Falmouth Birding (2 Viewers)

[Jon Turner]

Bittern showing in the trees at College Res this afternoon - first time I've seen it for at least a couple of weeks, presumably the same bird ...

5 Goldeneye (1 male) and 5+ Little Grebe, much reduced Wigeon numbers. Didn't count as too choppy and windy to do so easily.

Argal had 2 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Tufties and 2 Mute Swan.

Most interesting (and rather sad) was a dead ringed Tawny Owl beside the path on the east side - very bedraggled. One set of talons was clenching some lichen, the other set some frogspawn (or possibly toadspawn). Possibly it drowned after trying to catch frogs? And the lichen came off branches it was trying to pull itself out of the water with? Since it was next to the path possibly someone else had already fished it out ...

Does anyone still monitor these dead birds of prey for pesticides/rat poison/cause of death? (It's currently in the boot of the car - no room in the freezer!)

BTO type ring - GN 98131

Sorry to hear about the Wol. I sent a recently deceased Grey Heron to be tested last year, (haven't heard nuffin yet) but I think they do still take BOPs. I used to be Monks Wood, but they closed years ago. Look that up on t,net and see where it now directs you - if you don't find anything let me know and I'll try to look up where I sent it to. Put it in the freezer for now!!!

 

[dantheman]

Sorry to hear about the Wol. I sent a recently deceased Grey Heron to be tested last year, (haven't heard nuffin yet) but I think they do still take BOPs. I used to be Monks Wood, but they closed years ago. Look that up on t,net and see where it now directs you - if you don't find anything let me know and I'll try to look up where I sent it to. Put it in the freezer for now!!!

Cheers - looks like this is the place, I'll give them a call later.

https://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/display/pbms/Home;jsessionid=9A37B1D79C1C72DF8327A31049F13E77

 

[dantheman]

The sea has gone calm now the wind has dropped but couldn't pick up any grebes this morning unfortunately ...

Pendennis -

Raven 2, Rock Pipit 2, Whimbrel 2, with 2 Common Scoter and a Med Gull flying into the Carrick Roads. Distant Gannets and Auks (3 - 8 miles away) flying west. 1 GND in the roads. Very few gulls at the docks - 1 Peregrine sat atop one of the cranes. Half a dozen Linnet flying about.



wrt the owl, now in freezer, the spawn in a jam jar (it was actually around both talon sets), and a box on its way to send it in.

 

[Jacana]

I would imagine the owl was ringed locally. Let us know though when you hear where and when!

 

[Mark Grantham]

The owl was indeed a local bird, ringed at the reservoir back in 2011. I'm sure Dan will post full details when he gets them.

Pity I've not been keeping up Ilya or could have pointed you at a Barn Owl breeding site just outside Falmouth...

 

[dantheman]

Failing to keep up myself here -

Yesterday 8th Feb

College Res - 3+ Goldeneye, with displaying pair of Great Crested Grebes at Argal.

Today - Picked up 3 Slavonian Grebes and a Guillemot distantly off Swanpool beach this morning, with 2 distant Great Northern Divers and 2 Med Gulls out in Falmouth Bay as viewed from Pendennis Point. Razorbill in the Carrick Roads.

 

[dantheman]

2 Whimbrel and Med Gull at Castle Beach this morning, with Razorbill and a diver sp. in the Carrick Roads. Also rounded a corner on Pendennis to come across a Stoat attacking a Rabbit. Unfortunately flushed it off before I could back up. After a minute or two the rabbit came around, although not necessarily a good thing as it had fairly bad myxy.

With apologies to all those desperate to see Woodcock, bumped into one on a farm track yesterday afternoon near Treverva, although, again, views were rather brief.

 

[dantheman]

Picked up 2 Slavonian Grebes off Swanpool this afternoon - probably not too far out, although I was at Pendennis at the time, so a tad distant for me ... 6 Purple Sandpipers on Pendennis Point were nice.

Diver sp. (Probably Great Northern) in the Carrick Roads.

