Montagu's Harrier-revisited

Jamie Burney a musician from Derbyshire composed a piece of music for the fiddle and called it "Montagu's Harrier". Having seen my film of the Monty's at Croft Pascoe on youtube, Jamie asked if he could use the footage to put with his music. I gave Jamie the footage which he has edited to compliment the piece, I think it brings an atmosphere of wilderness to the monty's as it quarters the heathland. What say you?                  Nice one Jamie!
 For more of Jamies music visit http://www.restlesshead.com/ or http://www.jamieburney.com/

Red-backed Shrike, Housel Bay.The Lizard, 14/10/2012

I finally caught up with the juvenile Red-backed Shrike that has been around the Housel Bay area on the Lizard for the last few weeks. It was quite obliging, and was content feeding on Bumble Bees on the edge of a stubble field. What a cracking little bird!

Paddyfield Warbler. Church Cove.The Lizard. 9/10/2012

Paddyfield Warbler is a native of Asia and a rare vagrant to Britain in Autumn. The recent Easterly winds brought this one all the way to a small overgrown quarry in Church Cove on the Lizard. It was surprisingly showy, occasionally coming to within a few metres of the gathered birders, much to their appreciation

Olive-backed Pipit. Pendeen. 09/10/2012

Olive-backed Pipit is extremely hard to come by in Cornwall. The last twitchable individual was at Porthgwarra in November 2004, so when Ian Kendall found this one in a small valley at Pendeen in West Cornwall local and visiting birders took the opportunity to catch a glimpse. Though it gave excellent flight views it wasn't easy to see on the ground. Eventually it settled on a nearby hedge just long enough to get this short sequence. four seconds to be precise!

Pectoral Sandpiper, Truro. 22/9/2012

This juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper was found feeding along the shoreline of the Truro River on the 19th September. There have been several records of this species at various sites in the county this autumn, This is the second to be seen in the Truro area, the first being an adult on the nearby Tresillian River in August.

Spotted Crake, Marazion Marsh, 8/9/2012

Spotted Crakes are secretive birds and are often very difficult to see when in their natural habitat of reed beds. This adult (one of three birds here at Marazion Marsh recently) showed quite well when it ventured into the open for a few minutes.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Marazion,1/9/2012

This adult Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found on Marazion beach. As is often the case with this species it was very approachable as it fed with a small group of turnstones on the tide line.