Adrian Langdon’s final commentary this year and as comprehensive as always

“The week got off to a strong start on Monday with 2 superb Kingfisher images from Adrian Lea taken at Carnkie. Tuesday maintained the momentum with a fine portrait of 2 Snipe, again by Adrian Lea. Another early highlight was a striking image of a Goldfinch bathing, beautifully captured by Sarah Talbot, taken through a frame of vegetation the photo really captured the wet bird going about its daily routine.

Two exceptional goldcrest images by Anthony McLeod from United Downs immediately caught the eye for their quality. Linda Birtwistle contributed a cracking Great Northern Diver taking at Hannafore at Looe, along with a lovely Eider at the same location—both impressive images.

Further highlights included a Great Northern Diver with a gull in Newlyn Harbour by Aadil Kahn, I particularly liked the one where the diver had a crab in its bill. Also, a Turnstone bathing at Penzance photographed by Martin Webb caught all the action.

James Savage added a long, narrow panorama of Golden Plover, which worked extremely well and was a classic winter estuarine shot.

Martin Webb continued his streak of excellent contributions with a super image of a Little Grebe taken at Swanpool. Alison Quincy impressed with a lovely Sparrowhawk photograph, apparently having recently taken 2 pigeons in the area, one of which it appeared to be feasting upon.

John St Ledger produced one of several Great White Egret photos from our Stithians site.

Friday brought a stunning image of a Teal in flight by Kathy White. Lynn Colliver followed up with images from Penzance and Newlyn, featuring a Great Northern Diver and Turnstones. Sarah Talbot added another highlight with a Snipe photographed in beautiful light; I enjoyed the different composition on this photograph which took in the typical environment the bird lives in.

Wendy Smith produced some fine images of a Great White Egret and two Spoonbill flight shots, all taken at Ryan’s Field, Hayle. Mark James followed with a well-lit image of the Ring-necked Duck at Tehidy Country Park.

An unusual and very informative photograph by Gavin Williams from Ryan’s Field featured a Great White Egret, Little Egret, and Spoonbill all in the same frame, offering an excellent comparison of their relative sizes. Martin Webb also added another Great White Egret image from the same location.

Great White Egrets featured strongly again on Sunday, with three images by Dean Pollard taken at Stithians. The week was rounded off by Adrian Lea with fine photographs of a Jay and a female Green Woodpecker taken at Carnkie.

There are so many good photographs this week, but one image has stayed in my mind for most of the week and that is the second of two photos of a Goldcrest by Anthony McLeod. I love the composition including the dead bramble heads in the background showing its habitat perfectly. I do think that many of us photographers try to fill the frame with a bird when often a step back, less of a crop or a shorter lens would produce a much more balanced image.

Thank you to everyone who contributed images this week—another excellent selection showcasing both quality and variety across our local sites.”

Many thanks Adrian for your wise comments and congratulations Anthony on winning your first Photo of the Week this year.