Fave images from 2015

Black Skimmer, Cape May beach, September 2015, after several hundred shots to get a pair together skimming!

Adult male Common Yellowthroat, Cape May, New Jersey September.

Common Pauraque on the nest, Estero Grande, Texas in May this year.

Common Nighthawk, Texas in May this year.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Bentsen SP Texas in May.

Adult Stilt Sandpiper at Port Aransas, Texas in May.  We saw hundreds of them at this wader hotspot.

Snow Bunting at St Gothians, Cornwall in January.

Hudsonian Whimbrel at Little London beach, Marazion. A first for Cornwall and tick for me as well.

Ring Ouzels at Buttermilk Hill. I saw a maximum of 22 in flock in April here.

Meadow Pipit in late evening sunshine in April on the Lizard.

Recent images from round the county in December

Fem Black Redstart, Penzance

Male Black Redstart, Penzance

 



Goldfinch, Ryan's Field Hayle

Great Northern Divers in boat reflection, Newlyn

Great Northern Diver, Newlyn

Purple Sandpiper, Battery Rocks, Penzance

Turnstone, Battery Rocks

Yellow-browed Warbler, Ryans Field Hayle.

All taken with Nikon D4s, 500mm VR F4 and 1.4x Teleconverter. Despite the appalling light that we are getting at the moment, I did manage to get these shots on the rare occasion when there was some sun!

Hudsonian Whimbrel at Little London beach, Cornwall

I took these images early this morning.  Its been here since Friday afternoon and is the same bird that was on Scilly last week. Its the first record for Cornwall.  It was split from Whimbrel in 2011.

Rose-coloured Starling at Land's End

Images of the very tame Rose-coloured Starling at Land's End.  The bird spends most of the time with the Starling flock within the complex and regularly comes to feed off the speciality doughnuts!

 

Some Cape May images

Below are a few images from a recent two week trip to Cape May, New Jersey.  Whilst it was not a classic in terms of what this famous migration watchpoint can sometimes achieve, it was good enough for me.  There were some huge falls of Tree Swallow in the tens of thousands, close raptor views especially Bald Eagle, close views of terns, skimmers and waders on the beaches plus the colourful neotropical warblers.

Tree Swallows feeding on bayberry bushes.

Palm Warbler, seen in decent numbers daily.

Forster's Terns seen in hundreds on the beaches, plus Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, Common.

Black Skimmers, juvs, About 800 were seen on Cape May beach.

Some waders around North Cornwall

Juv Dunlin at Davidstow

Juv Ringed Plover at Davidstow

Juv Curlew Sandpiper and adult Spotted Redshank (left) Camel Estuary

Spotted Redshank and Redshank 

Juv Dunlin at Davidstow

All taken with Nikon D4 and 500mm F4 with 1.4x teleconverter.

Recent images with Nikon D610 and 500mm F4

Some images taken in the last few days with a used Nikon D610 and used Nikon D4 and new 500mm F4 FL ED VR.  All tripod mounted. Taken at Stithians and St Clements.

Squacco Heron at Marazion Marsh

The Squacco Heron at the marsh today was decidedly elusive, preferring to stay for long periods at the back of the reed bed.  It flew past me and settled briefly before returning again to the back of the marsh.  It was found yesterday by Dave Flumm and is the second record in Cornwall this Spring.  In addition to the Squacco, Brian Loader and me had a Bee Eater calling at 7.38am over the east end of the marsh.

Hummingbirds in Texas

We saw three species of hummingbird on our travels to the Gulf coastal region.  Buff-bellied was commonest and Black-chinned was the scarcer of the three.  We saw several Ruby-throated at High Island and Goose Island areas but elsewhere they were replaced by Buff-bellied.  They are indeed blessed with good looks and intrigue and they have only made me want to see more of them!  There's a knack in photographing them as well.  Its called patience and getting your background sorted.  

Night Heron at St Clements, Truro

After five visits to my local patch at St Clements, I eventually saw the adult Night Heron last night.  After spending countless hours waiting at Tresemple Pool, John Chapple and me returned to the car park only to be told by the owner of the vicarage it was in the garden pond!.  The photo below was taken in near darkness at 9.30 pm last night.  ISO was set to 6400.  I got to say I was pretty impressed with the camera (Nikon D800e).

I also saw two Red Kites though Bob Bosisto had five others an hour earlier.

Back from Texas, fairly dry

We got back from Texas last week.  Just in time by the looks of things as there has been huge amounts of rain and serious flooding in areas we have just visited.  It was also a fairly dry fortnight as the majority of diners and burger joints don't sell beer in Texas.  The upshot is I lost 2 kg in weight.  Maybe it was the serious humidity as well.

Anyway, I'm now sifting through 3000 or so images.  Its looking good for about 200 nice presentation shots and around ten competition standard images.  I notice that the tour guide brochures now include a statement saying "Photo Opportunities:  Moderate to good".  I can say that Texas was very good, especially the waders and marsh birds.

In summary, we saw a shade under 200 species, had 30 ticks, travelled 2070 miles in 16 days, stopped twice by US border control bods, had about 200 mossie bites, caught heat rash, one minor disagreement with the Mrs over access to a Tropical Parula site, lost 2kgs in weight and wasted one night on South Padre Island. All in all, a pretty successful trip.

A small part of a flock of mixed terns, skimmers and gulls.

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