Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th August

NB. This entry has been updated since it was first posted as I forgot to include a sea-watching session on Saturday morning

Saturday

Saturday had been forecast to be a reasonable Pendeen wind though as Friday progressed the predicted wind strength kept dropping and by Saturday morning it was a mediocre 16 mph average speed. Not really good enough to tempt any locals out of bed but as it was only a few minutes walk away I thought that I'd pop down there once I was up. So it was that at around 8 a.m. I wandered down to find about 20 people there though only one local whom I recognised so it was mostly visitors. It turned out that I'd not missed much with just one Cory's having reportedly gone through so far. Sadly the sea bird action was really slow with very little of note apart from a remarkable passage of Common Scoter. Several big flocks of 30+ and 50+ were going through and SR who was there all morning recorded a finally tally of 548 which was the new one day county record for this species. Apart from that there was a single Bonxie, as well as a few Arctic Skuas and Sooties that I didn't get on. I have to say that the directions that were called out for birds were remarkably poor and there wasn't much of a sense of a group sea-watch session at all - perhaps because they were mostly visitors. Given how slow it was I only gave it until 9:15 before giving up and heading back to the cottage.
 
Today we decided to visit the Pendeen Farmer's Market, which we've been meaning to do for years but which hitherto we'd never actually managed to do. As I was feeling rather tired and given that I wasn't so keen to see the market, I decided to stay at home and have a nap whilst the rest of the family walked up the road to check it out. After my rest I drove up to Pendeen to pick the others up from what had been a successful visit, judging by their purchases. Our next stop was to head over to Zennor where apparently there was a local art's and craft fair. The fair was the usual stuff and for me the highlight was a pair of Swallows that seemed to have taken a wrong turning somewhere and had ended up in the main hall itself. One of the locals was trying to open the windows so they could get out but they all seemed to be locked. I hope that they eventually managed to free them. 

The two Swallows, admiring the art

After the fair we had a little wander about Zennor: there were loads of Swallows on the roof of the small terraced cottages at the end of the village and in the bright sunshine it all looked very picturesque.

Calamint growing on a Zennor wall

Then it was back home to the cottage for a late lunch and an afternoon of pootling around doing not very much. Late in the afternoon we headed down to Boat Cove to stare at the sea for a while before heading back home for dinner.

Sunday

On Sunday the weather was forecast to be reasonable so I decided to crack on with the second coat on the top of the cottage and headed once more onto the roof. Fortunately this task didn't take too long and my VLW made good progress with her windows and also the front door which also needed her attentions. 

Wall Brown, sitting on a Pendeen wall, appropriately enough

Then after lunch we headed over the hill, first to PZ where our son wanted to nip into a local shop to buy some computer game. Then we decided to visit Tremenheere garden, one that we hadn't been to before. It turned out to be wonderfully jungly and overgrown and one could just image Yellow-browed Warblers in the wooded section at the right time of year though the only bird that I saw there was a Buzzard. We enjoyed a good tea in the café there before nipping over the road to Sainsbury's for some shopping. Then it was back home for dinner. 

The view from Tremenheere, looking over towards the Mount

Looking out of the window after our meal I saw that there seemed to be a reasonable amount of movement in the last hour so I headed down to the lighthouse for a brief watch. The only bird of note was a single Sooty Shearwater though I did also get a brief glimpse of a Porpoise as well.

Friday 4th August

We awoke to calm and sunny conditions today. I decided to take advantage of the fine weather and to get on with painting the top part of the outside of the the cottage, a task which required going up onto the roof and reaching down with a roller. As this would involve a fair bit of flexibility and suppleness on my part I first went for a brisk walk to warm up: after all I didn't want to be pulling a muscle up on top of the roof. There was nothing out of the ordinary to see at this time of year with the usual Ravens, a Kestrel, a Buzzard and a pair of Chough being the most noteworthy but in the sunny and calm conditions there were plenty of photo opportunities.

Pendeen Buzzard

A Common Blue by the lighthouse

A Common Darter in the vegetable garden behind the coastguard cottages

A Kestrel on the rocks

The painting task went well and by late morning I'd managed to put the first coat on all four sides. We then had a quick lunch during which we decided on the spur of the moment to do the St Just to Pendeen coastal path this afternoon. As the requisite bus was going to go in about half an hour we had to rush to get ready and then to hurry up the hill to the bus stop for the short hop into St Just. There we bought ice creams and my VLW just wanted to nip in to the arts and craft fair there before we started on our walk. This "nip" turned into more than a thirty minute browse by the end of which I (having stayed outside as I wasn't that keen to go in) was getting very impatient. Finally we were on our way and in the sunny conditions with just a moderate breeze it was all very pleasant. The main birds of note on this occasion were Wheatears with one at Botallack and a pair at Geevor (of course - there's always at least one there). The scenery was stunning as always and the sunny conditions really brought out the beautiful colours.

Botallack Wheatear

Chamomile (I think) on the coastal path

We arrived back at the cottage after a good couple of hours for a well-earned cup of tea before rustling up some dinner and then settling down to watch a movie for the evening.

