Wednesday 3rd April: Pendeen

Today was a very quiet but productive day - in fact it was quiet throughout the county with little of note on the pager and even yesterday's Garganey had moved on. The weather was beautifully sunny and out of the keen wind it was even warm! Once more I had a lie in and then did my morning rounds about the cottage, this time in the company of Luke who wanted to get out for a walk. There were two Wheatears along the road to the lighthouse today and on the lighthouse itself I found a lovely female-type Black Redstart but apart from that there was little of note.

A record shot of the lighthouse Black Redstart

The entire day was spent in painting the outside of the building, at least until the wind strength got up to the point where it was no longer safe to balance precariously on a ladder and try and paint. One benefit of being outside all the time was that one could hear the local birds: 2 Ravens today and 3 Chough were the highlights. After a cup of tea with our neighbours we went for a walk down to Fisherman's Cove (though apparently it's actually called Boat Cove) where I found a lovely Sandwich Tern hunting just off shore. I had a go at photographing it with my Superzoom and whilst the results weren't great you can at least tell what it is!

Pendeen Sandwich Tern

Monday 1st & Tuesday 2nd April: Pendeen & Marazion

Well, I'm back down in my beloved Cornwall for another visit, this time with my VLW and our six year old son Luke. We're down to do some exterior decorating on the cottage as well as sort out a few bits and pieces and also to enjoy our favourite county some more of course. The decorating we're doing because the quote that we got from our builder (the reason for the last visit) was so large that we thought that for that price we could do it ourselves. On the birding front, there didn't seem to be much about in the county of late and with the family in tow as well I wasn't expecting much birding action. Nevertheless there's always something to see and I was hoping that at least I might be able finally to catch up with a Ring Ouzel in the county if nothing else.

We had family over for the Easter weekend itself so it wasn't until Easter Monday that we were able to get away and because we'd not had time to prepare before hand it wasn't until after midday that we finally set off. The traffic was rather busy and at one point we even opted for a detour around Bath and Bristol as there were signs reporting jams on the start of the M5. Thus we didn't arrive until late afternoon, where after a brief stop for some essential provisions we headed straight for the cottage. As I was unpacking the car I was surprised to spot a smart finch hopping around in front of the terrace of cottages next to our place. Closer inspection revealed it to be a smart male Brambling nearly moulted into proper summer plumage - very nice! A stroll at dusk down to the lighthouse and I just managed to make out the distinctive tail of a Wheatear flying off into the darkness.

The next morning I made no attempt to get up early and go birding but instead opted for a bit of a lie in with a cup of tea chatting to my VLW. It was nice and sunny outside and forecast to stay like that all day - much needed after the depressing greyness that we've had for so long. After getting up I made a quick stroll around the cottage area and down to the lighthouse where I found three Wheatears hanging about near the road but little else. There was alas also no sign of the Brambling. Next it was on with the work: to start with we had some new garden furniture to assemble (the last metal set had rusted away within a year so we'd bought a hardwood set instead this time). Then it was time to get up on to the roof of the building to see how windy it was. Fortunately, despite the forecast it didn't seem too bad and certainly good enough to do some painting so I passed the next few hours hanging over the edge of our roof using a roller to paint the walls of the top of the central tower part. Given how exposed the whole place is I was using proper lighthouse paint which hopefully would stay on longer than the conventional paint had done. I kept my bins and camera with me the whole time in case I should hear something good but the only distractions were a couple of Ravens and a couple of Buzzards.

Always a sign that spring is finally on the way

By lunchtime I'd managed to put a first coat on all around the top of the building where the paint had been coming off. After a mercy dash to St Just to pick up some tin foil to wrap up my brushes (Pendeen stores had run out), we had lunch and then decided to head over to Penzance for some food shopping and to see if we could score a tea somewhere. We were just sitting in the Renaissance Café munching on a brownie where an RBA text came through reporting a Garganey at Marazion. My VLW agreed that we could head back home "via" Marazion and so we finished off our refreshments and headed off. There I found Phil and Hiliary at the viewing point admiring the sleeping duck. They've finally made the move down here full time and were enjoying their first full week as Cornish residents. We chatted for a while, saw the Bittern very briefly and then I had to head back to the family who were waiting in the car to go home.

