Saurday 7th February - Penzance, Hayle & Helston

My plan for Saturday was for it to be my main birding day while I was down here. I started off with a walk down to the promenade and then along to Tolcarne beach - always one of my favourite locations in PZ. In past days the Bonaparte's Gull had been frequenting this area though it had not been seen for several days and I had more or less dropped it from my target list. Still I found one of the two Black Redstarts easily enough, hopping about on the wall and perching on the surrounding rooftops. There were plenty of Rock Pipits walking around under the parked cars - I'd forgotten how unphased they could be by people down here. 

The female type Black Redstart on the sea wall

One of the many Rock Pipits peeking out from behind a pub table

Next it was into Newlyn Harbour itself, looking for the juvenile Iceland Gull which has recently been seen on the traditional fish quay roof. There was no sign of it but a Great Norther Diver in the harbour was nice to see. I wandered down to the end of the harbour outer wall, enjoying the morning sunshine. It was all very pleasant.

Gig rowers in the harbour

The Great Northern Diver in the harbour

 

There are always plenty of Turnstone in the harbour at this time of year

Next I decided to walk to the other end of the promenade to year tick Purple Sandpiper off Battery Rocks. I enjoyed the walk but was disappointed to find no Sandpipers at all roosting there even though it was high tide. Disappointed I headed back to the house to grab some elevenses with my hosts before heading out again, this time in the car. 

First stop was to Helston to catch up with the long-staying pair of Lesser Scaup. They had made the boating lake their home for the winter and seemed from reports to be a sure thing. True to form, after a bit of searching I found them tucked up asleep. I took some photos though they never really got too close nor raised their heads for long.

The Helston boating lake has hosted quite a few rare duck over the years

The two Lesser Scaup, tucked up with a wary eye open

The female actually lifted her head briefly

Next, it was off to Hayle estuary to try for the Ring-billed Gull. I opted for Lelant Station as a viewing platform where I'd had success last year on the Booted Eagle trip. There I met with a fellow birder and we scanned together. We got chatting and he turned out to be a local who had moved down from the Teeside area. Despite our combined efforts we could neither find the Ring-billed Gull nor the adult Iceland Gull that had occasionally been reported. There were several Med Gulls, the usual Common Gull flock that the Ring-billed liked to associated with. A Bar-tailed Godwit was a year tick and there were a few Goosander in the channel as well. All good stuff and I wasn't too bothered about missing my target. 

News had broken that the Bonaparte's Gull was back along the promenade at Wherrytown. I'd arranged to meet a friend for a walk at Marazion beach at 3pm but just had time to nip back into PZ to see if I could connect. I parked by the tennis courts and started walking towards Newlyn. In the end the flock of loafing gulls were right by the river outflow at Tolcarne so I had to walk the entire distance. There was a birder down on the beach but I decided to stay on the promenade. After a bit of scanning I found the Bonaparte's on the rocks. I yelled down to the other birder and put him on it. I was just about to do some digiscoping when it flew off. Looking at the time I decided not to linger any longer but hurried back to the car for my rendezvous at Marazion. 

As I didn't manage a photo myself, here is fabulous shot, borrowed from the CBWPS website, taken by Adrian Langdon ©

 

At Marazion I had an enjoyable walk along the beach with my friend, admiring St Michael's Mount (though we didn't go over) and then walking along St. Michael's Way a bit, following the Red River along the edge of the marsh. Very enjoyable! Then we parted company and I headed back to my brother's place. That evening we went out for a very enjoyable meal in the town. I was quite tired after my day out in the fresh air and soon retired to bed for the evening.

St. Michael's Mount as yet another band of rain approaches

 

Marazion Marsh from St Michael's Way