Wednesday 7th June

Winds were almost down to a gentle breeze compared to yesterday and it brightened up nicely mid-morning. After a few important matters to sort out regarding my mates property and my travel documents for next week...we decided on another visit to Pendeen.

Pendeen Lighthouse. (1 and half hrs early afternoon)
- European Storm Petrel 1 very briefly but I lost it
- Balearic Shearwater 1
- Manx Shearwater possibly near 1000 again?
- Cuckoo 1 probable female on Lighthouse rocks
- Raven 3
- good numbers of usual Seabirds around

Cot Valley.
Quick stop at the coastal rocks produced...
- Chough 2
- Raven 1
- Manx Shearwater 1
- House Martin 2
- Sand Martin 1

Monday 5th June.
Strong winds and torrential rain all day long over most of the far SW Peninsula.

Afternoon visit to Pendeen.
Stood near Pendeen Lighthouse and gave it half an hour or so in gale force winds and driving heavy rain and in the end had to give up as I was soaked to the bone! But it wasn't a wasted effort...

- Manx Shearwater 6
- Sooty Shearwater 1 (Evidently larger and appeared all dark due to conditions)
- Fulmar 10
- few Kittiwakes through inc 2 juv
- Shag 3
- Gannet constantly through
- Rock Pipit 1
- and a group of around 6 Bottlenose Dolphins with possibly 1 Common Dolphin

Newlyn Harbour / Sandy Cove.
- European Storm Petrel seen this morning but only seabirds seen by us was a few Gannet and a Manx Shearwater.

Ludgvan.
- a cracking Green Woodpecker spent a good 10 minutes on the lawn feeding after the rain had subsided a little around late teatime.

Incidentally to give you an idea of the ferocity of the weather, we called to Newlyn Lidl to buy some supplies. The power kept tripping in-store, lights going out etc and the manager came over to say if it persisted then they would evacuate and close the store as a safety precaution. As we drove home along the front, the waves were crashing over the road throwing debris everywhere.
An assessment will be made as to tomorrow's antics since much the same weather has been predicted.

-- Edited by Rob Creek on Tuesday 6th of June 2017 09:36:23 AM

Saturday 3rd June.

Myself and best pal Stephen Ellison arrived last night / early hours for a week's holiday before I go to Cyprus with the Gf the week after.

Land's End. (A very hot Land's End today)
We walked a couple of miles of the coastal path eastwards towards Porthgwarra and back.

- Chough 5
A pair of adults on the hill near the cliff edge feeding, most likely on ants as there were lots about.
Then another 2 adults flew over us giving it the acrobatic flight. Then a little further round the coastal path a juvenile / imm bird flew passed clearly having a yellowish orange bill rather than the bright red one.

Other birds...
- Manx Shearwater single group passed c250-300
- Gannet
- Guillemot
- Razorbill
- Kittiwake
- Fulmar
- Shag
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Wheatear 1
- Stonechat 1 family + few singles
- Whitethroat 3
- lots of Linnet
- Common Buzzard 1

(Some of the Seabirds and Gulls had chicks and juvs, inaccessible on rock islands I might add, and interestingly some species we don't normally see in good numbers like we did today so that was a welcome sight.
Basically we visit some well known and trusted sites every year and so walk some of the same paths passed the same cliffs, heaths etc and it just seemed a lot busier with birds than last few years, example 20+ Fulmar in an hour or so as opposed to only a few in roughly same area last year. )

Hayle ... Ryan's Field and Lelant.
- No sign of the Temminck's Stint.
- Whimbrel 3
- Curlew 2
- Oystercatcher 2

Marazion / Long Rock Pool
- Reed Warbler 2
- Cetti's Warbler heard only
- Little Grebe 1

A few days with best mate and another pal to do a few jobs on his property. Travelled down Thursday night, arrived early hours Friday morning, came home Sunday.
I did manage a bit of birding which proved successful.

Friday 24th March
Marazion and Longrock Pool.
- 1 Siberian Chiffchaff (singing aswell)
- 2 Common Chiffchaff
- 1 Cetti's Warbler
- 1 Water Rail
- 1 drake Velvet Scoter offshore with 2 Common Scoter

Hayle Estuary - Old Quayhouse Pub.
100's of Gulls to sift through.
- 1 Iceland Gull juv
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull 2nd W / 3rd CY?
- 1 Greenshank

Hayle Estuary - Ryan's Field.
- 2 Spoonbill (1 imm / 1 adult)
- 19 Bar-tailed Godwit
- 3 Black-tailed Godwit (summer plum)

Perranuthnoe Boat Cove.
- 1 Hudsonian Whimbrel
Thought I'd try my luck here whilst in the area and shocked myself by finding it. It hadn't been seen in ages so I was made up.
- 3 Black-throated Diver offshore

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 27th of March 2017 10:23:48 PM

Our final day today started again at Helston Loe where the Dalmatian Pelican was still in residence, I could then get the news out as folk are still travelling to see it. Yesterday we met a couple from Bristol who had travelled down specially! The Common Sandpiper was still present too as well as the first Grey Wagtail of the trip. The latter being significant as it meant that on this trip we had logged Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, White Wagtail and Citrine Wagtail!

