A quest for a crest that takes the p..s, but settle for a good duck instead.

A visit to Helston in West Cornwall, my mission to try and photograph Firecrests ( someone showed me some cracking pics from here so thought I'd give it a go ) and I was hoping that the female RIng Necked Duck would still be on the boating lake, which indeed it was , so I started off with that before going in search of Firecrests around the sewage works, ( nice). Chiffchaffs were everywhere ( never seen so many in one place), eventually a Firecrest popped into view, and then popped out of view, this was the story for about an hour, never getting a clear view for long enough for a decent photo. At this point I was getting desparate for a pee, so went behind a hedge,as you do, and I'm buggered if mid stream a Firecrest popped out into the open, right beside me, and stayed in the same spot for the duration, before dissapearing, never to be seen again!. Anyway the Ring Necked Duck was still showing well on the lake, so I stayed with that for another spell, getting some nice shots.

A wander around Stover Lake.

A quick visit to Stover Lake near Bovey Tracey in S. Devon produced the usual species for this yime of the year. The Mandarins were showing particulary well in the nice afternoon light, an introduced bird I know, but if Carlsberg did ducks....

Barn Owl.

Its always a thrill to watch a beautiful Barn Owl out hunting over the marshes.