Cornwall

[MarkHows]

If I were to go Seawatching in Cornwall sometime between tomorrow and Sunday where would be the best place with current weather conditions etc. I am mainly after shearwaters.

Thanks

Mark

[Jasonbirder]

Met Office has been really unreliable of late so I`d hesitate to make any judgements based on the forecasts....

You`re basically looking at either/Pendeen or Porthgwarra - southerly round to westerly best at Porthgwarra, Westerly to Northerly best at Pendeen

Forecast looks like being best for Pendeen - but definately best to look at the weather vane before making a choice....

Big Shears have been in really short supply this year - and i`m not sure there`s a "big blow" forecast in the next few days to tip the odds in your favour - you can probably expect Belearic and Sooty but you`ll need a bit of luck to connect with Cory`s or Great.....

[John o'Sullivan]

try this website for recent records
http://www.sennen-cove.com/reports.htm
very good for cornish records generally but the best info i've been able to find on the web for up to date seawatching info.
Theres been wilsons and feas off ireland over last few days too.

[Jane Turner]

Sea humming up here this evening.. loads of Sherwaters and skuas!

[tom mckinney]

Hi Mark,

If you have the free time, I would strongly recommend a trip to the Bridges of Ross this weekend. The weather forecast looks fantastic. You are guaranteed both big shearwaters over 2-3 days in very high numbers (high in comparison to Cornwall). You also stand the best chance anywhere in Britain of a (presumed) Fea's Petrel. A load of people from the UK will be over this weekend so it should be a laugh as well. One guy is taking a dustbin of chum that a local boatman is throwing overboard just offshore as well.

Tom.

[DJ Sideboard]

You never really can tell with Cory's though. One August afternoon I saw about 600 Cory's (and 20 odd Greats) pass Porthgwarra in a couple of hours, during a light northerly. There were only a handfull of birders present because the conditions were not perceived to favour watching from there (I was only there because I was staying locally, and wouldn't have chosen to visit from elsewhere given the conditions...). Before and after the passage there was virtually nothing of interest to be seen. A heavy rain shower passed through just before the passage started, and I guess the feeding flock of Cory's had got caught up in this and then reorientated off PG....

[Rich Bonser]

I am off to the Bridges of Ross this evening for my annual bank holiday seawatching bonanza.

I do indeed agree with Tom that if you want to maximize your seawatching potential, this is definitely the place to go. The best thing about the site is that the birds that you see, you see well - with the near line of birds often passing within 250 yards of the coast. The site is very different to that of Cornish seawatching - in Cornwall, seawatching sites such as Pendeen and Porthgwarra are headlands whereas Bridges of Ross is positioned several kilometres north-east of the headland of Loop Head. So far as I can understand, birds pass into the bay extending to the north to the Cliffs of Moher and Quilty and then filter out, hugging the coast, south-westwards at the Bridges of Ross (before reaching the much higher, exposed headland of Loop Head).

Tom mentions that both large shearwaters are 'guaranteed' at the Bridges with much higher numbers than in Cornwall. I believe that, certainly this year, this is not the case. Cornwall has recorded small numbers of Great and Cory's this August, whereas despite being watched on a daily basis since at least last Wednesday I do not recall a single record of either large shearwater species from the Bridges. Indeed, in previous trips, I have not recorded more than a handful of each in total (although I have yet to be present in a big shearwater year) whereas in summer 2002 I witnessed over 90 Great Shears past PG in a day.

The composition of species is different at the Bridges compared to Cornwall due to the former's more northerly location. There is a much stronger chance of Long-tailed Skua and Leach's Petrel at Bridges in addition to a much larger volume of commoner species such as Manxies and, indeed, Sooty Shearwater (I saw over 500 of these in a day in 2002).

It is, however, the realistic prospect of something out of the ordinary that draws people to the Bridges - the odds of a presumed Fea's flying by in the Bank holiday period plus or minus a day are greater than 50%, with this species having been recorded in late August in 2000, 2002, 2003 and now 2004. What is most extraordinary is that this species does not necessarily need the perfect north-westerly weather to occur - indeed the bird that I saw (with 25 other people) flew by mid distance on a south-easterly.

2002 was the start of the annual observation of Wilson's Petrel from the Bridges, and last year I was witness to at least 4 birds as they fluttered around the cove with many Stormies sheltering from the north-westerly. This species, in my opinion, is more likely to be seen at the Bridges than either of the large shearwaters. Indeed this year it has past by on an almost daily basis during the last week!

I hope that this info is of some help to you all, and I hope to see some of you there in the years to come. A Little Shear would go down well this year...


Cheers

Rich

[tom mckinney]

Hi Rich,

From speaking to people that have gone there on the annual Birdnet trip over the last few years, they have always had both big shears. True about none yet though... I'm just p*ssed off that I've had to pull out last minute as I know you are going to get Little Shearwater. By the way, did anybody hear a rumour about a Booby somewhere in Ireland...?

Have fun and don't see too much,

Tom.

[John o'Sullivan]

Can we have an update as to how the sea watching went.
I like to follow seawatching news but struggle to find any specifics on the web.
John

[Stephen Dunstan]

Can we have an update as to how the sea watching went.
I like to follow seawatching news but struggle to find any specifics on the web.
John

John,

A friend of mine did Bridges and saw 1 distant Great Shearwater, he missed the Fea's and Wilson's by a day. Supporting cast included several Long-tailed Skuas and one Blue Fulmar.

Stephen.