Next we headed to Stithians Reservoir, a full 4 miles from the B&B!! Here we saw 2 Wood Sandpipers at the Carnmenellis Causeway end of the water as well as a couple of Curlew. I also picked up a juvenile Peregrine which a local patchwatcher there told me was locally scarce & he was really pleased with my observation! At the Golden Lion Causeway nothing much other than a Common Snipe.

Finally we popped to Hayle Estuary RSPB for the end of the day and high tide. On Ryan's Field a couple of Greenshank and 5 Black-tailed Godwits were seen, with two Little Egrets too. Over on the other side down from the Old Quay House Inn we saw 8 more Greenshanks, 14 more Little Egrets and a smattering of Redshanks, Teal, Wigeon and the commoner gull species.

Sad to say, that was that, end of holiday! But fabulous memories, great weather and some good self-finds, can't complain one bit!!

Our first dull day weatherwise, but certainly not birdwise! 

We headed down The Lizard again as this area tends to be our 'patch' when we stay here. First of all we walked out to Church Cove from Lizard village and round the coastpath towards Lizard Head. At first all was quiet with little of interest either onshore or offshore. We headed inland at Bass Point as we could see bird movement in the hedges and fields here. First of all we picked up a Whinchat and at least three Wheatears, a good sign. More mundane stuff included a big flock of Linnets and several Meadow Pipits. Next we scanned the hedges and after seeing a Robin, three Dunnocks and a Common Whitethroat we could hardly believe our eyes as we found our second Wryneck in two days! Unfortunatly just as I was about to digiscope it a car drove along the track and flushed it, the only car we saw in 2 hours on that track, sods law or what?! Still it was a lovely find and showed fabulously in the scope. Later, speaking to a local birder, we found out that where we had found it was known by birders as Wryneck Gully, but he'd never seen one there! Later we also saw a Lesser Whitethroat in the same hedge, another nice bird.

Next we acted on a text from the local grapevine and headed to the Lizard Lighthouse. Here we spent a good while staring at the tamarisks with no joy. Finally just as we were about to give up we saw our quarry, a cracking Icterine Warbler, a real rarity in Cornwall, so a very good bird indeed. As quickly as it showed it was gone but the mini twitch of local birders assembled there all got on to it, so all were very happy. A reported Ortolan Bunting nearby didn't prove to be so obliging and we had to give up on that one in favour of a date at our 'local' Cornwall Pub which had a music festival & barbecue on, a great way to end another fabulous day!

Today started with a short trip over to Polgigga. We parked up & walked the short distance to Raftra Farm where within 10 mins we were watching a cracking first winter Citrine Wagtail down to about 5m. This was a fabulous opportunity & I got some cracking shots of it In the sunshine.

Then we headed to Windmill Farm NE on The Lizard, our adopted local patch. Here it was quiet with 10 Stonechats, all 3 hirundines & Whitethroats being the main birds seen. We will be back tomorrow with our friend, Dougy, who is the warden at Windmill so maybe a longer visit will turn up a goodie!

Yesterday had our first full day in Cornwall. First call was Restronguet Creek. We drove down the tiny lanes to Point and parked at the quayside, having been here on previous holidays we knew where we were going and so made it with ease. Immediately on walking out to scan the water I picked up a huge white bird, halfway across the creek, the long-staying Dalmatian Pelican! With vital statistics of 6 feet long & an 11 foot wingspan it was hard to miss!! I took lots of shots of this fabulous creature & let lots of locals look through my scope. Many said that this gave them their best views that they had had of this bird - amazing given the number of birders through here!

Next we took the quaint King Harry Ferry over to the Roseland Peninsula. Here we mainly spent our time rock-pooling but had a nice fly past adult Mediterranean Gull and a fishing Sandwich Tern. Later we headed to a private site and watched double figure numbers of adult and juvenile Cirl Buntings, a glorious sight in Cornwall.

