Seawatching off St Ives Island

The wind was NW backing W, but declining in strength.  I decided to give St Ives a try for a couple hours before work.  The photography opportunities are the best possible from mainland here, but on reflection, nearby Pendeen definitly gets greater numbers.  These are the numbers from yesterday, allbeit, Pendeen counts are for a longer period.

St Ives Island, 61m-8.45. 1,000's Manx, 6 Balearic Shearwater, 5 Great Skua, 4 Arctic Skua, 1 Common Tern, 1 Arctic Tern, 21 Sandwich Tern, 1 Grey Phalarope, 5 Common Scoter, 2 Curlew.

Pendeen: 2 Great Shearwater, 75 Sooty Shearwater, 14 Balearic Shearwater, 1'000's Manx, 1 Leach's Petrel, 3 Storm Petrel, 22 Great Skua, 25 Arctic Skua, 1 Pomarine Skua, 2 ad Sabine's Gull, 26 Sandwich Tern, 10 Arctic Tern, 17 comic tern, 12 Common Scoter, 13 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew. Courtesy CBWPS site.

The images below were taken from St Ives Island at a distance of 100-150m.  They are all heavily cropped, some up to 40%, which means they are at the edge of degradation.  Not an ideal scenario but they are record shots. Bring on the Fea's....

Grey Phalarope



Manx Shearwaters

Balearic Shearwater (really scarce this year)

Ad dark phase Arctic Skua

Alpine Swift on long weekend in Newquay

An Alpine Swift was taking in the sights of Newquay this weekend.  Found on Friday afternoon, it was still present today (Saturday).  I watched it last night trying to roost on the balcony of the Rocklands Hotel late in the evening.  Three floors below, it would have noticed a large hen-party from Swansea dressed as Life Guards ;-) on the way to the pub.  Early this morning it could not have missed the revellers stumbling home from the clubs. That's Newquay for you.

Anyway, the bird performed well sometimes flying just a few feet above our heads.  This species is in fact a new Cornish tick for me, having dipped many before.  Alpine Swift is not a rare bird in Cornwall, probably annual in small numbers.  They're just difficult to catch up with.

This record is the 30th for mainland Cornwall and only the second for August, the majority occurring in Spring.

Adult Pectoral Sandpiper at Carnsew Pool

This adult Pectoral Sandpiper was found on Saturday afternoon by John Phillips near the Old Quay Inn pub on the Hayle Estuary.  It was refound on Tuesday with other waders at nearby Carnsew Pool.  Prior to these sightings, the same or another adult Pec Sand was found (and photo'd) at St Clement, Truro and the following day at Walmsley Sanctuary.  To see an adult Pec Sand in Cornwall is unusual, most of our birds being juvs.  Which makes this sighting more likely to be the same individual.

The adult below was photo'd tonight on the north side of Carnsew near the footpath.  It was the only wader nearby and surprisingly confiding.

All shots taken with D3x Nikon, 600mm F4, 1.4x TC. F8. ISO 160. Exp -0.3EV.

Seawatching off Porthgwarra

With the weather being favourable for seawatching, I've spent the last three days at Porthgwarra.  I missed the highlight of 115 Cory's Shearwater on Friday last week but was content with three birds giving good views on Saturday. The adult Sabine's Gull on Saturday was the first I've seen at this site, this species being far more regular on the north coast. In addition on Saturday, the following were logged: two Great Shearwater, eight Sooty Shearwater, ten Balearic Shearwater and a distant Pomarine Skua.

Sunday was quieter, mainly because the wind was cyclonic and variable.  The highlight was just five Sooty Shearwater and five Balearic Shearwater.  The latter species has been suprisingly scarce so far this autumn.  A single Puffin was also seen.

