Natural Cornwall

Buzzing round the Marsh

admin — Tue, 31 May 2011 01:25:50 +0000

Which is basically all we did today…Wishing I’d included my Macro lens in my bag today but I managed a few shots using my 28-70 of some of the insects around the nice sheltered part of the marsh…

Then we spotted the first of the season in this Dragonfly (which we think is a female Spotted darter) but feel free to correct us..

These were taken with the D2XS and 50-500 sigma at about 400mm.

Chaffinch singing from the tree in the wind was soon joined by a reed bunting…

and I’ll leave you with my pic of the day taken on the D200 with sigma 28-70 @ 70mm F8

Hope you enjoyed the shots, please feel free to comment

Woodland Walk

admin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:57:45 +0000

Once more the Duchy was windswept on every coast so we decided to seek shelter in the Local woods.. its always good for a few shots and today was no different.

The rooks were in full chorus from the tall boughs of the trees, where they were pairing up for the coming breeding season, as we went into the woods and around to the lake

On the Lake amid the pairing swans was a solitary Canada Goose who gave some good opportunity for a few nice shots..

As did the mallards and little Grebes.. as always the light in these wooded area’s don’t afford fast shots so I stuck to shooting the slower action rather than the squabbling Swan’s etc

Unfortunately the lake is such a popular place with parents and children that I don’t usually last long before I’m seeking the deeper parts of the woods until Macdonald time.

A young little Grebe enjoying a lunch of Minnows

of course its also a time for burying your nuts for a feast when there’s less around to feed on.. We wandered on in search of Jays but alas they were only visible for fleeting glances and certainly not in a position to be photographed.

We sat by the tranquil running water and enjoyed the tranquility and the distant yaffle from a Green woodpecker….

Light was fading fast so we slowly walked back to the car and headed off home.. it had been a pleasant day spent in a vernal woodland..

A Cold Dark Start

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:14:06 +0000

First opportunity to get out onto the Marsh since Christmas today as the Surf had subsided so Splashography would take a back seat for a couple of days leaving me free to do a bit of wildlife and nature shooting..
I’m really looking forward to the spring awakenings over the coming weeks in our Natural world but today was a cold day again with very poor light… Though the sun did get out briefly this afternoon.
I took a walk down onto the Marsh and set the camera down only feet from a bittern but I didn’t realise until it flew up so the shots were of it escaping into the reedbeds…

Things were already starting to look and sound promising between thre mallards who were busily performing the mating dances as were the 2 mute swans who’d settled on the island..

but the sighting of the day for me was definitel when Julie Hargreaves called out the water Rail as it swam and ran for cover across a gap in the reeds… Thanks Julie!!

That was about it for us as the cold was fast beating the light to drive us off to the van for a brew

enjoy the Gallery Here

Merry Christmas to you all

admin — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 11:49:19 +0000

We’d just likje to take this opportunity to wish our many freinds and fellow Bloggers a very merry Christmas and peace and joy for a prosperous new year to come..
thanks for taking the time to read our Blogs and sending your continued support.

Mel & Leanne & Bump xx

The Best Kind of Snow… a Snowy owl

Merry Christmas

Return to Mazza

admin — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:56:22 +0000

It’s been a while as I’ve been working solidly on the van to get it through the MOT before Christmas and thankfully it passed this morning. There’s still a lot to do with it bodywork wise but its well under way now so I thought I’d ttake the weekend off to shoot some Nature.
So after lunch we headed down to Marazion marsh.. within the first 10 mins I’d seen the water rail, 2 bitterns, marsh harrier, Buzzard, Snipe and Kingfisher.. followed quickly by Chiff Chaff, Grey wagtail and More Bittern sightings.. many more.

I suppose the closest sightings of the day had to be between the female Blackbird that grovelled around by our feet looking for food and the beautiful song Thrush that landed on the bush just in front of us;

But without a doubt for me, my favourite all time bird to watch and photograph has to be the most elusive Kingfisher.. a true artist of his craft and absolutely stunning colours and speed..
Here she is in wait..

Bob Joined me down at the gate and was closely followed by Keith and Julie just as Leanne arrived with Tea and Aidan in Tow
Our next little display came from a Grey wagtail who did a few hovering tricks for us closely mimicked by a chiffchaff..
It was definitely getting colder by this time and the sun was dropping now so it wouldn’t be long before the liught was gone from the Marsh.. so we decided to head back to the Van for a nice refeshing cuppa.. oh its good to have the van back

I’ll leave you with the local Buzzard who seems to have taken over where the Kestrels left off…

BuhBye now!!

With December came snow

admin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:09:34 +0000

Almost immediately as we hit december we were snowed over.. which okay its all romantic and all that if you don’t have to be out in it trying to get your van back on the road.. well needless to say this is holding me up again so I’m losing hope that I’ll have it back on the road this year…
That in itself is bad enough but the vehicle we’re having to use couldn’t be any lower down if you sat on the ground and with the cold really attacking my joints its making it almost impossible to get out anywhere at the moment.
Its not any easier for Leanne who is expanding quite nicely in her maternal state and is still struggling with her back injuries from the whiplash.

Well enough of moaning about it.. we’ll carry on and do what we can to keep up with the site.. like a lot of others we were snowed in yesterday.. tho in our case it wasn’t the snow that prevented me getting the car out it was a neighbours abandoned car sat right across the drive and the road.. so we set off to walk down the hill to Mousehole to get some milk and bits..it was surprisingly clear on the road both down into Mousehole and the road out to Newlyn.