 

 Garganey is a Cornish tick for me

Back home I went for a brief stroll down towards Portheras beach before dinner. A Black-necked Grebe had been reported there yesterday but although the tide was right in all I could find were a couple of Shags and a Guillemot. Whilst walking down I got a text from back home in Oxfordshire saying that a 1w Ring-billed Gull had been found in the Faarmoor roost by Nic Hallam. Whilst it's not that big a deal down here in Cornwall, back home that's a real county mega and I was suitably gripped off by this. I later found out that it had been seen briefly just by Nic and that two other county birders who were even already there at the reservoir didn't manage to see it before it flew off. So well and truly untwitchable and my emotional equilibrium was restored. 

As a nice bonus, at the end of the day the Brambling put in an appearance again and I was even able to take a few shots through the cottage window of it. A very nice end to what had turned out to be a nice albeit low key day.

 It's nice to see a Brambling more or less in full summer plumage

Tuesday 26th February: Homeward Bound

Today I was heading back home already, the end of an all too brief visit. Before I could leave though I had lots to do in the cottage first: some final finishing off of my touching up work and cleaning up after myself to a standard fit for our first guests in a couple of weeks time. Thus it wasn't until nearly midday that I finally left the cottage and headed on up the A30.

Of course I was going to stop off somewhere en route but given the lateness of my departure I opted for just one brief detour. I'd been given some details of where to look for the release scheme Cirl Buntings so decided to go and take a look. I'd been given a couple of locations to try but when I arrived at the first one I wasn't exactly sure where to go. I wandered around a bit and found a couple of bird feeders outside a house but they were empty - were they supposed to be the feeders that the Cirl would come to? I checked out a few nearby fields but there was nothing very promising and it was blowing a real gale so any sensible Bunting would be well hunkered down. I wandered back to where I'd parked. In a nearby thicket of bramble a few House Sparrows were chirping away noisily though they were impossible to see in the denseness of the cover. I wandered down a footpath a little and found a stubble field though its only occupants were half a dozen Skylarks. Defeated I headed back towards the car. I'd just got back to the bramble thicket when I spotted something moving on its edges: a Cirl Bunting! It crept deeper into the brambles before I could get my camera out but at least I'd had a reward for my efforts.

I went on to the second location which was in a little hamlet and had another wander around. There were plenty of Chaffinches around everywhere and some birds coming to some feeders but no sign of any Cirls. With time marching on, a sighting already in the bag and the first signs of a cold starting to take hold within me (I blame standing around on Rosenannon Downs for hours in the freezing cold!) I didn't linger but headed back home to Oxford, arriving early evening.

With no photo of the Cirl Bunting I offer instead some 

Hayle estuary Teal from yesterday

Looking back it had been quite a productive little visit despite the quietness of the time of year. That's the advantage of having a county list to work on: it gives you something to go for even when all is quiet. I'd managed to add four ticks to my list as well as the release scheme Cirl Bunting, namely: Green-winged Teal, Short-eared Owl, Yellow-legged Gull and Brambling. Of course after a while I'll have got all the easy Cornish ticks and it will become progressively harder to find stuff that I still need but for now it was keeping me happy. With spring now just around the corner I couldn't wait to come back down to my favourite part of the country.

