To the right is a photo of a nuthatch taken by David.  Until two years ago David didn't see nuthatches on his land but they have now started to breed, in nestboxes erected especially for them, and make a wonderful addition to the bird life of the smallholding.
		The fungus theme continues, here a group of trooping crumble cap fungi.  This cluster of fungi grows up four or five times every autumn and dies back within a day or two.  Each mushroom is very small and fragile but beautifully formed.
David's latest article for Nature TTL has been published, this one is about photographing turnstones.  The photo to the right shows a turnstone in breeding plumage, something we see occasionally each spring in Cornwall.  Follow this link to see the article: https://www.naturettl.com/how-to-photograph-turnstones/
		Continuing the fungus theme, this is a photo of a family of 'jelly baby' fungi.  Their caps do look a little like jelly babies, but they aren't recommended for eating.
The mild damp weather has encouraged many fungi to grow.  On David's land there are lots of waxcaps growing on the short grass.  Here is a photo of a group of blackening waxcaps. They almost look like a family!
David took some members of Liskeard Camera Club to Newlyn Harbour and then to Land's End at sunset to do some landscape photography.  There wasn't a colourful sunset but they had the best light of the week.  Below we see a boat coming in to Newlyn with St Michael's Mount behind, to the right is Land's End from Pordenack Point, a classic viewpoint.
David has been taking some macro images in the last couple of days.  There are some incredible colours and shapes in the natural world, but these subjects are very small, for example the matchstick lichens below stand about half an inch tall.  Here we have the coral slime mould; amethyst deceiver (a fungus); matchstick lichen; common liverwort (complete with spore releasing bodies).  All these images were taken with a dedicated macro lens, the matchstick lichen was also focus-stacked to get sufficient depth of field whilst being able to blur the background to make them stand out.
David promised more photos of the fox photographed in the summer.  He has left it until now because he didn't want to attract attention to the specific location but the fox has now stopped visiting so it is safe to do so.  It's really the location and the behaviour of the fox that made it worth photographing so David has lots of photos of the fox with cars, people, food etc.  Here are just four.
David and Sarah have just had a trip in their van.  They went to Norfolk and Suffolk to write about their travels and take photos of the wildlife and landscapes.  Here are a few photos.  From top left: avocet; bearded tit (juvenile); Burnham Overy Staithe windmill; Cley-next-the-Sea windmill; Norwich Cathedral; Blakeney Quay; Willy Lott's House (Flatford Mill); Framlingham Castle.
David has had two articles published on Nature TTL in the last week or so.  One is about how to photograph rabbits: https://www.naturettl.com/how-to-photograph-rabbits/ the other is the start of a series of articles looking at what to photograph in the natural world through the seasons, this starts with autumn and focuses, in part, on thrushes: https://www.naturettl.com/nature-photography-subjects-in-october-and-november/ Below are a couple of the photos used in the articles.  One shows a rabbit amongst thrift, the other a redwing on holly.  To read about how David took these photos have a look at the articles.
Here are a couple of photos from recent trips out in the evening.  On the left is St Michael's Mount photographed using the mouth of the Red River as foreground.  Unusually the river is completely blocked off from the sea, probably because there hasn't been much rain.  The reflection would have been better but it was a little windy so David used a 10-stop ND filter to smooth the water slightly, hence the moving clouds.  On the right is Porth Nanven, Cot Valley, at sunset.  There is more sand on the beach than there used to be, which is probably great for beach-lovers but not so good for photographers, but it is still a great place for a sunset.
It seems that rabbits are on the decline, nationally, but David and Sarah have more than their fair share.  A female recently spent the morning collecting long, dry grass for making a nest in a burrow in the garden wall.  This can mean only one thing!
A moth-trapping session this week brought a few opportunities for photography.  Luckily a bird had left a dropping on the milk churn allowing David to show the wonderful mimicry of the 'Chinese character' moth (can you tell which is which?).  The other photo shows an 'early thorn' moth amongst lavender.
David's mum is staying with David and Sarah for a few weeks, luckily she likes to watch sunsets!  Last night they went to watch the sun go down at Pendeen and David took a few pics.
		David has spent a couple of nights photographing a fox.  This is a vixen.  She has clearly had cubs but they are yet to show themselves.  More on this project in weeks to come!
David's latest article for Nature TTL has just been published, this is:  'How to Photograph Water Voles'.  To have a look click on this link: https://www.naturettl.com/how-to-photograph-water-voles-in-the-uk/
David has recently returned from a week in Somerset.  One of the targets of his visit was to photograph a white admiral butterfly which you can see below along with a photograph of Shapwick Church looking rather lovely; a pair of blue-tailed damselflies, incredibly numerous on all of the nature reserves on The Levels, and a preening great white egret (it would seem that your feathers have to look worse before they can look better!).
This week has been good weather for moth-trapping: the nights have been mild, calm and often cloudy.  David had a good selection to photogaph and below are two examples.  These are on the left a 'scorched wing moth' and on the right a 'peppered moth', both photographed amongst the oxeye daisies.
David and Sarah have had a couple of weeks away in Sussex, calling in on Hampshire on the way back.  David is writing an article about wildlife in the area and was focussing on butterflies, orchids and birds.  Photos below from top left show: Knepp Estate (re-wilding) where they saw turtle doves, white storks and nightingales; the house and garden of Gilbert White (18th Century naturalist) in Selborne; brimstone butterfly; greater butterfly orchid; cuckoo; burnt orchid; redstart; a view of the Wilmington Long Man (a chalk figure).
Last autumn David installed a huge number of nest boxes around the smallholding.  There are now over sixty.  In a bid to attract some new species he included three boxes designed for great spotted woodpeckers and you'll never guess what happened....a pair moved in!
It's spring and the bluebells are in full flower.  David has been lucky enough to capture a couple of species of wildlife amongst the bluebells on his smallholding in the last few days.  Below are a roe deer and an orange-tip butterfly (male).
David's latest book has just been published.  'Walks in West Cornwall' picks out a selection of walks in the area which are good for wildlife.  These are shorter walks making them accessible to a wider range of people and allowing more time to stand and watch the birds and bees along the way.  Most are focussed on places that you might be visiting anyway but this guide will enable you to get more from your visit. This book is packed with colourful images and has an attractive, lively design, making it a great gift idea. See the books page of this website for more details.  (retail price: £6.99)
David and Sarah have had a week away in Dorset.  One of the reasons for their visit was to see the early spider orchids at Dancing Ledge, near Swanage.  David has written an article for MMM (motorhome magazine) about this trip.  Below are photos of Wareham; Swanage Railway at Corfe Castle; early spider orchids; Foreland Point (Old Harry Rocks).