In the harbour was a little Egret who’d obviously taken shelter from the snow and bitter wind and was walking about on the beach there unperturbed by people walking by or standing there photographing him

Little Egret in Mousehole

Being completely worn out with the walk down the hill and along the road Leanne decided she’d give Keith a ring and see if he was around to give us a lift back up to the house, especially as she was suffering still with her stomach cramps till the baby settles down
I wasn’t complaining as I’d overwalked my quota and my legs weren’t really doing what they’re supposed to by now and beforelong Keith turned up in the Land Rover and gave us a lift back to the house.. and very welcomed it was

So Today I decided to make a break out and took the car and drove us to Marazion so Leanne could post the photo orders which were mounting* up again.. (* pun intended)

All was frozen still on the marsh so I figured walking there would be much a waste of time.. driving towards Jordans we saw Keith pull out from the wall so I flashed him and we stopped for a chat further along the wall.. in the perfect spot as it happens as a family of Goosanders were just passing in the edge of the sea and made the pick of the day

Goosander at Marazion

The Goosanders

Keith was off to collect Connors drugs and then to the dentist so we headed off to the reservoir to see if anything was about there…

It turned out to be the right move as I saw the Kingfisher/s on three seperate occasions.. a water rail Coots snipe grey wagtail long tailed tits and little grebes.. the only downlfall was the light wasn’t enough to power the big lens so I gave up shooting stills and took some video instead..
here’s a couple of the coot I did get…

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day lightwise..

Later

Mel

Whooper Dee Doo

admin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:24:19 +0000

Took a brief ride to be out of the mizzly weather over to Ryans Field at Hayle.. Not a massive amount about but there was a few med gulls, lapwing, redshanks curlew etc.

Nice Med Gull in winter plumage…
Curlew digging to its hearts content on Ryan’s Field today…

Over the road I looked up to see 3 Whoopers coming in overhead.. turned out to be a small family.. Mum Dad and the last remaining Sygnet..

Always nice to see something a little different

And then back home to see the starling roost over Marazion Marsh… too dark really for anything decent so I caught some of the action on video and will get them added to the gallery real soon

Meanwhile

Thats it for today folks!!!

Grey Seals and Kestrels

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:31:13 +0000

Well its definitely that time of year again when the frollicking seals bring forth their young and the frollicking Sea’s bring them forth onto the beach where we have to rescue them lol..
After our rescues last year we’re ready and have the Seal Sanctuary on standby but hopefully we won’t have to rescue any and all will be well.

I spent a couple of hours today watching them and filming them and they were certainly entertaining enough to keep my mind off the howling winds ripping into the back of my head.. Thank heavens for hoodies lol..

This was probably the smallest of the pups we saw today, but he certainly seemed lively enough and happy to be surrounded by a big family who were all playing together..

the more we looked the more we saw, it was certainly a good day for watching seals..

The light began to fade in the adverse conditions of the day so I packed up the gear and headed back to the van..
Another thing thats flourished down here this year is definitely the Kestrels and buzzards.. I’ve seen so many Kestrels at real close encounters over the summer and today was going to be no exception

Its always nice to look over a cliff and see one hovering just below you.. gives a whole new perspective to these beautiful birds…

With that I was back at the van where Leanne was waiting out of the wind with a lovely hot cuppa.. what a refreshing change

Speaking of beautiful birds, we ended up at Marazion just as the starlings started their roost and I went into the field to film them… it was awesome especially when they (some 4-5000 of them) passed over my head only a few feet above… what a rush!!!

Right over my head!

And down they go into the reeds… show over.. amazing

October Round Up

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:56:22 +0000

A Good Month for birds etc.. here’s my round up for October…

Hovering Kestrel at Marazion

Elusive Water rail on the Marsh

Lady Kingfisher

Cormorants at Drift

Turnstone in Pz Harbour

Crow v Kestrel

Portrait of a Kestrel

Fallow Deer after the Rut

Marazion's Pride

POrtrait of a Turnstone

KingFisher

Incoming Starlings

Kestrel

Canada Geese heading for Hayle

Rock Pipit at Gwithian

Thanks for looking

Please don’t come for Christmas!

admin — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:33:26 +0000

Half term and chaos on the roads again, Britains half bakes came down to visit us yet again and wandered around with one eye closed and the other one blinking, complete with red velvet cushions on their rear parcel shelves, treating their cars that only go to Asda on a thursday to a long run and sitting in front of me and deciding to stop and have a look at St Michaels mount in the middle of the road cos they couldn’t get parked on the wall for FREE! and they say that we need tourism to hep local economy PAH!!
Now I don’t mind tourists but there’s one particular breed that come with them that really we’d rather they didn’t..
Well before I got round this particular Geriatric outpatient I was almost at Praa sands and turned off to check the surf (of which there was none).
So we decided on Rinsey, after all it was always quiet down there and we may see a few migrant birds around… NOT SO!! the Bloody tourists had descended in droves.. I blame the national trust personally.. but we decided on walking to the right back towards Praa as everyone seemed to be following each other in droves to the artificial unlikely looking Tin Mine the NT has Rendered for them to picnic at.. AND You Guessed it… they stood in confusion in the car park because we were goiung a different way and YES they followed us.. so we doubled back down the steep path which almost caught me out with my wobbly feet but it stopped them in their tracks hehe!

Well all that was to be found on that little jaunt was some chaffinch’s Sparrows and a kestrel all of which are in abundance much closer to home… Mind you we did spot this young lady who sat gracefully for us..

Red Admiral settling on the fruit bushes
We Decided we may as well give up on this particular idea and headed back to the van for a nice cuppa.. just as we got to the top of the car park A kestrel landed just above us on a telegraph pole and sat in the afternoon sun for a while for us to get a few more shots of kestrels lol…

With that we headed back to the Harbour for sanctuary and sanity and there the Starlings were gathering and scavenging under the ropes of the running moorings along with the turnstones …
So we’ll leave you here and head over to Cornwall life for a few Dinghy shots in the harbour..

Mel