Independent assignment

I've been working on an assignment based on Grey Herons and Little Egrets.
Here are some of the photos I've been taking.....

Baby Blackbird

Today, a neighbour back home (Horsham) came round with a cat basket with a baby blackbird (Turdus merula) in it.  It was a fledgling that her cat had caught.  It could barely fly and needed to be out of reach of the cat.  I picked it up, being careful to keep its wings against its side and put it on the roof of our garage.  It hopped along the roof and its mother met it at the other end and it flew off.  

Lexie

Woodpecker update

This is the hole that the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) has made.  I spent 3 hours today sitting and waiting.......

............and waiting..............

............and eventually saw...........

.........Nothing.   

Unfortunately due to last week being half term and the nest being located in a child's play area, it has been deserted.  I have identified it as a nest because, both male and female have been excavating the hole.  Whether the babies have hatched or not is unclear.  

Another note; I spotted a baby European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) on Campus.  And a funnier note;  I had my lunch stolen by a rather rude seagull.  

Lexie

Woodpeckers nest

I have discovered the location of a great spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) nest.  I saw it flying at Trebah and it seems that it has made a nest in one of the garden's statues.  I will be heading there next week with a hide and a 500mm lens to see if I can catch any photographs. 

Hopefully they will be on here soon.  Providing all goes well.

Lexie

Lilies

Trebah is sporting some very pretty arum lilies.  They are all over the top part of the garden and look very beautiful when the sun shines on them.  Here are some of the photos I took.  

 Arum Lily or Calla Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica)

I also saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) but unfortunately didn't get a photograph.  This species of woodpecker (and the lesser spotted (Dendrocopos minor)) is noted for its drumming on hollow trees unlike the green woodpecker.  There are 8 species of woodpecker in Europe but only the three species mentioned above can be found in the UK.  

Lexie

Padstow Puffins

Hello once again.  :)  

Yesterday I nearly came very close to being in the sea - fully clothed.  

It was very windy and as a result, the sea was very rough, nevertheless, I went out on a boat from Padstow to see some Puffins.  

I saw a huge variety of sea birds including:

Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)

Guillemots  (Uria aalge)

Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)

Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)

Gannet (Morus bassanus)

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

Oyster Catcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

Razorbill (Alca torda)

Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

Here are some of the only photographs I captured.  (The boat was very rocky so I apologise for the softness)  I used a 70-300mm lens and a Canon 450D.

I hope to photograph more puffins and sea birds in the future and may take a longer lens and will definitely go on a calmer day.  

Lexie  

Trebah Gardens

Hello Again, I haven't updated recently because of work issues.  But here I am now.  I noticed some foxgloves (Digitalis SP.) that had appeared as you can see below.  I've seen purple and pink species but have yet to photograph the purple ones.







Yesterday, (25th) I went to Trebah Gardens on the Helford Estuary to continue with my habitat project.  Here are some of the photo's that I got while I was there.

Buff Tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus terrestris Latreille)

Yellow Iris (Iris pseudoacorus)



                                                                 

Giant Rhubarb (Gunnera Manicata)

I haven't seen much wildlife recently although on a sunrise shoot I saw a fox on campus but it was too far away to photograph.  

Lexie