Robin and Magpies noted locally with nesting materials.

 

[Cornish Chough]

2 Whimbrel and Med Gull at Castle Beach this morning, with Razorbill and a diver sp. in the Carrick Roads. Also rounded a corner on Pendennis to come across a Stoat attacking a Rabbit. Unfortunately flushed it off before I could back up. After a minute or two the rabbit came around, although not necessarily a good thing as it had fairly bad myxy.

With apologies to all those desperate to see Woodcock, bumped into one on a farm track yesterday afternoon near Treverva, although, again, views were rather brief.

That will be me to start with,been trying to see one for many years.

 

[earleybird]

Dan you're just the man....:t: ,....... to ask about bird photography locations in the Falmouth area . Hope you'll excuse the hyjack of your thread

I'm looking to spend the Easter weekend campervanning in the area (campsite) and I'm hoping you can recommend some easily accessable locations for togging birds and wildlife and general exploring on foot.

We usually look for reservoirs in an area as they are generally good spots to park and explore from, with a huge diversity of wildlife and different habitats
.I notice that there is the Argal, College and Sithian and we are bound to walk along the Devorian creek .
Also accessable esturies, and coastline.?

Where would you recommend we visit in a 4x day stay. ?

 

[dantheman]

Dan you're just the man....:t: ,....... to ask about bird photography locations in the Falmouth area . Hope you'll excuse the hyjack of your thread

Really should change my username ... lol

And I don't see it as my thread, although admittedly it's mostly used to post my sightings, so fire away!

I'm looking to spend the Easter weekend campervanning in the area (campsite) and I'm hoping you can recommend some easily accessable locations for togging birds and wildlife and general exploring on foot.

We usually look for reservoirs in an area as they are generally good spots to park and explore from, with a huge diversity of wildlife and different habitats
.I notice that there is the Argal, College and Sithian and we are bound to walk along the Devorian creek .
Also accessable esturies, and coastline.?

Where would you recommend we visit in a 4x day stay. ?

Hopefully others will chip in too. Not a bird photographer myself, so not totally sure on how close you will want to be approaching the birds. I would say that the area is a bit of a poor relation compared to the bird hotspots of Marazion/Penzance and St Ives/Hayle estuary to the west and the Camel estuary to the NE. Although the area is nice (nicer? ) and has its own potential ...

At the moment Argal Res is fearsomely muddy, hopefully with a drier spring it will improve. It is also not that renowned for a large bird population - College Res now has a good path down the west side, and hopefully some more birds. Bittern'll probably be gone by then. Stithians has some good access points and a nice walk around the east side. The coast path between Maenporth and Falmouth, indeed the whole of the Carrick Roads (west side around Mylor and the Roseland peninsula in the east) good for walking. Further west the Helford is nice ... then there's the Lizard peninsula ... There's also plenty of good hostelries in these popular walking/birding spots!

Swanpool in Falmouth is the place to see close up waterfowl and the like.

Anyway, keep an eye on the thread and the county news providers (Cornwall Birding and CBWPS) for what's about and get in touch nearer the time if you like. Spring should be flowing more by then.

 

[earleybird]

thanks Dan thats an excellent appraisal cheers.:t:

We are just looking for some pleasant areas, near water , to walk in , enjoy the scenery and wildlife and hopefully take some pictures. We have modest Bridge cameras with 30x magnification (720mm) which are perfect for hand carry and getting closeup record shots .

It would be fair to say that we are just novice toggers and birders combining several of our interests on short breaks in the SW looking forward to seeing what the area has to offer .

 

[Samuel Perfect]

The coastal footpath between Maenporth and Pendennis Point is definitely one of the most scenic areas with a good potential for birds, whilst Swanpool can guarantee close up views of a common selection of waterfowl (ideal for photographic purposes). Although numbers of waterfowl at College Reservoir will decrease towards the spring I expect you will still have a good opportunity for some photographs, particularly as most birds will be moulting into their stunning breeding plumage which should make for some attractive photos.

