Shorties still in Cornwall for now!!!

Surprised when I went out to find three Short Eared Owls were still in the vicinty where they have been over-wintering. I thought they would of moved on by now, must be stormy weather keeping them here: Another surprise was some blue skies and good light for photography!!!!! So here are some of the images from a good couple of hours with these majestic birds.

Another visit to search for the Short Eared Owls

Although distant again it was fantastic to witness 3/4 shorties enjoying a succesful hunting period. The area seems to provide a plentiful supply of small rodents to enusre the owls are well fed. Occasionally a crow/raven/kestrel etc will try to steal the meal sometimes sucessful sometimes not. The SEO do defend their prey items against thieves but sometimes they are out manouvred.  These are fantastic birds to observe and hopefully they will return again later this year.

The wouldbe thief was chased off on this occasion

Stithians Southern Cut Off and Lands End

Well my first blog post for 2020, at last a sunny day which was most enjoyable. Unfortunately most of the images here were in poor light or at a distance. However they are still fine for web use. Firstly I spent a couple of hours at Stithians Southern Cut off, highlight here was a little grebe thrashing around a stickle back for about ten minutes, backlit by the low winter sunrise.  A few more of the local birds feature in the images. Then it was on to the countryside near Lands End for Short Eared Owls again they did not disappoint but were distant.

Great Spotted Woodpecker in the frosty grass

Little Grebe with stickleback

Chiff Chaff (I think)

Magpie

Jay

Long Tailed Tit

Short Eared Owl

Shorties squabbling over hunting grounds

Short Eared Owl

Short Eared Owl stands his ground protecting his prey from thieving corvids

Red Throated Diver at Penzance

A good start to the wildlife winter photography, a Red Throated Diver at Penzance, photographed at sea and then closer and my 2nd attempt in the inner harbour. Also had an Eider in company on the first day.

Glossy Ibis at Helston

Unusual visitor for Helston, a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) near Helston boating lake. A very approachable bird, unfazed by dog walkers etc. Very busy continually feeding most of the time. A bit more sunlight would of been good for photography but think I got some images during the suns brief appearances.

A quick visit to Ryans Field/Hayle Estuary

With sunny days a rarity a the moment finally had one appear so I was about to go out and photograph short eared owls. Unfortunately due to vandals breaking some drainage equipment for the farm ponds I was informed access was no longer allowed in the area, so thanks to the inconsiderate morons who did that. Opted for Hayle instead unfortunately tide was low so very little in camera reach. Did mange to get a couple of shots and distant views of a Kingfisher which is always great to see. Hoping for some proper winter weather far to mild/wet at present!!!!

John Deere Tractor (well I said it was quiet)

Curlew

Meadow Pipit bathing

Redshank

Lapwing

Winter visitors, Short Eared Owls in Cornwall

My first look for Short Eared Owls (Asio Flammeus) this winter. Located on the hills of South West Cornwall I counted around six owls spread over a large area of heathland. As I said it was a large area so most shots are from a far distance with a lens reach of 750mm to 1100mm. Hopefully the owls will stay in the area as food supply(voles) seemed plentiful. Spent around three hours watching them hawking, and with some success capturing voles. There was also one pair in the distance that seemed to be wasting a lot of enery fighting over access to the plentiful food supply. So a good day hopefully more visits before the birds move on, Cornish weather permitting!!!!

Cuckoo at Bartinney Downs

Had an excellent afternoon at Bartinney in search of Cuckoo and anything else which may be about. Well got really lucky seeing not one but two cuckoos. Unfortunately one bird had already claimed it as his patch and an in flight fight ensued and soon enough we were back to one after the intruder was evicted!!! The original and bird that remained was feeding well on caterpillars etc (bit distant for decent images) but he did come closer into the trees nearer to the camera so got some nice shots there. Also whilst scouting the area for other stuff I came across a Northern Wheatear which completely ignored me coming close for a nice shot. So a productive couple of hours and my first usable Cuckoo images (Fight one is a bit soft, caught me by surprise when they took offence to each other)