Monday 25th February: Hayle, Stithians & Marazion

As I was intending only to have one full day down in Cornwall before heading back home I knew that today was going to be a busy one! I had to do all my chores for the cottage, meet up with the builder to discuss some work and also try to cram in as much birding as possible into the one day. Accordingly, before it was light I was heading out the door and over towards Hayle where my first birds of the day were to be looked for. Just as I was leaving Pendeen heading for Penzance I spotted a lovely Barn Owl hunting by the chimney ruins - a very nice start to the day. The reason for my early start was that I wanted to look for Jack Snipe over at Copperhouse Creek and had been told that I had to get there before the dog walkers arrived. Fortunately the tide was in my favour and it was just about still covering the reedy east corner when I pulled up so there was no possibilty of any prior doggy intervention. I realised that I probably should have brought wellies rather than just my walking boots but it turned out that the mud was only an inch or two deep before one hit gravel so I was going to be all right, albeit rather muddy. I spent the next hour or so tramping around looking for that tell-tale underfoot flush but all the birds were Common Snipe that sped off before I got anywhere near them. Oh well, another time. The weather was actually really nice first thing with some sunshine and none of that biting north easterly wind that was so chilling. The estuary was full of the usual birds but a Greenshank caught my eye as being more noteworthy for this time of year. I had a quick look for the Water Pipit on the salt marsh on the other side of the road but couldn't see any sign of it. A calling Blackbird in Phillack was giving a reasonable impersonation of a Rosefinch which had me going enough to go and check just to be on the safe side. One's got to check these things out even if they usually end up being nothing. Oh well, on to the next location.

A Little Egret in the morning sunlight

Next stop was just around the corner at the Hayle estuary to look for some Yellow-legged Gulls. Now Cornish readers may not really be aware of this but back home in Oxford I'm known for being a bit of a gull addict and regularly spent my evenings checking out the gull roost on my local patch of Port Meadow, and delighting in picking out Caspian Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls from the throng. In fact we had a real purple patch on the Meadow at the start of the month with two Glaucous Gulls, an Iceland Gull, countless Yellow-legged Gulls and four different Caspian Gulls all in the space of two weeks. Back in Cornwall there are not usually the same gulling opportunities. Sure there were Med Gulls to pick out from the Black-headed's but one was not faced with a flock of thousands to sift through like back home. Even here on the Hayle estuary there were probably only a couple of hundred gulls or so to look through. Yellow-legged Gull is much rarer down here than in Oxon where I can reasonably expect at least one in most evenings - in fact here it would be a Cornish tick for me. There were supposed to be two or three of them about at present: an adult, a third winter and a first winter. I parked up at the Jet Wash and set about scanning through the birds. By this time it was still sunny (a bad thing for gulls as it's hard to judge the mantle colours) and to make matters worse the tripod-shaking bitter wind was back. However with only relatively few birds about to search through it didn't take me too long to find at least the adult and the third winter. One fact which makes gulling easier down here in Cornwall is the absence of argentatus Herring Gulls. Back in Oxon we get a mix of both types and everything in between but here they are all pure "British" Herring Gulls and consequently much more uniform in appearance which makes something different much easier to pick out. The third winter was rather advanced with hardly any brown streaks left in it though the absence of almost any white apical marks in its long dark primaries was rather a give-away. The adult bird really stood out from the argenteus Herring Gulls as well with it's strikingly dark mantle and very long primaries though its legs only had a pale yellow hint to them at this time of year.

The adult bird

I next moved on to the river bridge to see what was about with four Grey Plover and a few Bar-tailed Godwits being the only waders of note. I could only spot three Mediterranean Gulls in amongst the smaller gulls (two adults and a first winter). As the light was still very good I spent a little time taking a few snaps with the Super-zoom camera. After that it was time to head back to the cottage to get on with my chores for the morning and to meet up with the builder.

Hayle Oystercatcher

I managed to get all my work at the cottage done fairly quickly and the meeting with the builder was surprisingly brief so I soon found myself with some free time on my hands. I therefore decided to head east to Stithians Reservoir to see if I could catch up with the Brambling that had been regularly visiting the feeders there for some time now. I arrived to find John St Ledger in the hide watching the feeders and I soon managed to add Brambling to my Cornish list. There were at least two birds coming regularly to the feeders or feeding on the ground below along with at least 30 Chaffinch, some House Sparrows, a few Reed Buntings and a very secretive Water Rail skulking around under the feeders that would scurry off at the slightest noise, so I wasn't able to get a photo of it at all. I munched on my packed lunch and enjoyed the coming and goings of all the birds for about an hour.

 Brambling is one of my favourite finches

After that I nipped over the road to check out the main reservoir where there was supposed to be a juvenile Long-tailed Duck about. In the hide I met Alex Mckechnie though he'd not see any sign of it. Back on the causeway road I found a couple of other birders who apparently had seen it briefly about twenty minutes ago with some Tufted Ducks though I couldn't find it at all. The biting wind was still making things difficult so I didn't stay too long before heading off for somewhere more sheltered.

