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Cornish mouse

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United Kingdom
I'm nearing the end of my first month of birding and feeling like I have hit a wall as have reached the limit of the birds I'm likely to trip over in my local area. If I want to add to my life list and reach my goal of 100 birds by Christmas (currently at 61) I'm going to have to start planning my searches, going to unfamiliar places and probably taking the time to sit quiet and be patient for prolonged time (not something I excel at 🤣). This evening I dragged myself up to the north coast and took a walk down the gannel hoping to see some wading and other marsh birds and perhaps some different sea birds. I was able to add a redshank and a whimbrel to my list. I do wonder if I'm seeing other types of gulls in amongst our huge herring gull population but I'm never sure enough. Has anyone got any advice on gull identification and what I'm likely to see in the Cornwall area? Currently have herring gull, black headed gull and yellow legged gull on my list.

This weekend I'm going to do a little paddleboarding around the coast so fingers crossed for some new sea birds
 
Based on relative abundance and likelihood of occurrence, your yellow-legged gull is more than likely lesser black-backed gull - YLG is more like a herring gull in structure (i.e. quite a big brute), but does have a slightly darker mantle (upper wing colour) than herring, so can be confusable with LBB, particularly in strong light. Gull ID is at the difficult end of the birding spectrum though, so don't worry if you're not finding it easy!

In terms of targets, 61 isn't a bad total at all for your first months birding. In terms of adding new species the eBird app and website will tell you what is being seen locally, and give you a feel for what is likely in your local area at different times of year.

Personally I would focus initially more on your local area, and gaining confidence with the species that occur there regularly, rather than aiming for a big target straightaway. If you can find a local naturalists or bird club running field trips, seek them out too, as there is no substitute for the knowledge of an experienced birder. And if you haven't done so already, get a decent hard copy field guide ('Britains Birds' photo guide or the RSPB guide are good starting points) and read them.
 
The other widespread gulls are Common Gull, Great Black-back, Lesser Black-back, and Kittiwake. You should have Mediterranean Gull and Caspian Gull down there as well, with Little Gull possible on migration. The next most likely are rare winter visitors like Glaucous and Iceland Gull.

Be warned though, lots of birders still find gulls difficult even after many years birding experience, let alone after one month.
 
The Hayle estuary in winter will have all sorts but it’s still a lot of work going through them. Think we had 9 or 10 species in February there. Can’t remember if we had Caspian. But a ton of work with the scope and I don’t think I would have found ring billed by myself
 
Based on relative abundance and likelihood of occurrence, your yellow-legged gull is more than likely lesser black-backed gull - YLG is more like a herring gull in structure (i.e. quite a big brute), but does have a slightly darker mantle (upper wing colour) than herring, so can be confusable with LBB, particularly in strong light. Gull ID is at the difficult end of the birding spectrum though, so don't worry if you're not finding it easy!

In terms of targets, 61 isn't a bad total at all for your first months birding. In terms of adding new species the eBird app and website will tell you what is being seen locally, and give you a feel for what is likely in your local area at different times of year.

Personally I would focus initially more on your local area, and gaining confidence with the species that occur there regularly, rather than aiming for a big target straightaway. If you can find a local naturalists or bird club running field trips, seek them out too, as there is no substitute for the knowledge of an experienced birder. And if you haven't done so already, get a decent hard copy field guide ('Britains Birds' photo guide or the RSPB guide are good starting points) and read them.
Thanks for the advice :)
 
The other widespread gulls are Common Gull, Great Black-back, Lesser Black-back, and Kittiwake. You should have Mediterranean Gull and Caspian Gull down there as well, with Little Gull possible on migration. The next most likely are rare winter visitors like Glaucous and Iceland Gull.

Be warned though, lots of birders still find gulls difficult even after many years birding experience, let alone after one month.
Thanks, I will read up on them to figure out what I'm looking for to distinguish them.
 
The Hayle estuary in winter will have all sorts but it’s still a lot of work going through them. Think we had 9 or 10 species in February there. Can’t remember if we had Caspian. But a ton of work with the scope and I don’t think I would have found ring billed by myself
I like Hayle estuary, it's a little far from me but I've hiked the whole coast path around there in the past. Perhaps a paddleboarding trip down there would be good later in the year if it's not too cold! I saw a barn owl from my board on the fal estuary last year I was well chuffed with that!
 