Cornwall Trip (Again?) Sunday 7^th August 2016

    After lasts weeks trip to dip the Dalmatian Pelican I did not think that I would be going back again so soon. With the bird seemingly settling down again in West Cornwall, it do no harm to have another go would it? A little persuasion was not needed from Mark K, so we met in Milnrow at 3am on Sunday morning, with Mark K, Nige S, Bob K and myself making up the team. As usual lots of roadworks hampered our progress through the night, but as dawn broke we had made good time. About 25 miles from Restronguet Point near Truro, we got the news that the pelican was still present, a few extra mph was gained and after negotiating, pushbikes, farm machinery etc we reached the creek. After a few quick scans of the area the bird was picked up by Nige S, it was sat on top of a buoy and looked quite comfortable. We drove a little bit closer to the bird and managed to get some nice pictures. The local people in this part of England are really friendly and as we chatted and showed them pictures, the bird stretched its wings and dropped into the water and began swimming about, eventually out of site, what a bird it is and well worth the effort to see it. Bob K managed to wade in the creek as the tide went out, whilst Nige showed me a very strange looking jellyfish. Ready to move on. Time will tell if the great men of the B.O.U will accept the pelican onto the British List.

     A Hudsonian Whimbrel has been around Perranuthnoe, near Penzance for a while, so we gave it a go. A lovely place with a few Whimbrel, but not the American version, that we would have liked to see. Mark K ended up on the rocky beach trying to photograph a likely candidate and staggered us by beating us back to the path after being 50 feet below us, how did he do that? A few Buzzard and a couple of Raven kept us entertained also stunning views of St Michaels Mount on a lovely sunny day.

     Final stop was Porthgwarra for a spot of sea watching. Its about 24 years since I have been there, but the bird watching was almost just as good as last time. In the 1 ½ hours we were there we saw: - 400+ Manx Shearwater, 6 Balearic Shearwater, 200+ Gannets, 5 Fulmar, 1 Sandwich Tern, all heading west. I was lucky enough to pick up the fin of a Minke Whale as it swam past, a very enjoyable sea watch in great conditions. It was commented on about how many birds we would have seen at Flamborough Head!

     We had all enjoyed ourselves so much that we had not looked at the time, so, we had to forgo calling for the Cirl Bunting in Devon. The journey home was long but with us all sharing the driving was manageable. When the first sign for Manchester was seen the rain began to pour down, we reached Milnrow by 11pm having travelled in excess of 800 miles. Great trip with some cracking birds seen.

Dave O.

Friday 10th June

Mid-morning visit to Mousehole, sightings from the harbour car park.
- Manx Shearwater 21 past together
- Guillemot 1
- Razorbill 2

Actually on St.Clements Isle.
Of note...
- Great Black-backed Gull c25+
- Lesser Black-backed Gull 2
- Herring Gull c25-30
- Little Egret 1 (precariously walking over the jagged rocks)
- few Shag & Cormorant

Zennor.
Quick stop for a coffee near the bottom edge of the moors.
- Raven 3 massive individuals
- Meadow Pipit
- Skylark
...Cuckoo heard on the drive over the moors near Gear Hill and Trewey Hill.

St.Ives (The Island)...very quiet!
- Rock Pipit 2 (1 constantly singing)
- Meadow Pipit 1 landed briefly on rocks
- Kittiwake 3
- Shag 5
- Guillemot 3
- Linnet 2 near the Lookout Tower

Drove back over the top of the moors again between Gear Hill and Trewey Hill and picked up on 2 Cuckoo, 1 male flying low over the heath and a female flying in the opposite direction being pursued by a probable Meadow Pipit. Male heard singing shortly after.

Wednesday 8th June.

Scillonian III crossing, Penzance to St.Mary's and return.
Nice to meet wildlife guide Paul Semmens again.
- Mute Swan 2 far out in Penzance Bay
- Manx Shearwater est 75-100
- Great Skua 2 together
- Gannet lots
- Fulmar 6
- Guillemot c25-30
- Razorbill 3
- Great Black-backed Gull 2
- Puffin 2 (approaching St.Mary's)
- Shag 1 fishing in bay off Porth Hellick Downs
- Cuckoo 1, heard then seen in flight near Porth Hellick
- Lesser Redpoll 2
- Song Thrush & Blackbird everywhere
- Risso's Dolphin 2, LIFER!!! showed well, got an ID shot too
- Sunfish 1 LIFER
- Harbour Porpoise 3, 1 chasing a large fish
- Common Dolphin pod c75-80, put on a fantastic show
- Bottlenose Dolphin 1 with the Common's
- Kittiwakes and Gannets lots with the Dolphin pod, they'd obviously found a large shoal of fish.
- Common Dolphin, smaller pod later seen between Penzance and Mount's Bay.

Paul Semmens had a Storm Petrel but I was on the opposite side deck so by the time he'd shouted to me I'd missed it. 1 passenger said he'd seen some Balearic Shearwaters, I didn't see any myself though.

Monday 6th June.

Porthgwarra.
Day started off nice and sunny but soon turned to overcast and gloomy, a slight sea mist was present and quite strong winds were building. There was a distinct lack of bird activity too and as a result of all that we gave it a couple of hours before we headed back. Frustrating really as Porthgwarra is usually busy with bird life even at this time of year.

