Redshank displaying today on the River Camel .... 29th Jan 2020

I watched these Redshank having a bit of a tussle from a distance today.

I'm not sure if it was true aggression or even courtship.

Whatever it was they put on quite a show... I only wish they'd been a tad closer for photography.

Birds on the River Camel today ...... 29th Jan 2020.

Black-tailed Godwit

A couple of hours spent along the banks of the River Camel yielded a few nice images.

A Black-tailed Godwit had been spending a few weeks upstream of the town bridge along with a dozen or so Lapwings.

Down on the mudflats a Whooper Swan is wintering alongside our resident Mute Swans.

Little Egrets were feeding on the mud as the tide dropped.

Lapwing

 

Mute Swans either side of a Whooper Swan

Black-tailed Godwit

Little Egret

Black-tailed Godwit

Starling murmuration West Cornwall 22nd Jan 2020.

A very dull & damp West Cornwall only lifted by the fantastic murmuration as these Starlings came into roost.

Bearded Tits at RSPB Radipole today, 20th Jan 2020.

Delighted to get my "target species" today at the RSPB reserve Radipole in Weymouth.

A 280 mile round trip but with good company we left at 6 in the morning with the temperature gauge showing -4 C and we were back home by 6:30 pm.

The Beardies were showing really well although the high reeds & light direction made photography anything but easy.

Here are a few examples from the day.....

"Cornish" Chough at Trevose Head today. 19th Jan 2020.

Just before sunset this afternoon 5 Chough flew onto Trevose Head and landed just feet from where my car was parked.

None of the birds appeared to be ringed and they searched the clifftop & edges for food and then sat and preened in the late afternoon light.

Eventually they flew off and into a huge flock of corvids that were gathering in one of the stubble fields.

Great Northern Divers & Eider at Newlyn harbour. 7th Jan 2020.

Great Northern Diver

A visit down to Newlyn today in misty & murky weather yielded good views of 4 Great Northern Divers... aka Common Loon to my North American friends.

They seemed to be feeding well on Cornish crab & shrimps!

I also got to see the long staying winter plumaged Black Guillemot from a distance but failed to get close to it with my camera!

Better behaved was the drake Eider which was looking fantastic.

drake Eider

Great Northern Diver

Great Northern Diver