I would recomend College Reservoir over Argal as it is comparitively drier, has a bigger variety and number of birds and is not under disturbance from fishermen.

Dan, I think the username's fine just a little bit confused as to the relevance of the profile picture? :-O

 

[earleybird]

thanks for that Samuel that gives us a coastal option too . :t:

 

[dantheman]

Dan, I think the username's fine just a little bit confused as to the relevance of the profile picture?

Struggled to think of a suitable username when I joined, so used (about the only complimentary-ish nickname I've ever had) my 'username' I got given when I did a section of a long distance footpath in the states - but personally I think it's just a bit corny and makes me cringe sometimes ...

The avatar pic is from when everyone was having Christmas avatars the Christmas before last - found a nice piccie of a mint humbug on t'web and wrote 'bah humbug' below it. Changed it a while back to read 'blah' humbug as occasionally think I might woffle a tiny bit ... ?

So now you know

Think it's about time I changed the avatar pic, flip side is of course I'll be in plenty of time for next Christmas if I don't ...



Birds - male Stonechat and Little Egret at Castle Beach this afternoon (wasn't really birding so didn't go elsewhere).

 

[dantheman]

Gorangorras on the Penryn River this morning -

Red-breasted Merganser mf roosting
Teal 35+
Redshank 30+
Greenshank 3
Curlew 40+
Herring Gull 25
BH Gull 63
LBBGull 11 - a bit of return passage going on ...
GBB Gull 2
Little Grebe 3
Snipe 15

Argal Res - Mute Swan 2, Tufted Duck 9, GCG 1, Mallard 2, BH Gull 20+ as viewed from the dam

College Res -

Mute Swan 2
Canada Goose 4
Wigeon 38
Tufted Duck 40+
Goldeneye 2 (mf)
Mallard 4
Teal 9
Coot c.50
Moorhen 6+
Grey Heron 2
Cormorant 6
Kingfisher (h)
GBBGull 2

Also a Peregrine hunting over nearby farmland.

Sadly deceased Diver sp. at Swanpool Beach - prob Great Northern, will look into it.

 

[Samuel Perfect]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for passing the news on of the dead diver at Swanpool. I checked it out about an hour after getting your text but couldn't find it! Either I'm a terrible birder or it was possibly taken away by someone. Did you take any photographs of it? I took some pics of a dead GND I found at Marazion last year, how does it compare to this?

Cheers,

 

[dantheman]

Thanks for passing the news on of the dead diver at Swanpool. I checked it out about an hour after getting your text but couldn't find it! Either I'm a terrible birder or it was possibly taken away by someone. Did you take any photographs of it? I took some pics of a dead GND I found at Marazion last year, how does it compare to this?

Not much like! Problem was the neck wasn't in great condition. Other stuff of course can be ambiguous. It was at the high tide level near those rocks on the right hand side. And failing to successfully twitch a dead bird doesn't make you a bad birder though lol

 

[Samuel Perfect]

I checked that area fairly thoroughly, ah well :-C

I think the diver should be separable based on bill depth and shape as BT and RT both have significantly different bill types. Having said that, when I first came across the one I photographed it took me a good couple of minutes to be sure of myself that I was in fact starring at a GND! Just shows how much more difficult it can be IDing birds on such a close range that we are simply not used to,

 

[dantheman]

I checked that area fairly thoroughly, ah well :-C

I think the diver should be separable based on bill depth and shape as BT and RT both have significantly different bill types. Having said that, when I first came across the one I photographed it took me a good couple of minutes to be sure of myself that I was in fact starring at a GND! Just shows how much more difficult it can be IDing birds on such a close range that we are simply not used to,

Was quite tempted to hang on to it, but no way would it fit in the freezer, and it has gone a bit mild in the last day or two ... Suzi would not be impressed, even though it is valentine's day

Actually gone and put in on a fresh thread - http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=250720


Size etc on birds close up always tricky!