I do wonder if I'm seeing other types of gulls in amongst our huge herring gull population but I'm never sure enough. Has anyone got any advice on gull identification and what I'm likely to see in the Cornwall area? Currently have herring gull, black headed gull and yellow legged gull on my list.
'Tis easy for me, as I've said before on here, I don't do gulls, they're far too difficult!

Maybe live in Australia, there's very few gulls there LOL
 
I don't mind trying with adult gulls, but I've not even dipped my toe into learning the various juvenile plumages - unless they're actively pestering a parent for food and I can tell who they belong to, I just write them off as 'young gull' on sight, and don't record them at all. Maybe one day!

As for the topic of expanding the search and finding more birds in your area, by far my favourite way to explore new locations is with the Ebird hotspot map. Centre it on my location, then look around for the pins within reach of my preferred amount of travel time, using the colour coding to pick the ones with the most potential for a lot of birds and a good day out! I also use the Bird List link found on each hotspot's page, to check out what other people have been seeing there - a place with just a couple of birders in the past couple of years, who saw a handful of birds each, is much less of a draw than the ones with a ton of visits in the last few weeks alone, where the most recent person's name has tallied up 40+ species in a single day!

I don't know if you already use the site or not - just ignore me if you know all this and I'm stating the obvious here - but here's a quick link with the map centred on the Gannel estuary hotspot (easy to scoot it around to bookmark a different one closer to where you actually do live, but that's the only place you mentioned specifically in your post!)

 
I would add that July in Cornwall will be pretty much the quietest month of the year for bird diversity. You will see an uptick as autumm passage starts getting going from now and as a result, you will still be able to cover your local area and see new birds.

Sixty species is actually a good return for July in Cornwall. So you would not need to expand your area if you did not wish to do so. You could still reach 100 species this year without doing so. (Your gulls were not Yellow-legged Gulls though as has been pointed out.)

Most importantly, have fun & enjoy what you do....

All the best

Paul
 

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I would add that July in Cornwall will be pretty much the quietest month of the year for bird diversity. You will see an uptick as autumm passage starts getting going from now and as a result, you will still be able to cover your local area and see new birds.

Sixty species is actually a good return for July in Cornwall. So you would not need to expand your area if you did not wish to do so. You could still reach 100 species this year without doing so. (Your gulls were not Yellow-legged Gulls though as has been pointed out.)

Most importantly, have fun & enjoy what you do....

All the best

Paul
Haha Wonder why I'm not in that list? Thanks I've updated my list and changed it to a lesser black backed. That's very reassuring to know that it will get busier I kinda expected the opposite :)
 

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I would add that July in Cornwall will be pretty much the quietest month of the year for bird diversity. You will see an uptick as autumm passage starts getting going from now and as a result, you will still be able to cover your local area and see new birds.

Sixty species is actually a good return for July in Cornwall. So you would not need to expand your area if you did not wish to do so. You could still reach 100 species this year without doing so. (Your gulls were not Yellow-legged Gulls though as has been pointed out.)

Most importantly, have fun & enjoy what you do....

All the best

Paul
Also I think I'm just very lucky I have plenty of moorland, wetland, coast, estuaries, woodland and farmland all within a 15 mins drive. We happened to have tawny owls nesting at the back of our garden they've gone for now tho. My garden backs onto a small steam with trees that runs for a couple of miles like a nature corridor between all the houses. We also get lots of bats which I enjoy watching at dusk
 
I'm nearing the end of my first month of birding and feeling like I have hit a wall as have reached the limit of the birds I'm likely to trip over in my local area.
Birding doesn't need to be only about listing, though. It's possible to get great satisfaction from focusing on one particular species and observing it in detail. The birder whose book about peregrines pretty much changed my life (R.B. Treleaven) lived in North Cornwall and I've always wanted to visit the areas he frequented but for Cornwall being so rammed in summer. It's been close to 20 years since I saw my first one and I've been lucky enough to see some pretty neat things, but the joy of just seeing one in flight is very much still there - moderated a little by time and experience now I suppose, but still as compelling as ever.
 

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