Of note...
- Chough 1
- Raven 2
- Swift 6
- Shag 1
- Fulmar 4
- Gannet 1
- Stonechat 3
- Whitethroat 2
- Meadow Pipit 2
- Linnet 2
- Cuckoo heard distantly towards the inland heath


Long Rock Pool & Marazion Marsh, early pm visit.
Of note...
- Cetti's Warbler 2 pairs
1 pr at Long Rock Pool, 1 pr Marazion Marsh, all 4 birds seen but the singing male at Marazion showed particularly well.
- Reed Warbler 4
1 pr obviously feeding nestlings with billful's of insects at Long Rock, 1 other bird foraging nearby and kept flying back further away into the reeds away from the first pair, then another bird at Marazion also feeding chicks somewhere deep in the marsh.
- Sedge Warbler 1 heard then seen briefly
- Whitethroat 1
- Little Egret 1
- Grey Heron 2

Sunday 5th June

Ludgvan (Churchtown).
- cracking Green Woodpecker on the lawn this morning.


Sennon Cove coast path to Lands End and back.
- Great Black-backed Gull 1
- Guillemot
- Razorbill
- Fulmar
- Gannet
- Shag 15+
- Peregrine 1
- Common Buzzard 3
- Stonechat 2
- Whitethroat
- Skylark
- Linnet
- Meadow Pipit
- House Martins around Sennon cliffs


RSPB Hayle (Ryan's Field)
- immature Spoonbill showing well
- Little Egret 20+
- Grey Heron 1
- Curlew 4
- Whimbrel 1
- Peregrine 1 over the hide
- Kingfisher 1

Couple of digiscoped shots attached until I get home and able to download photos

Just back from a week in the Padstowe area followed by a week at Penzance.

Highlights were:-
Shorteared Owl at Pentire Point
Cuckoo and Dipper on Bodmin Moor
Manx Shearwater from boat over to Scillies
Chough at the Lizard
Pomerine Skua whilst watching a play at Minack open air theatre.
Dalmatian Pelican at Drift Reservoir immediately followed by Black Kite on top of telegraph pole up the valley.

All in all a great holiday with fine weather and some unexpected birds.
Plus a weasel, roe deer and a fox.

11.05.2016 (AM)

Coastal path from Newquay to Porth Bridge and former iron-age settlement.

Fulmars and Herring Gulls nesting along the cliffs. Rock Pipits abundant, even in the lawns.

House Sparrows, Wrens and Dunnocks in the cliff-top scrub/brambles, with a single male Redstart on one larger bush.

2 Ravens, 2 Kestrels and 1 Curlew.

Another flying visit with Stephen Ellison, arrived 1am Saturday early hours, going back home tomorrow morning giving us just today (and maybe a quick Hayle stop tomorrow morning) for a bit of birding.

This morning in absolutely atrocious conditions and constant severe gales.

Marazion and Long Rock Pool...(in approx 30 mins)
- Little Grebe 3
- Moorhen 3
- Grey Heron 2
- Little Egret 1
- Oystercatcher 1
- Fieldfare approx 30-40 in one group over the marsh
- Gannet 3 over Marazion bay
- No sign of any reported Diver species, could've moved round to Penzance, Newlyn, or even could've been out of sight round St.Micheal's Mount.

RSPB Hayle...(in approx 1 hour)
Rammed with birds!!!

- Spoonbill 2 - mainly resting but occasionally putting heads up to give a nice profile. Viewed fairly close in from the back end of The Old Quayhouse car park, probably out of view from the main road A30 lay-by where birders sometimes gather.
- Grey Heron 3
- Little Egret 5
- Common Buzzard 1
- Lapwing a few 100
- Curlew well over 100
- Redshank lots
- Black-tailed Godwit 1 on its own
- Eurasian Wigeon absolutely everywhere, well up in the 100's
- Eurasian Teal probably around a couple 100
- Canada Goose including 3 or 4 hybrids
- Greylag Goose 1 only
- Shelduck
- Meadow Pipits
- few small Finch flocks seemingly mainly Goldfinch
- Lots of Gulls including...
Great Black-backed
Lesser Black-backed
Herring
Black-headed

...all the usual Corvids around and even more of the fore-mentioned species further out over Lelant Saltings

Quick look around Jubilee Pool near Penzance front...
- Shag 2 swimming out in the bay, constantly diving but then both flew off towards Marazion.
- lots of Gannet out to sea
- no sign of any Divers, probably further round other way past Marazion


Quick stop at Mousehole...
- Rock Pipit 2 feeding around the harbour car park up close
- Gannet plenty feeding out to sea
- usual Gull roost on St.Clements Isle just out from the harbour.
(1 Gull in particular seen worth checking)

Porthgwarra...
Literally a few minutes stop as the weather was ridiculously bad. Freezing cold, gale force winds, pouring-driving rain so just a few birds seen from the car.
- Fieldfare
- Blackbird
- Robin
- Dunnock
- Meadow Pipit
- Goldfinch flock
- female Stonechat

- Few Common Buzzard and 2 Raven seen on the drive from Porthgwarra over Zennor down to St.Ives.


