Month: August 2019

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Encouraged by what I had seen in the park yesterday I went back this morning to see if I could see the whinchat that has been reported in recent days.

First of all in the marshy area I saw reed buntings again. In the same area I also saw goldfinch, common whitethroat, a bluetit and overhead a kestrel (which was almost impossible to photograph as it was against the light).

Reed bunting

Reed bunting in flight

Aggressive reed bunting

Common whitethroat

Common whitethroat

Common whitethroat

Common whitethroat in flight

Just as I was about to move on I caught sight of the whinchat. It’s not that rare but I was dead chuffed to see it. I stayed for a while but that was the only sighting.

Whinchat

I did a loop of Duchess Pond and saw more goldfinches, a green woodpecker and moorhens, coots and mallards.

Goldfinch

Green woodpecker

Green woodpecker in flight

Juvenile moorhen

Coot putting its chick in place

Moorhen

There were also a few bedraggled butterflies.

 

 

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We had a brief walk around Stoke Park and managed to dodge the showers.

We caught sight of 2 reed buntings and a whitethroat in the marshy area and saw the beautiful fly past of a grey heron at Duchess Pond.

Reed Buntings

I managed almost 90 in focus photos of this grey heron in its short flight across the pond –  the amazing technology of modern mirrorless cameras!

Yesterday the weather was even worse but the sun shone for a few minutes and I couldn’t resist photographing some insects in the garden.

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We have been away on holiday on the North Cornwall coast for the past week. I didn’t get much opportunity for nature photos except on this day when we saw some lovely butterflies.

Some of the beautiful scenery in North Cornwall

My favourite butterflies were the Common Blues.

Female Common Blue

Male Common Blue

Male Red Admiral

Female Red Admiral