Tuesday 24th March 2026: Hayle and Penzance birding

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 We woke to a change in the weather, with much cooler temperatures, low cloud and frequent drizzle. Abandoning plans for any coastal walking we instead opted for local birding opportunities. We arrived at Hayle with the tide still high, finding our first Curlews of the trip on Ryan’s Field, and a male Reed Bunting swaying atop a bush bursting into fresh green leaf.

Crossing to the causeway, a Sandwich Tern loafed on the far side near Lelant Station amongst the gulls. As the water levels decreased the waders moved in, and we noted Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed and Grey Plovers, Oystercatchers, Redshank and Dunlin. But the highlight was a Water Pipit moulting into beautiful summer plumage, with a pinkish breast, grey head and bold white supercilium. It was rather elusive, skulking amongst the sparse vegetation and decidedly camera-shy, but we had excellent scope views and Tim managed a record shot. This is the first one I’ve seen in summer plumage and it was a real winner.

Water Pipit

Next we moved on to Boscathnoe Reservoir near Penzance, a small rectangular patch of water harbouring a long-staying Dusky Warbler. We found this surprisingly quickly, with useful guidance from a local to look low in the willows, as it is always close to the ground. Like most warblers, it was constantly on the move, but the colouration and jizz was different from the Chiffchaffs seen nearby, and in the low light, the orange-red leg colour was striking. The supercilium appeared less strong than the guidebook had suggested, but matched photos of this particular bird taken by others.

In the bushes we found a fair bit of bird activity, mainly chiffys and tits, but the other highlights here were a swarm of Sand Martins feeding over the water and a Little Grebe in striking summer plumage.

A brief visit to Marazion in depressing drizzle was useless, with not a single bird seen on the reserve and no waders on the windswept beach. None were also found at Jubilee pool, with the tide unhelpfully low. It is possible these have now headed north for the breeding season, although good numbers of Sanderling were reported just a few days ago. Such is birdwatching!

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