Today the Abbot went off alone, in search of waders after dropping me in Wadebridge. I went for a walk with Derek, Sam & poppy (just under 6 miles along the Camel) and I know I will ache in the morning, but I need the exercise as I don't seem to have been getting much lately and Sam said she needed it too. Even Poppy was exhausted and pleased to get to the finish line! Anyway, my day list was: 55. The highlights for me were: Common Gull 1 (of which I have a bad quality shot). Derek asked me to name the Gull. I took a little prompting (pointing out the obvious!), but got it right and it was a relief considering earlier I'd been looking over some way in the distance at what I thought were Blackwits and Derek (after a short silence) informed me they were Curlew! I'm not sure there's much hope for me after that, but I was getting tired by this time. I've not seen a Common Gull since last year at Stithians (which was my first) so I was chuffed. We saw 9 Mediterraean Gulls too, and this week I think I'm going to leave the camera in the car, take the scope out and go looking for Meds. I don't take many pictures when I'm with Derek & Sam. I just enjoy watching and learning. Thanks again guys. Afterwards the Abbot and I went for a drive. I had a lovely view of a Goldcrest in a lane near Ninestones and a Sparrowhawk (99.999% anyway!). I also added a Raven to my day list - it was calling too so I had a positive ID. Further down the road I spotted a couple of Buzzards soaring, so we stopped. They were to my right and probably glad to be out of the limelight from what I then noticed to my left - a commotion between Corvids, a Magpie and 1 Gull. The Gull retreated before I got the camera from the car, but I managed to get some shots of the others, albeit bad quality, but it was fun to watch...

I think this is Carrion Crow, Rook & Jackdaw (However, I can't rule out the first one from being a Raven as I know they were in the area, but the tail is not wedged WITH A POINT???)
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Magpie & Crow?
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Magpie, Crows & Jackdaw?
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Today I stayed at home to do some work, while the Abbot went off merrily to Par :-(

Having done 'some' work I decided it was time to scrub the bird feeders. The birds waited patiently in and around the trees over the fence for about an hour, and I'm sure they appreciated it, as it was a free for all as soon as everything was re-stocked! :-)

I had an hour at Par this afternoon and targeted the Budlia in a place where I know it is still in flower, hoping for Butterflies as the sun was shining. We were not disappointed and even though I've not had much time, my "bird" day list is still an acceptable 39 with my Butterflies being 5!

Red Admiral






Speckled Wood



Painted Lady

Major repair works required!

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It suddenly hit me this morning... Winter is definitely on its way. My hands were stiff and there was no way I would be sitting outside to watch the birds with my cup of tea. Back door open (but just as bad) I switched on the PC (as I find I am doing more in the mornings lately). Steve Rogers had posted some lovely pictures (as always), but I took more time to read the blog than usual and realised something else... I MUST learn to use this camera properly!

A few more from Tuesday...


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More from Tuesday... Buzzard shots. Juvenile I think - No moulting - A good tip from Derek for ID'ing them in summer (not that I think its summer now - its too cold in the mornings and my feet are following the same route as my hands - frozen all the time. Never thought I would see the day I would be wearing three pairs of socks before I could leave the bedroom in the mornings!).
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They are amazing - I love watching them - Buzzards that is - not my feet :-) !
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Too much work and no time to look at my images from Tuesday still (all 400 of them)! Membership work this evening... Meeting tomorrow... Hey, life's too short to worry though. My image this evening is dedicated to the Abbot, as being deaf he does this all the time!!! :-)

A great day... Woodchat Shrike

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Had a great day. Met some nice people along the way, had two life ticks, and maybe more once I have ID'd them (that's the tricky bit - especially with me!). The Abbot decided I needed to beat my day list total today. Not sure what motivated him to this conclusion... Maybe he thought I needed motivating, with me slowing down lately! Anyway, cutting a long story short (as I don't have time to go though it all, list my day list and check my pics etc) my day list was 65. Had we gone to Par on the way home and seen a Coot, it would have been my highest day list so far!!! Sorry, Abbot. The Woodchat Shrike should make up for it. When we arrived an Nanquidno we were not prepared for what followed (the scope was left in the car!). I met a chap on the lane who said the Shrike had been seen at lunchtime, so off we went looking for it. No luck, so we sat on the cliffs for a while and watched a couple of Stonechats. Then I heard a call, which no-one could mistake - Choughs. Two of them. They are expert flyers for sure! We went back to look for the Woodchat Shrike and met up with Graham - a really nice bloke. After waiting a while the prize arrived. Thanks to Graham for letting us have a look through his scope. I took a couple of distant shots and then it was spooked. I spotted it on a stabilising wire and we were back on it. Spooked again and into a more distant pine tree. The shots are my usual "terrible", but I had to put them up!


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I have cut/zoomed on the above to this...!

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