Today (Tues 7th Aug) was much better with a south westerly breeze and dull grey overcast viewing conditions.  The highlight was a close Great Shearwater showing its pale rump and black cap.  The adult Pomarine Skua with a full set of "spoons" was impressive too.  Whilst Balearic Shearwater is scarce, Pomarine Skua seems to be regular this year.  I missed another Cory's but the nine Sooty's, seven Bonxies, two Arctic Skuas, two Choughs feeding in front of us and four Basking Sharks were good value.



Library image: Great Shearwater, from Scillonian (Aug 2008).

Newquay Pelagic Wednesday 25th July

We left Newquay Harbour at 9.00 am. this morning for an eight hour pelagic trip. We sailed approx 20 miles due north west, which took less than an hour. Six other occupants were diving in the shark cage and getting stunning underwater views of seven Blue Sharks.  We also saw two Leatherback Turtles and at least 40 Common Dolphins.  Seabirds were a little thin on the ground but we did manage to see one Wilson's Petrel well at about 50 yards.  We had good views but sadly too far for photography.  In addition we saw about 30 Storm Petrel, two Comon Tern and about a hundred Manx Shearwaters.

Blue Shark beside the boat twisting

 

Leatherback Turtle at about 75 m.

Common Dolphins

Northern Fulmar

Gannet

More info on the boat and tours here> ATLANTIC DIVER

Penhale, north Cornwall tonight

A quick visit to Penhale tonight in the last hour of sunshine revealed some nice butterflies, including at least 20 Dark Green Fritillary, a couple Large Skipper and a Small Heath.

Large Skipper

Small Heath

Dark Green Fritillary

Yellow Rattle, all images taken with 200mm macro and flash. Tripod mounted. F10. ISO 100.

North coast scenery

The images below were taken last Sunday at Crantock and the Rumps near Polzeath, north Cornwall.  How things change in a week.  The heavy rain has all but cleared the poppies, leaving a field of yellow corn marigolds. The previous month was a sea of red.

Polly Joke beach, Crantock.

The Rumps, Polzeath. The island holds several pairs of Puffin.

Images taken with 24mm wide angle lens. F8. ISO 100.

Grey Heron caught fishing

I took these shots today and managed to get a lucky sequence of a Grey Heron catching a tiddler.  I locked the focus on the bird and then put the lens into manual focus.  This ensures the camera focus doesn't stray away from the subject.

West Pentire Arable Plant Project

I had a spare couple of hours this afternoon and decided to take a look at the Arable Plant Project near Crantock.  Its a special project managed by the National Trust and one of only two of its kind in the UK. The main purpose is to protect the numerous range of rare wild plants on the 16 hectare reserve.  The Poppies and Corn Marigolds are especially impressive in June and July, as can be seen in the images below.  If you are in the area, its a sight well worth taking in.

Looking towards Porth Joke beach



A lone Poppy in a field of Corn Marigolds

Waders on the move

A decent selection of waders are passing through in numbers.  A visit to Devoran this evening included five Greenshank, 60 Redshank, one Black-tailed Godwit, 176 Curlew and two Whimbrel.  An adult Mediterranean Gull in full summer plumage looked good too.

Adult Redshank at Devoran

Eye to eye with an Emerald

I took these shots today at Breney Common in dull, overcast and wet conditions. Apart from a single Large Red Damselfly and a few Blues, this was the only other dragonfly.  Despite the conditions, they were still quite skittish but this one remained in position for a few minutes.  The lens was about eight inches from its eyes.  The SB-600 flash was used, offset, with a diffuser.

In addition, the Large Red Damselfly and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary were also seen today.

A welcome break in the weather

Yesterday was the first reasonable day for some time.  I decided to visit Penhale and check for any local specialities that might just be on the wing. In dry but dull conditions, I was surprised to find at least 20 Dark Green Fritillary, 150 plus Silver-studded Blues and six Large Skippers.  Even up to 8pm, the males were busy chasing females in their quest to ensure the colony survives another season.

The images below were taken with Nikon 200mm F4 Macro, Nikon 600 flash and all tripod mounted.