Monday 14th - Friday 18th October 2024: More Cornwall Birding

 After Sunday's superb start to our Cornwall holiday, the birding excitement declined somewhat, but we enjoyed a good variety of species at a range of sites offering differing habitats, and we enjoyed some fabulous walks, great views and birding spectacles that will linger long in the memory. There's a reason we love Cornwall!

We started out on Monday at nearby Hayle, where we found a good selection of regular waders and ducks spread across the estuary and Ryan's Field, before progressing to Godrevy. Here we enjoyed watching flocks of small birds around St Gothian Sands reserve, predominantly Linnets and Goldfinches. A smart Wheatear hopped and took short flights around the open grassy areas, flashing its white rump at us, whilst Stonechats and Reed Buntings perched on the fence lines. Our last stop of the day was at Gwennap Head, where a walk around the cliffs produced several sightings of reeling Choughs, but failed to produce the Richard's Pipit reported the previous day.

Chough

On Tuesday we took one of our favourite walks from Cape Cornwall to Kenidjack, with fabulous views. A highlight here was a tiny Firecrest foraging in the ivy - my first for the year. We searched in vain for Ring Ouzel and Yellow-browed Warbler. Finally, calling at Hayle on our way home in the afternoon, we picked up the long-staying Spoonbill on Ryan's Field.

Kenidjack towards Cape Cornwall

The forecast for Wednesday was not good, and we couldn't even see Godrevy lighthouse from our window, so we decided to walk to St Ives and around 'The Island', hoping to arrive back before the worst of the rain arrived. In the event it stayed dry throughout the day. Above Carbis Bay railway we found a tit flock, with many twittering Long-tailed Tits accompanied by a smattering of Blue and Great Tits, a single Coal Tit and several Chiffies. At St Ives, the Turnstones were extremely tame, literally running around our feet on the harbour promenade. But there was nothing of interest on the sea.

Turnstones- taken with my iPhone as so close!

The next day we started at Pendeen for a short seawatch. There had been lots of reports of interesting shearwaters, so we thought we'd take a look. A couple of observers identified the salient flight features of Cory's Shearwater, with a pattern of flaps and glides very different from the flight style of the Manx Shearwaters. We confidently identified a few Cory's, and somewhat less confidently, I think I had a single Great Shearwater. Other birds noted were many clusters of Guillemots passing through in waves and Kittiwakes flying distantly over the sea. From here, we progressed to Cot Valley, another favourite walk, where a pair of Choughs wheeled above our heads and over the cliffs as we ate our lunch. Our final stop of the day was at Nanquidno valley, still searching hopefully (and in vain!) for a Yellow-browed Warbler. The best we could manage was a Grey Wagtail, which called loudly as it undulated away along the stream.

Finally, on Friday, a fruitless drive to The Lizard in search of a Rose-coloured Starling, was followed by a lovely, albeit it damp and windy, walk at Godrevy, where a troop of Oystercatchers marching en masse along the beach presented a striking feature. We also found our first Ravens of the trip here.

Oystercatchers

We finished the day at Hayle Estuary once again, where we added Black-tailed Godwit, Cattle Egret, and a pair of delightful Whooper Swans to our list. However, the star bird here was the humble Canada Goose. As the evening set in and the light faded, we watched hundreds noisily coming in to roost in small groups, feet down for a safe landing as they gathered in a secluded corner of the estuary. A memorable spectacle from a bird we would so often easily dismiss as uninteresting.

Whooper Swans