Thursday 3rd August; Pendeen & Marazion

Today was going to be another day of strong wind, good enough for a sea-watching session though the wind direction wasn't exactly ideal, being only just south of due west. Whilst this direction meant that PG was still the preferred destination (only just though), after yesterday's complaints from the rest of the family I didn't feel that I could  really head off there once again. So instead I got up at around 7:15 and wandered down to Pendeen lighthouse for a session there. I had the place to myself and it all started off quite well with a couple of Sooties and a pair of Stormies going through almost immediately. There were several Balearic Shearwaters passing through as well but it soon fizzled out with just a pair of Common Scoter to add to the noteworthy column and I left after an hour and a half. Back home as I did some chores around the cottage, occasional glances at the sea seemed to show things picking up again later in the morning and late morning a Cory's was seen going through by JS.

Pendeen Painted Lady

Back at base we decided to head over to Marazion as we had to run a few errands over there. We first nipped into Sainsbury's to pick up some lunch things which we then ate at the Station Inn car park, overlooking what was a pretty stormy sea. I nipped over to the Marsh where I had 8 Canada Geese, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and a Little Grebe for my troubles. On the beach itself all I saw were a dozen or so Sanderling and an adult Med Gull go by. 

Next it was off to the Long Rock area to explore a couple of new shops. We were partially looking for a replacement source of DIY materials since the departure of B&Q and we were quite pleased to discover a couple of places which seemed to be good alternatives. Next it was off to the railway station to pick up our younger daughter who'd be away in France with some friends earlier in the week and so had come down on the train today. After the family reunion the rest of the family wanted to go shopping in PZ so I opted for my usual alternative which was to stare at the sea from the bus station car park though there was nothing of note so I soon gave up and headed off to join the others at a café. Then it was back to Sainsbury's for some more shopping and then back to the cottage for dinner. After our meal we headed down to the lighthouse to look for Dolphins once more though this time without any sucess.

Juvenile Herring Gull at the bus station

Wednesday 2nd August: Porthgwarra

Today and tomorrow were forecast to have a proper wind worthy of a sea-watching session. Now, I don't often actually have a chance to sea-watch in a decent wind so I was keen to have a go if possible. The main issue with this was that I was with the family and as the wind was almost due south it would have to be a Porthgwarra day which was a bit of a fag to get to and which would mean spending at least the whole morning away. I cautiously put the idea to the family and they didn't seem to mind too much so I decided to cash in my brownie points and made plans to get up ridiculously early in the morning.

I duly awoke at around 4:30 and was up and out the door by 5:30, heading south through the driving rain and howling wind as it slowly grew light all around me. "I must be completely mad to be doing this", I thought. I mean why would I want to go and sit on an exposed headland in the pouring rain in the teeth of a gale? Anyway, it would at least be an "experience" if nothing else and I girded my loins and pressed on southwards. I arrived just after 6 a.m. to find about a dozen cars parked up in the car park. As I got ready in umpteen layers of waterproofs I chatted with the guy next to me who had driven down overnight from Wiltshire. "We must be mad", I joked as we hurried along the coastal path towards Hellas Point where we found the birders all huddled behind the large protective rocks there. I spotted DP in the throng and installed myself next to him. A quick enquiry revealed that so far I'd only missed one large Shearwater so I got installed and tried to get my eye in. The rain fortunately had more or less stopped by this time but the visibility was rather poor and kept coming and going so that sometimes it was too poor to be worth watching. I soon found that my viewing spot was less than ideal: from where I was sat I only had a small angle of visability before the birds disappeared behind a rock and despite numerous things being called I failed to get on a single one in the brief time that they were available to me. I did manage to find a Storm Petrel of my own which I called out just before it too disappeared from view.

Porthgwarra Sea Aster

After a while, someone else vacated a standing position to return to their chair so I went to take their place. I found myself standing next to a relatively young but eagle-eyed birder whom I recognised to be one of the Punk Birders. He was pretty amazing at picking stuff out and I gradually realised that it was down to eyesight. These days my eyes aren't so great: my left eye is stronger than my right so it's my scope eye yet it's my left which has quite a lot of floaters in so it's not so easy to see. When trying to pick out a tiny distant Petrel in the murk I just couldn't see what he was finding. Still it was useful to be standing next to someone who was often "on the bird" as I could at least get a bearing from his scope. It was also useful to be able to ask what someone else had called. My hearing also isn't what it used to be and I often struggle in windy conditions to catch what's being called out but fortunately I could ask my companion in such circumstances and actually the hearing situation wasn't too bad in the prevailing conditions. 

