Dunlin on Marazion Beach

I spent about an hour on Marazion Beach this afternoon trying to photograph the resident waders. For some reason we could only find one lonely Dunlin at the mouth of the Red River Mouth, and in amongst the gulls was an Adult Med Gull. The light wasn't great but once again RAW has saved me.

EXIF: Canon 1D MKII, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, ISO 800, f/5.6, Spot Metering.

Baird's Sandpiper at Marazion

Some images from Marazion Beach (Red river) taken on Sunday.

EXIF:Canon 1D MKII, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, ISO 800, 2 and 3= Partial Metering 4 and 5= Spot Metering, f/5.6. Sorry about the weird orange tint that was the sun setting behind me.

EDIT: first image is the original of image #3. For Liam.

Waders at Davidstow

A few images from today at Davidstow. I originally thought I was photographing Dunlin and Ringed Plover but after looking at some of the Baird's images from Davidstow and Marazion I started to doubt the Dunlin ID, Can anyone confirm it.

I am still experimenting with RAW but so far I have found it a great advantage over Jpeg. All images Shot in RAW and converted in Photoshop, ISO 200, 400mm.

Woodchat Shrike At Nanquidno

A (Rubbish) Record shot of the Juv. Woodchat Shrike at Nanquidno today. Taken at about 6:30 in low light, handheld, Resulting in an extremely blurry image, sorry...

** the image of the shrike is so bad you may not want to open it to full screen.**

EXIF: Canon 1D MKII, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 3200

Marsh Tit from Main Hide, Stithians Reservoir.

EXIF:Canon 1D MKII, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 400

For better images of todays Shrike see Angie's Blog

Scotland

Sorry for the lack of posting (again) but I spent the last week of my holidays in Scotland.

We set off from Cornwall on the 26th and arrived back last Sunday (11 days). Instead of doing the easy thing and catching the train up to Aviemore we worked our way up over 3 days in the car, spending a night at my auntie's and a full day on the Isle of Mull.

After spending a extremely stormy night in Oban we caught the Calmac ferry over to Mull.

We had arranged a birding tour with Peter Hall of Mull Wildlife Tours (which is the best way to see Mull's wildlife in a day.) From a very good day of birding on an amazing island I had managed 5 Lifers, (Hooded Crow, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Eider and Golden Eagle)

But unfortunately no White Tailed Eagle :-(

Best image of Golden eagle I could manage ^^, as if flew over I panicked and got all the settings wrong so a silhouette is the best I could get.

Next day we packed up the tent and started the long drive up to Aviemore. Arriving in Aviemore in the afternoon we quickly set up the tent and headed off to Loch Morlich and Loch Garten (RSPB Ospreys). No Lifers from Loch Garten and Loch Morlich.

Meadow Pipit, Farr Road, Nr. Findhorn Valley

Osprey on nest, Kincraig ^^

yes, we got there...

We spent 4 days in the Cairngorms where I got 2 lifers, Osprey at Rothiemurchus Fish Farm and Crested Tit at Loch an Eilein car park.

A very noisy image of one of the fishing ospreys at Rothiemurchus Fish Farm.

Red Squirrel, Loch an Eilein Car park.

On the way back to my Aunties in Telford we spent a day at Leighton Moss. I got 3 lifers from Leighton Moss, Common Tern, Spotted Redshank and Greenshank. No positive sightings Marsh Harrier but we did have a possible fly over the road. Back in Telford we paid a visit to Sandwell Valley RSPB, a nice reserve considering its location. 2 lifers Ruddy Duck and Snipe.

I will post the rest of my best images over the next few days here

Also since I have been back from Scotland I have ticked Ruddy Shelduck, Knot, Sanderling, Whinchat, Baird's Sandpiper and Wryneck but I have dipped on Lapland bunting, Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, Little Stint, Citrine Wagtail and Spotted Crake. After all those Lifers I am now on 159.

##I have just noticed the size of images when you open them to full screen, sorry about that I must have resized them wrong##

Porthgwarra Sea-watch

A great morning Sea Watching this morning. I managed only 1 lifer (Great Skua) and failed to get onto a Great and a Balearic Shearwater, shame but there's always next time (Although it would have been nice to have had Common scoter, BT Diver, Sooty Shearwater etc.)

Thanks to Steve and Sam for letting me borrow your scopes.

Picture thanks to Simon Taylor...

Now off to save up for Steve's Leica Scope....

Cornwall Birding Pelagic

A few images from the Cornwall Birding Pelagic off St.Ives Today. The light wasn't great at the start but pushing the ISO up to 1600 I managed to get some ok shots of Gannet, Fulmar, Storm Petrel and the target species Wilson's Storm Petrel. A great morning's birding and 2 lifer's ( Wilson's Storm and Storm Petrel). It's a great way to see most typical sea birds and a lot easier that the conventional method of sea watching). A huge thank you to Paul Freestone for organizing an amazing birding trip. For anyone who is interested in any of the other Pelagic's planned see Cornwall Birding Website for more info on trips.

Gannets and Fulmars were the most numerous birds but 30 Storm Petrels were spotted overall from the trip.

1 of 2 Wilson's Storm petrel spotted on the trip. The one in the photograph was our first at about 7:55 am 7 miles NNW of St.Ives.

For more of my images from the trip Click Here

Some images I have found on the memory card. Taken over the last few days.

Juv. Robin Taken from Golden Lion Hide, Stithians.

My Auntie's dog, Fozzy.

All with Canon 1D2 and Canon 400/5.6

Still No Photo's

Although it is the Holidays I haven't had much time since my last post to take photos. I visited Stithians today so I will have a look at the photos later and I'm just hoping to get some blog-able

images to post. Im off to Scotland at the end of August so I should have a lot of pics to post then.

Im going to try to get back to posting a few times a week soon, when I get more pics. Thanks to all of you that have stuck with my blog during my lack of updates.

Thanks Everyone and welcome to the new followers!!!

Here is a picture taken by my uncle who is borrowing my 450D.

Lucky

All with Canon EOS 1D MKII and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM.

Stithians

Sorry for lack of postings, I haven't had the time to post over the last few weeks. Anyway here are some images from Stithians Reservoir.