13th-14th October: More West Cornwall

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 Another day of lovely dry weather and not a lot of birds! We drove to Cape Cornwall and walked through the Kenidjack Valley towards Botallack, another scenic walk. In the valley we found our first Chiffchaff and a Long- tailed Tit and at the beach where the stream flows into the sea we watched a Grey Wagtail foraging amongst the rocks. 

Kenidjack valley

As we walked up out of the valley, we were delighted by an unexpected yet spectacular view back towards Cape Cornwall.

Cape Cornwall

With few birds and beautiful sunshine we took our time, resting on rocks to soak up the views and the warmth and generally relax, before heading into St Just for a delicious Cornish ice cream! On our way home we were delayed slightly while a herd of cows sauntered disinterestedly past, possibly the very cows that provided the milk for our locally sourced ice cream!


Next we stopped again at Carn Calver, a moorland hill with a rocky outcrop at the top that Tim deemed needed investigation. It was quite a scramble to get up a very rocky path…

Carn Calver

but the views from the top were incredible, with Lands End and Pendeen in one direction, St Ives partly hidden in mist in the other, whilst turning 180 degrees towards the other coastline we could see St Michael’s Mount with the Lizard peninsula stretching out to sea in the background behind - breathtaking, and well worth the climb.

View from the top

The following day we stayed fairly local, with a stroll around Godrevy, where we were able to share a splendid Wheatear with a passer by. This was the first day we had not encountered Choughs, even though we know that a group are regularly present. It has been an excellent breeding year for this species, with 23 pairs of birds raising 66 young. A record breaking year and surely they are now well on the way to a self-sustaining wild population?  A big step up from the days in 2002 when we would visit the RSPB-monitored single nest site in a cave at the Lizard. Our first Turnstones of the trip were spotted on the. rocks, as always at the wettest, splashiest point beside the crashing waves. 

On our way home, we paused at Ryan’s Field, partof the RSPB Hayle reserve, but there was little of note found, until we returned to the car park and had some excellent views of a Firecrest, calling loudly from a nearby tree before disappearing into thick vegetation. A fitting end to the day!

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