St.Ives (a sea watch around The Rock)...
Once again in terrible conditions (for us but not for the birds we expected to see)

- Shag at least 15 including some juveniles about
- Cormorant only around 4 or 5
- Fulmar constantly seen flying through around the Rock
- Kittiwake again constantly seen, mainly juv and 1st winters, few winter adults around too
- Herring Gull lots
- Great Black-backed Gull few patrolling around
- Mediterranean Gull 2 low over the Rock
- Rock Pipit 1 near the Rock NCI lookout
- Auk types : unidentified Guillemots or/and Razorbills
- possible Great Skua, could've been large juv Gull, poor vis due to sea spray and poor light
- Plovers (Golden??) approx 30 over, No sign of underarm black auxiliaries but needs verifying due to poor conditions
- a few really small Gulls far our, not sure of species (could be Black-headed) due to quality of visibility and light
- Grey Wagtail 1 low flyover on our way out of St.Ives town centre.

A few Grey Seals were seen throughout the day to add to a cracking day's birding, was hoping for a Leach's Storm Petrel Lifer and maybe a Diver or 2, but not to be for us!
Another visit to Hayle in the morning is destined as it is literally 10 minutes away on the A30 journey home



-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 21st of November 2015 11:28:24 PM

Wow Rob, huge respect for the last post. It takes a big man to admit to mistakes, and we all make them in our hobby, all the time. Birding is a learning game & we never ever stop, no matter how long we've been at it. This forum is a great resource and a brilliant place to bounce ID issues & opinions off other birders and get to the bottom of any ID problems we may have. Great to have Ian there at the helm to help & lots of other experienced & imformed birders to help too. Unlike other forums we all feel that we can post here without being judged & getting our heads bitten off as would happen in some other bird sites out there. Long may this continue, a great resource full of great folk

36 hour flying visit to Cornwall with best mate Stephen Ellison, arrived late Friday night, back Sunday afternoon.

No 3G and poor phone signal down there yet again meant relying on any local birders who might be present and the few texts that managed to get through with online info so thanks to Simon Gough for that.

Notable flyovers/heard on long traffic ridden journey down (and back) and between sites
- Jay 4
- Raven 5
- Rook and Jackdaw in the 100's
- Cormorant 1
- Common Buzzard 10+
- Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
- Tawny Owls heard near mates bungalow on arrival

Saturday 10th October.
Nice to meet locals Dave and his group who we bumped into at 3 sites, Porthgwarra, Cot Valley and RSPB Hayle Estuary.

Porthgwarra ... bit quiet usually more birds
- Swallow 2 on wires at Roskestal Farm entrance
- Siskin 1 female (well spotted Steve) in a small flock of 4 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, and 2 Chaffinch also at the farm gates
- Chough 2
- Raven 1
- Gannets out to sea
- Cormorant 3
- Shag 2 on the rocks
- Shearwater 1 far out, unidentified
- Stonechat 2 (m+f)
- Meadow Pipit - lots
- White Wagtail - few about
- Kestrel 1
- Sparrowhawk 1 being harass by 2 Magpies


Nanjizal.
Faraway Cottage, private roads so public access on foot only, 1.2 mile walk from car.
- Common Gulls feeding along side Black-headed Gulls
- Skylark 30+
- Meadow Pipit 5

- Richard's Pipit 1 Lifer (not good view, mainly silhouette)
Noticeably different flying around and appeared to hover which drew our attention to it, it then started calling as it flew over us, I played its call on the Collins app to try and match it and the bird came over again calling and a bit of a hover to investigate but it was mainly silhouette views unfortunately.

- Olive-backed Pipit 1 Lifer
Didn't know it was that at first but it was kind of confirmed later by others.
Noticed this Pipit in one of the fields near Faraway Cottage, it had a greener tinge to it than the few Meadow Pipits with it, and also showed strong facial markings giving it a slightly different appearance, but I just put it down to variation of a Meadow Pipit. I lost it in one of the furrows in the uneven field. I mentioned it to Dave and his group at another site and their reply was ... nice one mate you got the Olive-backed Pipit, that was the first we knew that one had been sighted.

- Goldcrest 3
- Firecrest heard only in deep hedge thicket in at least 4 different locations along the path to the cottage
- possible Blackcap heard with faint short bursts of calling.


Land's End.
- Meadow Pipit - few around

- Richard's Pipit 1
Seen near the sallows at Greeb Farm and crafts centre, this bird was flying around and doing a bit of a glide and hover like the bird at Nanjizal, I played the call again and the same thing happened, it flew over calling but again brief silhouette views before flying over the visitor complex out of sight. I thought this could've been the same bird but local birder Dave later told me there were 2 birds seen that day. He told me that they'd had a flyover at the complex, we didn't see them at Land's End but we put 2 and 2 together that they'd probably seen the bird we'd seen flying over the complex from the other direction.