Sea-watchers in the fog

Gradually as I tuned in I started to manage to connect with stuff so after a while I'd had what had actually been pretty good views of a Great Shear, several Cory's, a couple of Sooties, one close very dark Balearic Shear, the tail end of a Pom as it passed the Runnel Stone and a few Stormies. During the murky periods I chatted with my neighbour or wandered over to chat with DP. Time marched on and eventually I got the "when are you coming home" text from my VLW and it was time to head off. As it was pretty murky at the time and had gone rather quiet I didn't have too many qualms about leaving and it was with a fair feeling of satisfaction that I headed back northwards along what were by now pretty foggy roads towards Pendeen. This feeling of contentment lasted about an hour when news came over on RBA of a Fea's Petrel having gone through at PG. I must admit that was a bit of a kick in the n*ts though I was always going to have been able to do only the morning session so it was just a bit of bad luck with the timing. To rub salt in the wound, no less than four Wilson's were then reported on RBA over a period of no more than half an hour and I later learnt that these were relatively close and ID'able. I'd tried to be philosophical about it all as after all it had actually been a pretty enjoyable session but quite frankly it really hurt to have left just before such an amazingly productive period.

Anyway, back at base there was a certain amount of debate as to what we were going to do in the afteroon though in the poor weather conditions our options were limited and we weren't able to agree on anything. In the end I went off for a nap to make up for the lack of sleep whilst the others amused themselve in the cottage. Later on we went for a mercy dash up to Pendeen stores for chocolate and after dinner we went down to the lighthouse to stare at the sea for a bit and we even managed to spot a couple of Porpoises. Then it was back to the cottage and off to bed.

Tuesday 1st August: Morvah (No) Pasty Day

Today was Morvah Pasty Day and we decided that once more we would walk over there for a pasty lunch. First however I had to make a Skype call to someone else involved in the business drama but as our internet was rather unrelilable in the end I went up to the Pendeen Centre to use their WiFi. The meeting went well and things were moving in the right direction as far as the drama was concerned so it was back home to get ready for the walk. All this had rather meant that we ended up leaving later than intended and by the time that we actually arrived at Morvah all the pasties had gone! We made do as best we could with the snacks that we'd brought with us and listened to the various local musicians and wandered around the small fair. There was something very Cornish about it all which I'm coming to appreciate more and more.

A musical performance ourside Morvah church

We walked back along the coastal path where the summer heather was looking wonderful along one comparatively bracken-free stretch. We got back late afternoon for a much-appreciated cup of tea and a bite of something to eat.

Heather along the coastl path between Morvah and Portheras beach

Hybrid Monkeyflower growing by the stream at the top of Portheras beach

A Ruby Tiger came to the porch light this evening

Monday 31st July: Pendeen & Geevor

I was woken up this morning by the sound of Chough calling outside the cottage and found four of them about the cottage with two even sitting on the wires over the garden.

Garden Chough

After our day of rest yesterday it was time to get on with things. As usual we had a list of DIY tasks and as the weather was actually quite sunny and not too breezy we decided to work on some outside stuff. Whilst my VLW worked on an exterior window (one of her pet projects) I did some long-overdue pruning in our garden that our gardener, for some reason, had decided was too much for her. I made a reasonable start on this and then it was time for lunch.

We pootled about the cottage until mid afternoon when we decided upon a walk over to Geevor for tea in the café. As usual I kept a look-out for Wheatears in amongst the mine ruins and was rewarded with a trio of birds, at least two of which were juveniles. It is possible that they have bred locally rather than being migrants, which would be nice.

Juvenile Wheatear

I had very much hoped to escape my work during my two weeks down here but there were some serious developments with one of the businesses for which I was working. There was much WhatsApp'ing going on between myself and a colleague as we worked out how best to handle what was a rather delicate situation. Accordingly our tea was punctuated by regular messages updates which I relayed to the rest of the family who were rather enjoying this real life soap opera.

We walked back through the village where I noted that Heathers was still for sale. I did half wonder if the tea shop might re-open for the summer given that they'd not yet sold it but it was rather hard to tell from what we could see.

Sunday 30th July: Pendeen & Hayle

We're back down in our beloved Cornwall again, this time for two week for our family holiday. In order to avoid trouble with the traffic on Saturday we waited until after 4 pm before leaving Oxford and this ploy seemed to work out well with hardly any traffic at all though we did have to contend with driving rain on the way down. Fortunately it was starting to fizzle out by the time we were unpacking the car at the cottage and we hurried inside to get set up for the evening.

On Sunday we had a very lazy morning just loafing around at home. I went for a little wander around and saw the usual suspects in the usual places. As I've been trying to shake of a sore throat for quite a while now I decided to have both a morning and an afternoon nap and this seemed to help. Given that we needed to head over to PZ for some shopping we first went to Marazion only to find the Jordans car park absolutely heaving - it turned out that there was a festival on of some kind. So in the end, given that I was still rather tired, I dropped the others off so that they could walk to Marazion whilst I headed over to Hayle to do a spot of shopping for gluten-free bread. My daughter and I are both gluten intolerant now and after some experimentation we've decided on the M&S bread as the best one so I was heading over there to stock up on supplies. On the way of course I stopped off at the Hayle estuary, well it would be rude not too! The main occupants were a bunch of loafing Herring Gulls though I did pick out a single juvenile Med. Gull in amongst the BHG. On the wader front there were just four Black-tailed Godwits to be seen and right in the distance were the five Black Swans that had been reported previously. I don't think that I've ever seen that many Black Swans in one place.

Juvenile Med Gull

Distant Black Swans

Next it was on to M&S & then back to Marazion to pick up the others before we headed back to the cottage for the evening.