Whilst I was in the neighbourhood I thought that I would drop in on the juvenile Whooper Swan which had been spending some time on Croft Pascoe after having originally been found on the Helston boating lake. Clearly lost it had decided to stick around at Croft Pascoe for a while where at least there was plenty for it to eat. It looked rather forlorn on its own - let's hope that it manages to find its way north to meet up with others of its own kind in the spring.

The lonely juvenile Whooper Swan

After that I wondered what to do next. I contemplated looking for the mixed Bunting flock (Lapland and Snow) on Treen Common but the prospect of spending more time out in the wind wasn't that appealing. Instead I opted for the shelter of Marazion where the sea was relatively and calm and I would be out of the wind. A scan of the bay to the west of the Mount found only a couple of Great Northern Divers so I moved to Marazion itself and found a nice little viewing spot in the form of a tiny public garden right next to the Godolphin Hotel that allowed me to view the bay to the east of the Mount. To start with there was a large flock of waders directly below me all seeking shelter from the high tide and gorging themselves on the invertebrates in the exposed sea weed that had been washed up against the wall. There must have been at least 50 Sanderling, 30 Turnstone and about 20 Dunlin as well as a Rock Pipit and a single Knot. It was a delight to watch the birds scampering about at such close quarters. Out in the bay a couple of huge rafts of roosting gulls were assembling: the big gulls were way over in the distance but close by was the small gull roost and in amongst the hoard of at least a thousand Black-headed Gulls I found twelve Med. Gulls (ten adults, a second winter and a first winter). I had been hoping for some Black or Red-throated Divers but there were none to be seen. 

After a while it started to get dark so I headed back to the cottage for something to eat and to get on with my evening chores. It had been an enjoyable if rather low-key day's birding.

Sunday 24th February: Ham Wall RSPB, St John's Ford & Rosenannon Downs

It seems like far too long since I was last down in Cornwall. Even though from a distance things seem rather quiet down here I still miss the great birding and anyway it can't be any quieter than it is back in Oxon of late.With a few bookings coming up in the cottage in March I needed to come back down to meet up with the builder to discuss a couple of small projects, basically some minor weatherproofing jobs that needed to be done. It would also be an opportunity for me to do some cosmetic work on some of the damp patches that we still have at present. In the days leading up to my arrival I'd been keeping a weather eye on what birds were down in Cornwall as well as looking out for anything good that I might like to drop in on en route (which is a very flexible concept in my book). The Pied-billed Grebe at Ham Wall RSPB in Somerset had conveniently stayed around for a while now and was only a short detour from the motorway so I marked that down for starters. In addition there were quite a few birds around that I still needed for my fledgling Cornish list which I was keen to try for. To start with there was a drake Green-winged Teal at St John's ford near Torpoint which looked tempting and I thought that I'd stop off at Wacker Quay to look for Avocets whilst I was going that way. If I had time I was wondering about seeking out some Cirl Buntings and there was also the possibility of Short-eared Owls at Rosenannon Downs over towards St Columb Major. So plenty to play for just in getting down to Pendeen.

I set off at around 8:15 on Sunday morning and with the roads nice and clear I arrived at Ham Wall at around 10:45 a.m. I was just getting tooled up when I met a posse of Oxford birders just returning from paying homage to the Grebe themselves. We chatted for a while and then they headed off to Exeter to look for Cirl Buntings whilst I set off to find the Grebe. Ham Wall is basically a large bank of reed beds and pools on either side of a central path with viewing platforms and hides placed along the route.  It was still very chilly with a really biting cold wind so I was wrapped up really warm. I walked as briskly as I could towards the second viewing platform with Glastonbuy Tor in the distance watching over proceedings. As I hurried along I heard my first Cetti's Warbler of the year calling from within the reeds, sadly it's become a rather rare sound in Oxfordshire after the recent harsh winters. There were only half a dozen or so birders at the second screen but the Grebe was on show when I arrived and someone soon got me onto it. Unfortunately it was rather distant and it insisted on loitering right at the back of the open water but despite the near-continual tripod-shakingily bitter wind I was able to make out all the salient features. A Marsh Harrier floated by in the distance and there was the usual mix of Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Little Grebes dotted around the place. Presently the Pied-billed Grebe disappeared from view for about ten minutes before it turned up again and I watched it until I started feeling too cold. After that it was a brisk yomp back to the car and back on to the motorway towards Cornwall.

