Thursday 24th September 2009.
It promised to be a good day so we planned another trip only we pledged to take things a little easier and try a little more shore work as my RA was playing up and leanne was awaiting and MRI scan for a suspected prolapsed disc in her back.
The tide was good so we arrived at Helford village around 9-30am and our good friend Aidan had offered to join us and help with launching the boat and then accompany us in his Kayak to help us get the boat back to the van afterwards…and of course provide the barby for lunch…
Thanks to him we launched without a hitch and headed out of the Helford creek to make our way towards Frenchman’s for a peek at the Kingfishers if they were showing..
I kind of felt the great relief of just being back on the water as we joined the main river, the intense pain of rheumatoid arthritis can be best dealt with by diverting the mind elsewhere and this was definately the best mind diversion I could find by far…
We travelled up the main river towards the entrance to frenchmans creek alongside a small yaucht ‘Ursa major’ and received the usual welcome smile and wave from them and other River users..

Something we often do for amusement as we saunter upstream is to look at the various boats and see what our preferences would be if we were in the position to own anything bigger than our 10ft dinghy .. today we both spotted this lovely old wooden boat that would have suited us right down to the ground, and strangely enough we both said at the same time… now that would suit us.. The Sea Gypsy from Falmouth..

We approached the entrance to Frenchman’s and Ursa spun around and started the journey back down the Helford..

For us we rounded into Frenchman’s Creek and into the sun kissed water out of the wind.. we were happily entertained by the Egrets once again adorning the trees like white candy floss characters wearing yellow marigold gloves… the wonderful contrasts of the black beaks and legs with the bright yellow feet against the white plumage looking so bright in the morning sun. As you cvan probably tell these are one of my favourite waders and I can sit in fascination of the skill of these fishers for hour after hour.

Beneath the mighty Oaks in the edges of the Creek we came across two swans, one lazily cleaning itself while basking in the sunshine, I thought it made the perfect picture…

We ambled slowly down the Creek, Mallards swam away slowly in front of us warning the wildlife of our approach, redshanks and curlew crossing from side to side in front but today alas no sign of a kingfisher.

Upon turning in the far reaches of the creek we realised the swan who had watched us pass had slowly followed us down. I think they are becoming more used to us now and realise we’ll quite often stop for lunch on the bank and there may be the odd treat for them.. this became more confirmed whe we saw the mallards ducking in and out of the shade of the fallen and overhanging trees, also travelling down the creek towards us..

Although the morning sun glared down into the middle of the creeks giving fantastic light to enable the creation of these images, and making it feel like the middle of an indian summer, there was more movement than usual amongst the trees today, which is distracting to the eye of a naturalist as movement often signifies life and a photo opportunity… but today the movement was different.. slower.. and descending rather than ascending through the trees… it was the falling leaves spiralling their way earthwards telling us Autumn was definately fast approaching.. nothing was more significant than when the sun moved slightly over the treetops and suddenly lit up the naked branches of one of the old trees which brought a startling reminder of a frosty morning back in my birth place of yorkshire…

Out past the Egrets again who were still adorning the trees at the mouth of the Creek and into the main river where the view across to constantine was breathtaking and would have lit the senses of any artist painter or photographer with the lines and curves of the fresh mown grass in the field opposite, the gold of the hay meeting the turquoise and white skies which reflected into the river in her outward flow.. absolutely breathtakingly Magical..

Inspired by this and feeling the pinch of crouching on the side of the Dinghy holding camera’s and lenses, we decided to head across the river to Constantine and find a nice spot for a bit of lunch and a nice cup of tea..
There’s a beautiful section of the helford river just where it joins constantine creek but unfortunately its always a little dark there to get good clear images of the waders that often gather there on the corner, however in that darker area the white of this black headed gull still in summer plumage just shone out reflecting the sunlight as he swam alongside us…

Buzzards soared above us as we went into constantine, sometimes challenging each other for space.. and I wondered if we may have the privelege of seeing the Osprey again that we’d seen on a previous visit.. but if he was around he wasn’t showing us his whereabouts just yet..

We settled on the quay on the left side of the creek just past the fork, and leanne fed us with freshly made ham and cheese sandwiches and piping hot tea.. unable to rest I crept over the shore line and spied this young Greenshank down by the edge of the water hidden behind the bank… needless to say he soon spotted me and was away across the creek…

Well after lunch with a bit of a breeze coming in we decided to head down river and find a nice spot by durgan or the helford passage somewhere as the tide was leaving our access to Bishops Quay a little dicy.
I managed to catch this young Heron just on the point as we left Constantine before heading downstream..
The swan finally gave up on getting a free lunch from us and realised he might as well head off back up towards Bishops Quay before the mud left him High and Dry..

Heading down the river to the estuary meant probably a lot less wildlife would be around as there’s much more activity around the Helford passage etc.. more boats heading in and out of the river and the ferrymen transporting visitors and locals between Helford Village, the Helford passage Durgan and Trevarno gardens.
The river also opens up into a wider area for Yachting sailing Dinghies and general fun, but the scenery is still as breathtaking and the sun warmed our hearts as we rested on the quiet part of the beach beyond Durgan, Here’s a few of the images…

All in all we had a very pleasant afternoon awaiting the return of the tide.. many boats flowed in and out some towing water skiers and donuts with riders having oodles of fun, young and old alike joined us on the beach and Aidan had probably his last swim of the season to quote his words… and he was looking rather pleased with himself for doing so..

As the tide filled the river a little we headed off back up towards constantine for a final look for Ozzie our elusive Osprey.. all the while praying for that one shot of him plucking a fish from the river, but just to see him would be a fine end to fine day….
Aidan found the perfect place to dry his shorts as we headed off up river…

Local Fishermen passed us by feeding fish guts and entrails to a flock of seagulls which afforded me some great shots of the Herring gulls

By the time we reached Constantine again the light was dropping rapidly and with the boat movement it was getting harder and harder to get a decent shot without motion blurr.. Then I thought we’d spotted Ozzie!!! but alas it was yet another Buzzard sat in his tree…

The sun was setting fast behind the trees and even on High Iso settings I knew images would be fairly futile now.. I caught this last Curlew heading out of the creek as the sun caught him…

We turned round in the Creek and headed out towards Helford… and then it happened… the dark elusive shape soared over us and into the creek and we ultimately knew it was ozzie.. our Osprey..
We swung the boat round and I was desperately trying to find some setting any setting that might give me enough light should he descend on his supper… he turned into one of the creek offshoots and we lost sight of him..
Then in a Haze of the final rays of the setting sun he rose up out of the creek above us complete with Fish.. I was gutted.. I’d missed the shot I so longed for… I fired off every frame I could as he soared above us and out of the creek and we followed desperately unable to get close.. But as Aidan retorted…. we saw Him.. we saw him with his supper even if we didn’t see him catch it…. but would anyone believe us… I spent hours later that night with dozens of blurred black shapes trying all my photshop skills to drag something from the embers of those last shots.. and finally…

Even without those two poor but evident shots, we’d had another fantastic day without injury (unlike last time) on the Helford River and we pulled out of the creek in the twilight to head back to Helford and end our adventure for another day… Turning back to look up river magic re-appeared..

And Finally !!!

For those who have taken time to read and look through my images, I thank you and hope sincerely that they have been enjoyable to you.. I’m always pleased to hear from our viewers so please feel free to leave comments.. Don’t forget also that these are but a few select images there are many more in the Site Gallery by clicking the link..

Until next time… thank you and Goodnight!!!