- Juvenile Rose-coloured Starling 1
Lifer for me in juvenile form, only ever had the Burnley adult. I clocked a pale bird fly over the Land's End signpost photo point with some Starlings but Steve got it in full view first.
It was scampering around in and out of view behind fences but then it flew over the roof into the main complex and was running around our feet picking up bits of food below the outdoor picnic benches. I was struggling to get a good shot as it was so close running through my legs under the bench then flew onto the next bench then back over to us. What a cracking bird!

- Northern Wheatear 3
- Stonechat 3
- White Wagtail probably around 10, maybe more
- Skylark few over
- Goldfinch around 20 over
- Raven 1 flying around fairly close to us
- Merlin 1 female, great view patrolling the cliffs, great spot by Steve
- Common Buzzard 1 also on the scout
- Sparrowhawk 1 over Greeb Farm crafts centre pursued by Jackdaws
- Gannets lots out to sea
- Shag few out on the little rocky outcrops just off the coast


Cot Valley.
- Common Rosefinch 1 juvenile, a Lifer again!
We'd found out about the Rosefinch from a couple at Land's End whilst sat watching the Rose-coloured Starling. We'd pulled up along the valley road down to the coast where a few birders had gathered (including Dave and pals) and we were soon onto it as it flew into full view in a space between the branches, a cracking juvenile showing the wing bars and it's unusual front heavy head with large bill almost moulded onto its face. It showed for about a minute, some people couldn't see it but we were only too happy to point it out to them.

Also in the immediate area...
- Yellow-browed Warblers - heard only
- Goldcrest 3
- Chiffchaff 2
- Nuthatch 1
- Coal Tit 1
- Long-tailed Tit small group

A walk down to the coast produced...
- Kestrel being mobbed by Jackdaw
- Chough 1 flying near the cliffs, calling
- Rock Pipit 2
- Yellow Wagtail 1
- White and Pied Wagtail small group together
- Northern Wheatear 3 again


Long Rock Pool near Marazion.
Of note...
- Goldeneye 1
- Little Grebe 1
- Water Rail heard only



RSPB Hayle (Lelant Water) ... Always productive, love this place
- Spoonbill 1
Juvenile but unsure of exact age, had a creamy pink bill and black primary tips, spent a lot of time sleeping but was treated to some spectacular views when it was up. Not that far from the car park of the Old Quayhouse, a line of birders were on Hayle Rd which was much further away on the other side of the estuary so they might not even have seen it.

- Ring-billed Gull 1, Not the same bird I saw in June so I'm told
- Mediterranean Gull 5 juvenile
- Black-headed Gull all over the site
- Herring Gull 1 looking like a Ring-billed, it fooled me at first
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Mute Swan 3
- Brent Goose (pale-bellied) 1
- Greylag Goose 1 only
- Shelduck few around
- Pintail 2 female
- Wigeon and Teal in the 100's
- Little Egret 10+
- Grey Heron 6
- Greenshank 4
- Redshank lots of them
- Lapwing
- Dunlin 5
- Curlew lots
- Oystercatcher 3
- Ringed Plover small group
- Raven 1 over
- Grey Wagtail on Old Quayhouse roof
- Meadow Pipit
- Pied Wagtail

As we pulled up near the bungalow at Ludgvan, a Sparrowhawk came racing passed the car keeping low then last second shot up to the bird feeders in a garden on the corner and came away with a bird, couldn't make out what it was it was all over quickly.


A belting day with some top sightings, plenty of usuals seen too including Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove and Carrion Crow.

On way home from Cornwall so just got time to round up the sightings before I take over the driving.

A great week with some good birds seen (84 species) and some good birds dipped on too!
Lots of Common Buzzard seen whilst travelling between sites, and plenty of Common Swift, Swallow, and House Martin also, but not a single Sand Martin. Lots of usuals around including Wildfowl, Corvids, Garden Birds etc, and we could've seen some Rock Dove but as has been pointed out to me before it is difficult to assess if they are pure or a hybrid with Feral Pigeon so I've not counted them.
Any misidentifications will be updated as soon as possible and there will be a post on Other Wildlife as soon as I can.

Of note... I forgot to mention an adult Great Skua (a Lifer for me in that I've only ever seen the cracking Juvenile at Audenshaw Res) that flew infront of us on the Scillonian on Wednesday, it wasn't hanging around though and just kept going low flying over the water at speed.
I've just seen that yet more European Bee-eaters have turned up in Cornwall, incidentally in St.Buryan where there was sightings during the week, and just to annoy me, a Squacco Heron has decided to turn up at RSPB Marazion today which is literally 2 miles from where we were staying SOD'S LAW !!!