Given how far away the bird was and how much the tripod was shaking

 this rubbish record shot is actually a pretty good achievement!

I took the A38 rather than the A30 at the fork after Exeter and headed towards the Plymouth area where a lot of my target birds were located. I had been wondering about nipping in for the Lesser Yellowlegs at Ernesettle (on the Devon side of the Tamar) but in the end decided that I didn't really have time if I wanted to see some of my Cornish targets so I chose to give it a miss. Instead I headed towards Torpoint and St John's ford with the Green-winged Teal in mind. I did stop off for a few minutes at Wacker Quay where I found some birders already set up by the "viewing gap" - they kindly let me take a look at the Spoonbill they were watching so I didn't even need to get my scope out. Unfortunately there were no Avocet there today (still a Cornish tick for me) which I'd been hoping for, though of course a Spoonbill is always nice to see. I soon arrived at St John's ford which is an interesting little spot. The single-track road passes through a narrow ford at the west end of St John's Lake (it's interesting how the tidal creeks and side channels of the Tamar are called "Lakes"). Either side of the narrow road was very soft and deep mud so one had to be careful where one trod. The tide was rather low when I arrived though it had turned and was on the way in again. Some of the birds could be viewed by the parking area but the Green-winged Teal had usually been reported over towards the sewage outlet further around. To view this area one had to walk along the bottom of a field and peer awkwardly through a thin strip of trees. As I started along this path I met up with a couple of lady birders. It turned out that this was their third attempt at the Teal so they were keen to find it. Another birder also arrived but between the four of us we couldn't see it anywhere. There were plenty of Teal, Wigeon, Redshank, Shelduck, Little Egrets and Curlew all enjoying the mud and right over in the distance towards Torpoint there was a flock of several hundred small waders that I presumed were Dunlin. There's always something very atmospheric about such places and the haunting calls of the Curlew only added to the charm of the location: in nice warm weather I could happily spend hours birding here. After a while we started to head back towards the ford to take another look down at that end. I set up my scope to view down the Lake where the incoming water was smoothing out the nooks, crannies and hiding places for a Teal so surely the bird would have to be seen at some point. A Grey Wagtail flew by, calling to announce its presence. I kept on scanning and sure enough I soon spotted the Green-winged Teal in the distance near the Sewage outlet dabbling away quite happily. I called over the others and we all enjoyed our rather distant views for a while before he swam out of sight behind the sewage outlet wall. Whilst we could probably seen him again if we walked back along the field I felt that I'd seen enough and time was marching on. As I made my way back to the car a Nuthatch called loudly from in the wooded hillside on the opposite side of the river. Time to head off for my next target.

Another very distant record shot

It was now well after 3pm and I was running out of daylight. I had thought about nipping down to Rame Head for a look round but in the end decided to give that a miss and instead to press on towards the Penwith peninsula and instead to stop off at Rosenannon Downs, located between Wadebridge and St Columb Major. There had been reports of large Lapland Bunting flocks, Harriers and Short-eared Owls there in recent weeks and I was particularly keen to see if I could catch up with the Owls which would be Cornish ticks for me. I'd already coded the location up in my trusty Sat. Nav app and it took me safely there where I arrived in good time at around 4:30pm. 

