Back to Black Head. But why can't there be decent light when I go there?

Walking from Black Head towards Mevagissey the path passes through the miniscule hamlet of Hallane which is in the cove below Trenarren. This is the view from the rather steep coastal path looking towards Mevagissey.

Found along the way was this Holly Blue...

A Stonechat foraging well...

An Oil Beetle, Meloe proscarabaeus, feeding on Celandine...

and this interesting sculpture in a garden at Hallane.

A quiet afternoon at Walmsley Sanctuary, Wadebridge. An absolutely immaculate Bar-headed Goose, a Grey Heron doing what Herons do best and some sheep just because they were round and fluffy.

Something different today. A field trip to Respryn and Lanhydrock with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photographic Group. No birds, just things that caught my eye.

The bridge at Respryn seen from the less usual upstream side. Its history can be found here.  http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/a2m/medieval/bridge/respryn%20bridge/respryn_bridge.htm

Leaf texture and fly silhoutte.

 Emerging Sycamore leaves

Insect on Celandine

Fly on Rhododendron

An interesting but unknown fungus

The 17th century gatehouse at Lanhydrock and part of the formal gardens

The view from Black Head in St. Austell Bay looking west towards Mevagissey. This is a great place for bird watching, very quiet and with extensive views over St. Austell Bay to the east and west. Today started bright and then deteriorated until by midday we had rain. Birds seen were 2 Red-necked Grebes, 4 Gt. Northern Divers, 10 Black-throated Divers, 12 Common Scoter, a pair of Kestrels passing a rodent  in flight, 2 Fulmars and at least 24 occupied Shag nests. On land were Chiffchaff, Stonechat and Linnets.

Rosewall Hill near St. Ives is a bleak place especially when the mist is drifting in great swathes from the Atlantic as it was today.


The lure was the presence of Ring Ouzels, a bird similar in size to a Blackbird and a very scarce passage migrant  from Southern Spain or Northern Africa.
The birds were very mobile and it took 3.5 hours to get pictures I was satisfied with. The female of the pair is shown below, the male not really coming close enough.The mist was drifting in and out which may explain the difference in colouring in the two images below. .