-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 6th of June 2015 01:58:04 PM

-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 6th of June 2015 07:39:30 PM

Thursday 4th June

Porthgwarra. 11am - 1.45pm
-Manx Shearwater rough count of around 750 (4 groups of at least 100 passed)
-Gannet approx 100
-Fulmar approx 30
-Shag 3 swimming/fishing, 5 flying low over sea
-Cormorant at least 10
-Chough 1 giving full flight display with massive fan tail but disappeared quickly
-Common Buzzard 1
-Stonechat 2
-Meadow Pipit 2
-Skylark 2
-CUCKOO 1 firstly heard calling then a male appeared doing a full fly round of 60ft cover (inland valley behind the famous Coffee Shop/Toilet Block where migrants miraculously turn up). We saw him about 4 or 5 times doing a slow fly round of the heath then suddenly diving down into cover!
Whitethroats, Dunnocks, Stonechats, Robins, etc, we're all suddenly on high alert as everytime they heard the Cuckoo call they all appeared on top of the shrubs looking worried.

Arrived back at the bungalow around 2.30pm and a late 3G signal came through and a report of 4 x European Bee-eaters at Porthgwarra Pool up on the moor near the long stone wall, and on the overhead wires near the car park.
I travelled back there from Ludgvan when I got the report, and some locals where already parked up near the area but the birds had gone.

No sign of the Turtle Dove either at Raftra Farm, Polgigga, which was roughly a mile away from Porthgwarra.
Few Collared Dove and Woodpigeon around though.

Marazion Marsh approx 7 - 8pm
Cetti's Warbler - 2 up fairly close (another heard)
Bullfinch - 1f
Little Egret - 2
Grey Heron - 4
Few Reed and Sedge Warblers around

Tuesday 2nd June.
The possible Yellow-legged Gull seen yesterday at Gulval looks like it's a Lesser Black-backed so the Cornish 'similar' Gulls are proving to be just as bad as the GM 'similar' Gulls.

Mousehole Bay - lunchtime
-250+ Manx Shearwater all moving West towards Land's End
-3 Gannet
-4 Cormorant
-6 Fulmar
-lots of Great Black-backed Gulls

Buttermilk Hill (St.Ives) mid-afternoon
-2 Raven
-3 Common Buzzard
-1 Kestrel

Late night visit to Lizard / Goonhilly Downs for the possibility of Nightjar.
2 heard and 1 briefly seen near Pine forest at 10.30pm ish

SCILLY'S TOMORROW!

Sunday 31st May

Mid-morning to mid-afternoon
2 Raven low over the country lane near where we are staying in Ludgvan.

RSPB Hayle-Copperhouse Creek
-Herring Gulls
-Lesser Black-backed Gulls
-a few Great Black-backed Gulls
-1 Little Egret

RSPB Hayle Ryan's Field
-3 Little Egret
-1 Grey Heron
-1 Oystercatcher
-1 Shelduck
-1 Reed Bunting (m)

RSPB Hayle Lelant / Estuary - all birds seen from Quay House Carvery car park
-1 Ring-billed Gull (2nd year bird)
Only my second ever after the one at Audenshaw Res a couple of years ago. Feeding on its own well away from the mass of other Gulls for a while but then after an hour or so it wandered into the main group, settled down and tucked it's head under its wing so I would never have picked it out had I arrived later!

-1 cracking Whimbrel up fairly close to the car, an easy ID, dark stripes on the crown, shortish bill with curve towards the end. It caught at least 2 Frogs, countless long worms and a crab. Brilliant!

Other birds here...
-Little Egret 6
-lots of usual large Gulls
-Shelduck
-Linnet
-Meadow Pipit

Mid afternoon to early p.m.
Jericho Farm (towards St.Just area)
-Juv Glaucous Gull reported but not seen since Saturday
-We found the exact field where it was photo'd and there were at least 500 large Gulls present. Scopes out and scanning the flock produced the usual suspects and a Red Fox stalking them all but it was in full view within 50yds of them so had no chance of a catch. The Gulls were also put up by a Common Buzzard which in some respects could've made it easier to see the Glaucous but not seen by us.

Cot Valley.
A beautiful place reminiscent of Kenidjack Valley. A long walk to the coast (although you can drive down a lot nearer) through fields, damp overhanging garden paths, bits of woodland and sandy heathland eventually leading to the sea and the valley cliffs.

-5 Chough (Red-billed Chough)
Performing fantastic aerial acrobatics and then stopping to preen on the rocks
-2 Kestrel
-1 Common Buzzard
-1 Peregrine
-2 Manx Shearwater
-1 Gannet
-1 Meadow Pipit
-1 Song Thrush
-1 Goldcrest in a Pine Tree (brief views)
-1 juvenile Robin sat in low bush calling
-1 female Cuckoo briefly, flew quickly down the valley into low heath cover and not seen again.