 Rosenannon Downs

There were several birders already installed there so I went over to join them. They'd seen a Merlin so far but little else of note. Downland habitats are another area with a wonderfully atmospheric feel to them, it's the silence that is most striking to me. However, although the wind seemed to have died down it was very cold and standing around until dark was going to be a bit of an ordeal. There didn't seem to be much to look at either though a couple of the others thought that they saw a Harrier in the distance just above the skyline briefly though I couldn't get on it.  A few large flocks of Starlings went over, their wing beats making an eerie sound in the quiet. A couple of Reed Buntings were calling in the trees behind us and a Yellowhammer turned up and gave us a few renditions of its song. We watched and waited. A Buzzard flew over us. More watching in the cold silence. A lady birder turned up who was a regular for the area. She told us that the top left-hand corner was often where the owls were seen so thereafter I concentrated on this spot. Sure enough just as it was getting dark I spotted a Short-eared Owl sitting on top of a small Hawthorn bush. As we watched a Fox trotted up behind it, presumably stalking it though the Owl spotted it and flapped silently off. As it got darker a Tawny Owl started to call distantly. Finally just at last light a Woodcock flapped over, a nice end to a quiet session. Nevertheless, I'd managed to see my target Short-eared Owl so it had been a successful trip.

By now it was after 6pm and I still had a way to go to get to the cottage. I gave my VLW a quick call so that she wouldn't be wondering where I was and then headed back towards the A30 and on towards Pendeen. It had been a long day, but a successful one with some nice birds seen en route. I arrived at a little after 8pm, booted up the Cottage and had something to eat and a celebratory beer - it had been an enjoyable start to my visit to Cornwall.

2nd January & 2012 Retrospective

The next day was taken up with packing and stopping off to catch up with my VLW's niece who lives "up-county" so there wasn't any time for the Torpoint Green-winged Teal, nor the Black Guillemot that had been reported in Carbis Bay.

Given that it's the start of a new year I thought that it was only fitting that I reflect back on the past year's birding. From a personal point of view it's been a reasonably quiet year for my birding in Cornwall, largely due to the fact that the cottage is now let out during the holiday season. Two trips in particular stand out. In March I managed to find a first winter Night Heron of my own rather than the adult bird that everyone else had seen at Kenidjack. There was also a lovely Hoopoe at the Brew Pool and the Blue-winged Teal at Walmsley. The highlight of the year was a week of solid birding in October - it was pure bliss not to have to worry about fitting birding around family commitments. The highlights of that trip were the Olive-backed Pipit on my doorstep and the wonderfully showy Paddyfield Warbler at Church Cove.

Brew Pool Hoopoe

Church Cove Paddyfield Warbler

Pendeen Olive-backed Pipit (c) B. Rankine

One thing that I've enjoyed is working on my Cornish list - it gives me something to go for even out of season when I come down. Had I been on my own this time I would have had a go for the Torpoint Green-winged Teal, the Short-eared Owls at Men-an-Tol and the Black Guillemot at Carbis Bay but unfortunately I wasn't able to this time. Still I had one good day's birding and seeing the Sub-alpine Warbler so easily was a real bonus. I'm hoping to come down again fairly soon as the cottage still needs some weather-proofing. With any lucky I'll have a chance to chase down some more Cornish ticks then.

1st January: Pendeen

It rained for much of the day yesterday so I wasn't able to get out for more than a brief walk where a Stonechat was the only highlight. In the afternoon we had a wander around Penzance and visited Morrab Gardens where a Blackcap and a Grey Wagtail were the only birds of note.

We decided to see the New Year in in style, first going to the Star at St Just where we'd heard there would be a DJ though in the end it was too crowded for any dancing. Next on to the Radjel in Pendeen for a drink and the girls had a game of pool. After that we headed over to Marazion to count down to the New Year on the beach and to watch the various fireworks going off in Penzance and Marazion. Finally back to the cottage to open the champagne and to discuss the year past and the year ahead.

The cross on the top of St. Michael's Mount from the beach at midnight

This morning there was a nice north westerly wind and it was quite sunny so I thought that I'd pop down to the Watch for an hour's session. There was quite a lot of movement close in with a good passage of auks and kittiwakes - at one stage they were passing at a rate of about 100 birds per minute. The highlight was a couple of Balearic Shearwaters, one on the sea and one passing through.

In the afternoon we headed over to St Ives so the girls could do some shopping. The boys went for a walk around the island instead. On the sea there was the same steady passage of auks and kittiwakes but nothing of note.

St . Ives Island