 - desert birding

Below are some images of typical desert species I saw in Boa Vista, Cape Verde last month.  Boa Vista was the only island I visited and held enough to keep me occupied.  Other islands are expensive to visit and the locals seem to know how to charge the Euro200 inter-island flight.  A further 200 euros paid for a trip to Razo island for the endemic Razo Lark but I declined when told you cannot now land !

A typical ribeira, or dry river bed.  This area alone held three species of lark and Cream-coloured Courser



Hoopoe Lark, a common bird of the open desert



Hoopoe Lark, adult seen feeding a fledgling nearby.

Hoopoe Lark, in open desert with no vegetation. The tube in the foreground is actually a parched branch from an ancient woodland. 

Adult Spectacled Warbler, common in all habitats.

Bar-tailed Desert Lark; more localised but still present in good numbers.



Female Black-capped Finch Lark, common in arid desert.

Juv Black-capped Finch Lark

Adult male Iago Sparrow, a common endemic of the Cape Verdes (sometimes known as Rufous-backed Sparrow).

This was one of my target species and I saw about 20 in total.

Adult Cape Verde Cream-coloured Coursers, a localised sub species.

 

Cape Verde pt 3 - whale watching pelagic

Humpback Whales breed in the seas around Cape Verde and as such, the locals organise daily pelagics to witness these huge animals at fairly close quarters.  I was lucky enough to see five including one young, just visible in the fourth image.  With a scope, we could just see them breaching from the shore - quite an amazing sight.  Sadly I didn't see a breach from the catamarran.  The breach image at the bottom of the set was taken by Falli Bira, a local paparazzi who kindly allowed me to show this image.

Red-throated Diver moves to St Andrew's Pool, Par

When news broke that the Red-throated Diver had moved to St Andrew's Pool, I decided to pay another visit.  The light, water colour and background is very different here to the blue/grey colour of Par beach pool, so the images would be very different to those taken a few days ago.  And they are! 

The images shown here all have different shades. The red flash is the reflection of a red car, and the white flash is the silver car parked next to it. The green image is the reflection of grass and the blackish colour is simply a reduction of exposure to minus 1 EV.

The technique used to enhance the reflection is to lower the tripod and camera so that it is as low as possible to the water, improving the chance of picking up distant refection ( and also increasing shutter speed).

Note: all of the images are un-enhanced in colour and are the natural colour as unloaded from the camera.  They have been cropped by 16%. Aperture is F/7 to F/9.  Exposure -0.3 to -1.0 EV. ISO 250. Focal length 600mm.

Cape Verde pt 2

On my recent visit to Cape Verde, I found Osprey to be really common. I saw about forty birds.  Some were migrants moving north to breed though the majority were resident breeders.  In Cape Verde, in common with many other species, Osprey start breeding in November and by March/April, young birds have already fledged.  I was lucky enough to witness the spectacular Osprey plunge diving.  The image below shows an Osprey early in the morning on a favourite roost.  The background is desert, then the sea about a mile in the distance.

The image below is an Egyptian Vulture.  I was lucky to find a pair feeding on some carrion.  After reading the literature, I was expecting this vulture to be common though was later informed that only four pairs now breed on the island.

I also managed to see Alexander's Kestrel and the rare Cape Verde Falcon, similar to Peregrine.  These four raptors were the only birds of prey seen in the fortnight.

Up close with the PBP Red-throated Diver

These two images are a follow on from last night's sequence and shows the fine detail of a non-breeding Red-throated Diver, presumably a second calendar year bird.

Red-throated Diver at Par Beach Pool

This Red-throated Diver has been present at Par Beach pool for several days and is very obliging.  I took these images this evening after work and just managed about 30 mins of reasonable light.  It approached to within 20 feet !  I could even hear it calling as it swam past.

The varying shades of light are due to its' continual movement around the pool and the varying background.

Cape Verde trip March 2011

Over the next couple weeks I will post some images of a recent trip to Cape Verde Islands. Cape Verde has the enviable reputation of being the most peaceful of all African states.  It is a desolate, arid, wind swept set of islands 500kms west of Senegal.  There is limited evidence of migration.  The total list is less than 150 species and on my visit, I saw less than 40 species.  That said, most of them were quality, specialist breeding desert and sea birds.

The species on show here is Black-capped Finch Lark.  It is one of the smallest larks and is about the size of a Serin!  It was common and found on arid desert through to sand dunes.  This male is feeding a young bird. 

Turnstones

I showed these Turnstone images at the Perranporth Camera Club last week.  The top image was taken three years ago at St Ives harbour and still remains one of my favourites.  The middle image was taken last month near St Michael's Mount and the bottom image last year.

Bar-tailed Godwits

These shots of barwits were taken last month at Marazion beach. The second shot below is one of my favourites so far this year.

Mediterranean Gulls at Gwithian

Mediterranean Gulls seem to be everywhere at the moment in Cornwall.  Gulls start moving in January and February and regular staging posts such as Hayle Estuary can host massive numbers of varying species.  I took this shot showing three adults last week at St Gothians, Gwithian, but also saw 25 Meds in Gerrans Bay last month, most of them being adults.