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Falmouth Birding (4 Viewers)

Trotsky1977 said:
Summin that you started, Dan, in 2007!
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All educational ;) If I'd connected with the bird I'm sure it would have been written out fully, in bold, and underlined ;)

Out this morning for a few hours, bumped into Samuel, a spot of seawatching from above Swanpool Point and a look at Swanpool too, easterly component to the wind so not expecting much tho, and windy for passerines too

Falmouth Bay

1 GND, 2+ RNGrebe, 1 Slav Grebe, with 3 Diver sp. west probably the highlights.
 
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I don't have much to add to Dan's totals from today except for 2 distant small grebe spp. (probably Slavs), 2 Ravens a couple adult Med Gulls, at least 3 Fulmar and a decent number of auks moving offshore in a general E to W direction.

I must admit, I was more relieved to have the brief opportunity to get outdoors than actually aim at seeing something. Patching for me will commence in earnest after the 14th :)-O) as I have a lot to catch up on with the Foot it and Patchwork challenge so will post more regular updates from then onwards.
 
Had a quick sniff around Pendennis Point, just a few Gannets flying over and one Fulmar.

At Castle Beach a Razorbill and a couple of Little Egret and the billy-no-mates Redshank

Cheers

Simon
 
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Yep forgot 4 Med Gull past, Fulmars kicking about and a few Razorbill and Guillemot on the sea, in addition to distant moving auks, Gannets and Kittiwakes.


The Redshank is interesting - an uncommon bird on the shoreline.

With the one or two Curlew that hang about on the rocky shoreline I wonder if these are from a different population/ range or a learned feeding behaviour preference from the normal group which feed in grassy fields/mudflats as per the roosting flock around the Penryn River.
 
dantheman said:
Yep forgot 4 Med Gull past, Fulmars kicking about and a few Razorbill and Guillemot on the sea, in addition to distant moving auks, Gannets and Kittiwakes.


The Redshank is interesting - an uncommon bird on the shoreline.

With the one or two Curlew that hang about on the rocky shoreline I wonder if these are from a different population/ range or a learned feeding behaviour preference from the normal group which feed in grassy fields/mudflats as per the roosting flock around the Penryn River.
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Is the Redshank copying Turnstone foraging?

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/9378/1/p00034-p00035.pdf
 
A quick foray this morning. Seawatch from Swanpool point, sw winds but not strong. A sweep of the bay produced c.30 Gannets moving west, including a few flocks of c.8-10, most birds recently have been individuals. Falmouth Bay -

1 Balearic Shearwater (pale) west
A few Kittiwakes and auks west
1 Med Gull
1 Slav Grebe
1 RN Grebe
1 BT Diver not too far out
4 GN Diver scattered
30+ Guillemot
3 Razorbill
Fulmar (+on the cliffs), no large Shag flock.

1 dead Razorbill on Swanpool beach.

Swanpool - c.40 Tufted Duck, 2 Raven over
Swanvale - Nuthatch, Water Rail
Falmouth cemetary - Sparrowhawk, 5+ Redwing etc


This afternoon -

Penryn River, Gorrangorras

3 Greenshank, c.30 each Curlew and Redshank, c.10 Mute Swan, 8 Teal, 1 Turnstone, 5+ Little Grebe
In the fields behind - 100+ Chaffinch, 5 Redwing, 25+ Starling etc

Greenbank Gardens -

3 Oystercatcher, 1 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, with 1 Guillemot in Falmouth Harbour.
 
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Bit of an epic today, mostly down to the 'foot-it' challenge.

Falmouth -

Restormel/Wodehouse Terrace - 1 f Black Redstart

Greenbank Gardens - Common Sandpiper still

Gorrangorras - 2 Sandwich Terns roosting (c.9:30, also in flight at c.2pm still). Also Greenshank, c.20 Redshank, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Turnstone, 12 Teal, 2 Mallard, 18 Mute Swan, Moorhen. Kingfisher on the rising tide (c.2pm) etc

Flushing - 6 Blackcap in Ivy (+others elsewhere)

Carrick Roads (from Mylor Churchtown and to Trefusis Point)-

9 Great Northern Diver
2 Black-throated Diver
4 Diver sp. (in the seaward half, but looking into the sun).
57 Black-necked Grebe
6 BN/Slav Grebe (too distant to tell which)
3 Great Crested Grebe
2+ Little Grebe
3 Eider (2f 1m)
1 Common Scoter f
25+ Red-breasted Merganser
4 Razorbill
2 Curlew, Redshank etc
1 Chiffchaff
50+ Canada Goose in flight

Mylor peninsula - flock c.100 Redwing

Bissom/Gorrangorras sewage works (for want of a better name)

3 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest


Trescobeas Park stubble field - 12 Skylark

Hit my target of 90, on foot, within a 2 mile radius of the house in January, currently on 91 with several 'common' species still to get. But a bit tired right now.
 
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Samuel Perfect said:
Congrats! Seems I have a lot of catching up to do
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Cheers, bit surprised, but there was a fair bit of birding involved.

You've still got two weeks (just have to skip a few lectures along the way ;) ) ... plus I'm probably going to have to do some work/start driving again, so not expecting too many more!
 
