Andrew
wibble wibble
20-10-03
Location : RSPB Hayle Estuary & Land‘s End, Cornwall. SW547364 & SW345247.
On the way to Sennen we called into Hayle for Cornish pasties from Hampson’s butchers. I mistakenly got a large pasty which turned out to be as huge as a rugby ball! After heartily tucking into them in the RSPB car park we walked round to Ryan’s Field and found nothing there and no one in the hide either. I spotted a group of birders across the main road looking out into Lelant Saltings and joined them hoping they were looking at the American Wigeon. Being very familiar with Hayle it looked different from a birder’s perspective. There was a large mudflat with grasses growing on the sides and a tidal channel in the middle. Large flocks of Eurasian Teal and Eurasian Wigeon were spread all over with a few waders dotted here and there. With a bit of friendly assistance I managed to locate the Green-winged Teal. This was a wonderful lifer for me because it is a duck that I had in mind this winter and it was a bonus to get it before we were even into November. The lack of pale borders on the head’s colours and the vertical flank stripe gave it away. Things suddenly went beyond my expectations as one of the group to my left approached me and pointed out a Lesser Yellowlegs next to a distant Common Redshank. It was clearly distinguishable. It was almost similar in size to the Redshank but slimmer and a lot more elegant. The legs were yellow as egg yolk. It was good going with two lifers in the space of fifteen minutes. I was greedy though and scanned each Wigeon looking for the American Wigeon. The winds blowing straight at us off the estuary were strong and cold. With the scope at maximum zoom there was excessive shake making it difficult to study each Wigeon. The best of the rest of the birds recorded here were Eurasian Oystercatchers, Dunlins, Rock Pipits, Little Egrets, Black-Tailed Godwits, a Common Buzzard and a Grey Heron. After parking the car at Seaview caravan park we walked down to Land’s End and I had a timely notification on my mobile that a Yellow-browed Warbler was present. I searched the sallows extensively without seeing the warbler but made do with a single Ring Ouzel and a couple of Chiffchaffs. We carried on down to the ‘First & Last’ refreshment house in England and viewed the decaying wreck of the Mulheim cargo ship. A Common Kestrel hovered over the heath near Greeb Farm and Meadow Pipits were everywhere with a few Common Stonechats about too. I just caught a glimpse of a Peregrine Falcon diving down the cliffs whilst Black-legged Kittiwakes passed in low numbers. Back at the caravan park I searched for the Rosy Starling among the Common Starlings roosting on the wires without success. There was however a flock in a stubble field that might have had the bird, The field also had over a hundred Fieldfares. This short break could not have started better with two lifers at the first port of call.
21-10-03
Location : Sennen & Land‘s End Area, Cornwall. SW345247.
Today was spent mainly in the Land’s End area and early this morning after a search of the lanes off the main road I finally found Brew Pool down a grassy and wet track. It was a lot of effort for little reward as I could not see much of the pool itself with it being surrounded by dense bushes and trees. However, I did manage to add three birds to the list which were two female Goldcrests, a Grey Wagtail and a Willow Warbler. The other birds I noted were several Chiffchaffs, Dunnocks and some Winter Wrens. After breakfast we headed down to Land’s End where I looked for the Yellow-browed Warbler. After nearly three hours involving three separate attempts I gave up and had to be content with a Merlin that I accidentally flushed. The next port of call was Sennen Cove for some fish and chips. A Ruddy Turnstone rooted about in some seaweed and a couple Rock Pipits played along the boulders whilst a few Black-legged Kittiwakes provided some relief from the standard fare at sea. The last hours of daylight was spent at nearby Porthgwarra. Here, I hiked up to Gwennap Head and back with the only new addition being a couple of Whinchats. I was mystified by a white headed Stonechat! It also had patches of white all over it’s body, no doubt a raptor will find it an easy target. No great strides were made today yet I really enjoyed it.
Location : RSPB Hayle Estuary & Land‘s End, Cornwall. SW547364 & SW345247.
On the way to Sennen we called into Hayle for Cornish pasties from Hampson’s butchers. I mistakenly got a large pasty which turned out to be as huge as a rugby ball! After heartily tucking into them in the RSPB car park we walked round to Ryan’s Field and found nothing there and no one in the hide either. I spotted a group of birders across the main road looking out into Lelant Saltings and joined them hoping they were looking at the American Wigeon. Being very familiar with Hayle it looked different from a birder’s perspective. There was a large mudflat with grasses growing on the sides and a tidal channel in the middle. Large flocks of Eurasian Teal and Eurasian Wigeon were spread all over with a few waders dotted here and there. With a bit of friendly assistance I managed to locate the Green-winged Teal. This was a wonderful lifer for me because it is a duck that I had in mind this winter and it was a bonus to get it before we were even into November. The lack of pale borders on the head’s colours and the vertical flank stripe gave it away. Things suddenly went beyond my expectations as one of the group to my left approached me and pointed out a Lesser Yellowlegs next to a distant Common Redshank. It was clearly distinguishable. It was almost similar in size to the Redshank but slimmer and a lot more elegant. The legs were yellow as egg yolk. It was good going with two lifers in the space of fifteen minutes. I was greedy though and scanned each Wigeon looking for the American Wigeon. The winds blowing straight at us off the estuary were strong and cold. With the scope at maximum zoom there was excessive shake making it difficult to study each Wigeon. The best of the rest of the birds recorded here were Eurasian Oystercatchers, Dunlins, Rock Pipits, Little Egrets, Black-Tailed Godwits, a Common Buzzard and a Grey Heron. After parking the car at Seaview caravan park we walked down to Land’s End and I had a timely notification on my mobile that a Yellow-browed Warbler was present. I searched the sallows extensively without seeing the warbler but made do with a single Ring Ouzel and a couple of Chiffchaffs. We carried on down to the ‘First & Last’ refreshment house in England and viewed the decaying wreck of the Mulheim cargo ship. A Common Kestrel hovered over the heath near Greeb Farm and Meadow Pipits were everywhere with a few Common Stonechats about too. I just caught a glimpse of a Peregrine Falcon diving down the cliffs whilst Black-legged Kittiwakes passed in low numbers. Back at the caravan park I searched for the Rosy Starling among the Common Starlings roosting on the wires without success. There was however a flock in a stubble field that might have had the bird, The field also had over a hundred Fieldfares. This short break could not have started better with two lifers at the first port of call.
21-10-03
Location : Sennen & Land‘s End Area, Cornwall. SW345247.
Today was spent mainly in the Land’s End area and early this morning after a search of the lanes off the main road I finally found Brew Pool down a grassy and wet track. It was a lot of effort for little reward as I could not see much of the pool itself with it being surrounded by dense bushes and trees. However, I did manage to add three birds to the list which were two female Goldcrests, a Grey Wagtail and a Willow Warbler. The other birds I noted were several Chiffchaffs, Dunnocks and some Winter Wrens. After breakfast we headed down to Land’s End where I looked for the Yellow-browed Warbler. After nearly three hours involving three separate attempts I gave up and had to be content with a Merlin that I accidentally flushed. The next port of call was Sennen Cove for some fish and chips. A Ruddy Turnstone rooted about in some seaweed and a couple Rock Pipits played along the boulders whilst a few Black-legged Kittiwakes provided some relief from the standard fare at sea. The last hours of daylight was spent at nearby Porthgwarra. Here, I hiked up to Gwennap Head and back with the only new addition being a couple of Whinchats. I was mystified by a white headed Stonechat! It also had patches of white all over it’s body, no doubt a raptor will find it an easy target. No great strides were made today yet I really enjoyed it.
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