...and a dodgy looking herd of young Bullocks in the field back towards the car seemingly rather interested in us so we chose a different path round to the road



-- Edited by Rob Creek on Tuesday 2nd of June 2015 12:11:47 PM

On the whole, a fantastic few days with 47 species seen including another Lifer, and some excellent species offering good opportunities to view at length, and some only a glimpse.

Also some birds we dipped on, and other new species have been sighted since we came home. Unfortunately our 3G is never the best down here and we sometimes only get to see what's on the Cornish forums until it's too late. We never do too badly though, just one point though...RSPB Marazion Marsh was hardly reported and when it was, it seemed to be all usuals. I think 1 Bittern was the standout species in over a week.

Many thanks to Ian McKerchar for his help with some of these sightings as I did infact manage to age and sex a Black Redstart, I also managed to turn an adult GN Diver into a Juv, and one of my Stonechats, I actually thought it was a juvenile Whinchat as it seemed to exhibit similar features, but all is good now!

There are however a few outstanding birds that I haven't identified yet, mainly due to poor quality distance shots, but as soon as I think I know what they are I will post them.
Cheers
Rob

Saturday 8th Nov

Quick drive down to Penzance to try for Purple Sandpipers at Jubilee Pool / Battery Rocks on the coastline but none present.
However we did get...
6 Turnstone (2 groups of 3)
2 Rock Pipit
1 Kingfisher flying low over the sea then landing on the rocks but was flushed off by some wave splash-back
...and 2 Great Northern Divers out in Penzance bay. Thought one was a juvenile but I now know it's a non-breeding adult (cheers Ian)

A 5 minute walk into the town to Morrab Gardens.
Never been here before, a small enclosed park with a central water feature, and a circular path scheme with lots of different botanical elements to it and very busy bird wise. Firecrest and Yellow-browed Warbler were reported few days earlier here.
A lot of activity in one particular area of the gardens and we soon found...
1 male Blackcap softly warbling away almost like it was burbling to itself
Quite a few Blackbirds
Goldfinches
Chaffinches
...but then came the sound that we just knew what it was and had us peering into a thick Rhodendron bush, very dark and a mass of twigs and leaves, but after verifying the call we knew it was only a matter of time before we saw them, then there flitting about were 2 Firecrest. Very nice indeed! Very quick and non-stop calling, then twice flew out of one bush right past our heads to another. Managed only 1 photo of one bird, camera was struggling with the light setting in the foliage but the white supercilium above the black eye band, the white cheek, and the burst of orange fire on the top of the head very visible and more than enough to qualify (for me anyway) as a record shot.

There was a 3rd bird keeping fairly close to them, and it seemed to be a similar species from what I saw, and after a text to Ian regarding the Firecrests, the reply was that the Yellow-browed Warbler was still about too, but being 100% honest...I did not manage a good enough look at this bird to qualify it (in my mind) as the Y-b-Warbler, strangely no call from this bird so couldn't match anything up.

Porthgwarra.
Before the sightings, a word of warning to anyone unfamiliar with Porthgwarra. A beautiful place of mixed habitat and fairly rich in bird life as you will probably know, BUT beware...taking the SW Coast path towards Land's End from the coffee shop, the narrow outer coast path towards the area where the Chough's bred earlier this year is open, and you are not far from the cliff edge, but also a few yards in from the path as you walk towards the coastguard watch point is a huge gaping hole with a shear drop where it has just eroded and worn away, so dog walkers, families with kids, etc PLEASE TAKE CARE. IT ISNT ROPED OFF AND COULD BE DISASTROUS!

Birds...
1 Raven patrolling low over the cliffs
1 Kestrel
4 Stonechat
2 Cormorant on the sea
Few Gannets out to sea
...and 2 Shag on the water not far out, diving for food, thought they were more Cormorant at first but the head shape was quite different.

Took the path inland back towards the valley and car park...
1 Buzzard being mobbed by Carrion Crows
Plenty of Wren activity
1 Jay
2 Stonechat busy feeding at the edge of the big field with the sloping hedge
...also 1 bird that shall remain unidentified. Saw it twice briefly as it flew (only a few feet mind) from one part of the big hedge to another, roughly Blackbird size but definitely not a Thrush, predominantly brown in colour, a funny flapping motion, it then dropped down to the base of the hedge near to the Stonechats, there was another birder further along the path also looking in the same spot but he we didn't bump into him to ask him what he thought, so I'm afraid we don't know what it was.

A brief visit back to RSPB Hayle Copperhouse Creek
1 Lesser Yellowlegs still present and feeding happily among the other Waders
20+ Redshank
3 Greenshank
3 Knot
Little Egrets and Curlew