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This morning from Swanpool Point -

3 Black-throated Divers west
1 Red-throated Diver west
2 Great Northern Divers on the sea
2 Med Gulls in the dog walking field with 150+ BH Gulls
 
First decent chance to do an afternoons patching in a long time.

First off, Swanpool, which produced the necessary garden bird species for the foot it challenge list including Bullfinches.

Swanpool Point finally rewarded me with my first patch Black-throated Diver (unfortunately I missed out on the big numbers earlier in the year). Also about were 2 Slavonian Grebes, 2 GNDs, 1 RNGrebe, several Guillemots amongst the feeding flock of Shags. A Cormorant, Fulmar and Razorbill were also seen flying around the bay.

I bumped into Greg at Swanpool Point before continuing down to the rocky shore in our search for washed up sea birds. We worked our way along from Swanpool Point to Castle Beach before retracing our steps back to Swanpool.

Dead Bird counts along the stretch include:

Swanpool Beach:

Shag 1 (no head and foot missing too)
Razorbill (probably an adult as it had 3 grooves beyond the vertical white stripe on the bill)

Gylly Beach:

Shag 3

Castle Beach:

GND 1 (no head)
Guillemot 1

Live birds were a little more enjoyable and included the long-staying Black Redstart still at Castle Beach along with 4 Rock Pipits and a Mipit. The Redshank was also on the rocky shore along with a single Whimbrel.
 
Forget to mention the most bizarre sighting of the day! I was walking back through town, near the Rugby club, when a Kingfisher shot across the road and down a side ally at the southern end of Tregenver Road :eek!:!! Needless to say it took me totally by surprise but the iridescent blue flash on the mantle was unmistakable (not to mention its shape and jizz).
 
Samuel Perfect said:
Always one step ahead
Click to expand...

But it won't count for the foot it cos I went by car ...


This morning -

1 Black-throated Diver offshore with the 200+ Shag flock, a further 8 distantly.
1 GNDiver off Pendennis with 1 Slav Grebe


Swanvale - 1 Water Rail, showing nicely, also 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (GSW), territorial drumming and display.
 
A couple hours down at College and Argal Res's produced the usual expected species, but at least something to add to the patchwork challenge list.

College Res:

1 hybrid 1st winter drake Scaup x Pochard
2 Mute Swans
3 Canada Geese
1 hybrid Canada x Greylag
3 GCGrebes
1 Little Grebe
93 Wigeon
2 female Goldeneye
10 Teal
18 Tufted Ducks
33 Coot
40 Curlew
7 Cormorants
3 Grey Heron
28 BhGulls
2 GBBGulls
31 HGulls

Argal Res:

2 Mute Swan
2 Tufted Duck
3 Mallard
1 Cormorant
6 BhGulls

pics shows that the black extends beyond the nail, the continuous slope from the forehead to the bill and the peak in the central part of the crown all lead me to believe that this is a Scaup x Pochard hybrid. The dark culmen is also a supportive feature as neither Tufted Duck or pure Scaup have this.
 

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A long walk around patch with Dan today incorporating Pennance Point and the neighbouring golf course, Maenporth then north through Tregedna Farm and Budock Water.

Swanpool produced 1 Kingfisher and 2 flyover Ravens.

A quick scan of the bay from Pennance Point rewarded us with 3 Great Northern Divers and 3 distant probable Black-throated Divers. A couple Kittiwakes also flew past along with small numbers of Guillemot and Razorbill.

As expected, the farmland was relatively quiet and we even failed to locate Linnets for our foot it challenge list. None the less, we did finally manage to add Rook to both our lists. Bits and bobs dotted around the area including flyover Peregrine at Maenporth, Red Fox wondering the fields somewhere between Budock and Argal Res, 1 Buzzard and our first Red Admiral of the year!

Dan left for home once we reached Swanpool where I continued alone back towards the coast for a second visit. I headed straight for the cafe at Swanpool as I couldn't be bothered to walk all the way down to Pennance again. Fortunately, it was worth the effort as there was still plenty to see from the cafe. 2 Common Gulls (an adult and 1st winter), 2 ad. Med Gulls and 2 BTDs. Most surprising of all was a flock of 18 GNDs in a close-knit feeding group only c.200m off Penannce Point (a rather unusual sighting given that GNDs prefer to spread themselves out whilst BTDs have a greater tendency to feed in groups!) They put on a good show and remained at the surface for some time between dives, allowing a through check to make sure it consisted 100% of GNDs. Another single GND was also drifting closer inshore towards Swanpool Point.

It took some time to finally connect with my first coastal grebe of the day, a nice Red-necked only a couple hundred meters offshore. Of added bonus was my first Bonxie from patch that flew westwards through the bay. It was rather distant and almost unIDable but jizz, shape and large size along with a brief harassing of a gull put any doubt out of mind.
 

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An afternoon down at Swanpool and Gylly:

Swanpool:

1 ad. Med Gull

Swanpool Point:

2 ad. Med Gulls
6 Ringed Plover
6 Turnstone
2 Little Egret
2 (pair) Stonechat
Guilles and Razorbill

no divers or grebes offshore and very few Shags

Castle Beach:

2 Whimbrel
1 Black Redstart
1 Grey Wagtail
1 male Stonechat

dead birds:

Gylly:

1 headless Shag

Castle Beach:

2 Shags (1 headless)
1 Guillemot
1 headless Guillemot/Razordbill unIDable
 
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