Carl Bovis Nature Photography: February 2015

It's the day of love!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
To celebrate, here's a pic of love I took at Apex Park in Burnham on Sea;

A pair of Mute Swans in courtship.
They could teach us all a thing or two about love! They mate for life.
Luckily, I mate for life too!
I got my long suffering wife some beautiful Lillies today, plus choccy, a DVD and a bottle of her favourite red! I think I am officially in her good books! (For a day at least!)

Here are some more of my 'love' photo's, taken over the last few years. They are my interpretation of love and romance, some may not immediately say 'love' to you, but for me the mood or 'feel' of the picture is romantic. See what you think.....

^Above^ - Hawthorn Sunset.

^Above^ - Sibling love.... young Mute Swan cygnets.

^Above^ - The visiter...

^Above^ - Take my hand, I will lead the way.... (2 of my beautiful daughters at Brean Beach)

^Above^ - Red is the beating heart of love..... Poppies equal 'love' to me!

^Above^ - We're different and the same....

^Above^ - The meeting...

^Above^ - Puppy at sunset..... our Flat Coated Retriever, Charm, at the feet of my love!

^Above^ - Friends forever...

^Above^ - A mothers love...

^Above^ - Mute Swans in love...

^Above^ - The meeting (2)

^Above^ - You are the fire in my heart...

^Above^ - Romantic sunsets.

^Above^ - Exmoor Ponies on the Quantocks.

^Above^ - Little hearts...

^Above^ - Feed me... A young Swallow about to be fed by it's hard working parent.

^Above^ - Dragonfly love!

^Above^ - Together...

^Above^ - The watcher...

^Above^ - Nature's drama...

^Above^ - Looking out for each other...

^Above^ - Together forever.... 2 Woodpigeons cuddle up...

^Above^ - Last but not least, my beautiful wife Nicola! I love you my darling! xx

I finally managed to get down to Brean Down today in search of a real Somerset star, a gorgeous Male Black Redstart!
In case you were wondering, here is the bird in question;

What a beauty eh!

Now I must admit, when I first arrived at Brean Down things were not looking great....a thick fog made photography almost impossible! Instead I went for a walk along the bottom of the Down towards Brean Down farm and the estuary to see if I could find the Twite that had been in the area for weeks. I had no luck, however I did see 2 Peregrine Falcons mobbing a Raven! A nice consolation prize!
I took a couple of pics, but it was so foggy they're record shots at best! I'll post them at the end anyway!

Eventually the fog lifted and the sun came out to play, so I got myself down to the rocks at the end of the beach besides the cliffs where the Black Redstart had been seen regularly for the last few weeks.
I found myself a comfortable rock to sit on (It didn't stay comfortable for long!) and waited for the birds! The first to come close was a male Stonechat, followed by a Robin, the a Wren..... and after a while, the star of the show, the Black Redstart!!
They all came within about 2 metres of me, one stick protruding from the rocks was a particularly favoured perch!
I couldn't believe my luck and kept clicking away!
I met a few friendly people, such as Penny, Steve and 'Big Bucket', a lovely chap so nicknamed as he drove a huge digger for a job! There was also a friendly couple whose names I forget (sorry!) although I think the lady was 'Sylvie'
They all enjoyed the Black Redstart as much as I did!

I also photographed Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails that came close and posed. What a fabulous place to sit and wait! The small birds love the bugs and flies that live amongst the seaweed that has washed up on the rocks!

I could not get enough of the gorgeous Black Redstart! Luckily it kept going on a small circuit of the rocks, so kept coming close! It seemed curious about me, sometimes appearing to eye me up and down!!
Maybe it had never seen a human quite like me before....

By the way, I post pictures on Flickr too, so please give me a follow if you're on Flickr and I'll follow you back! Here's the link;

https://www.flickr.com/photos/92308738@N03/

Below are some of the pics from the day...The Superstar and it's supporting cast;