Tuesday 19th March: The Lizard

 A disappointing day in birding terms. With a forecast for rain in the afternoon we were undecided as to where to spend the morning. I suggested Drift and Marazion but Tim was not keen, so we headed off to the Lizard. Bad move as when we arrived it was decidedly foggy! Even so we managed to pick up a Collared Dove, and a group of Greenfinches wheezed their strange song, the yellow wing bar showing clearly enough despite the gloom. The path was slippery underfoot, on serpentine rock, so we had to tread carefully. We found a few Long -tailed Tits but here, not much else. 

Reaching the coast path, we again had some fly pasts from a pair of Choughs, their distinctive harsh calls alerting us to their presence. Both Cormorant and Shag perched on a large rock close to the most Southerly Point, allowing a good comparison of these similar species.

At the headland, there were plenty of Gannets flying past, quite close as they rounded the headland, before veering out around the rocks. With our bins we could just make out a few auks flying past.

We stopped for lunch at Helston Boating Lake where the best we could muster was Coot and Mute Swan. The female was sat on a nest on an island in the middle of the lake, while her partner spent the entire visit, wings fluffed up aggressively, as he harried any Canada Geese that came anywhere near the island. In the evergreens we could hear birds calling, and craning our necks, we eventually managed to pick out a Goldcrest and Coal Tit flitting about the high branches.

By now the rain had set in, so we decided to call it a day and treat ourselves to a cream tea back at our apartment!