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| 1st May 2009 A new strategy was set in motion this morning for combining birding with uni work - less sleep. This was working well until I got back to type up my sightings from a decent early morning outing to College and Argal Reservoirs, then went and ruined it by falling asleep at the keyboard! This is going to be a tough balancing act of commitments. Back to the sightings (before snoozing off again). A full curcuit of Argal had the notepad adorned with 1 Tree Pipit (over), 1 Little Egret (over), 1 Kingfisher, 3 Swallows, 7 Willow Warblers, 4 Whitethroats, 4 Chiffchaffs, 6 Blackcaps and 1 Bullfinch amongst others. The Tree Pipit (Tripit?) was a new patch bird for me, which was very welcome. Over to College Res and after passing through quickly with little to show on the route to Argal, things had transformed. Clouds rolled in laden with drizzle and from nowhere 8 Swifts, 17 House Martins, c30 Swallows and c30 Sand Martins dropped in. What a way to herald the new month beginning by sighting the first swifts of the year. Mezmorizing birds to watch. Whilst in a state of said mezmorization a little bird hopped around the woodland floor mere meters away. A snap glance revealed a female Lesser Redpoll, not only another new patch bird but a Cornwall one for me (after 3 years of birding here!). |
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| 5th May 2009 Greeted first thing by a grim, cloudy, windy sky I thought it looked perfect for some bird movements and within half an hour was down at College Res for a lenghty scan. With minimal duck action right now most attention was turned on the skies in hope of a Hobby or another scarce migrant. First up was a Garden Warbler, singing away in gorse near the road bridge, a new one for the year, then after half an hour 4 Swifts joined a steady stream of Swallows which numbered 40+ during the scan. A little while after, a large lanky bird joined the skies which took me quite by suprise. Bins on to it and immediately was either a large grebe or a small diver. With no camera it was down to taking field notes in the short amount of time available. I noted a plain upper wing, white underwing, smallish feet, long neck, dark head and a fairly calm jizz for such a thin winged bird. Upon checking out my sources of reference back at home it appeared this all pointed to Red-throated Diver, extrordinary! and not suprisingly a new bird for the patch. |
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| 2nd May 2009 Local Bird News - Stithians Res - 3 Cuckoos + 1 Garden Warbler |
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| 4th May 2009 Local Bird News - Pendennis Point - 2 Whimbrels (on rocks) Stithians Res - 5 Whimbrels, 1 Cuckoo + 1 Marsh Tit |
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| 8th May 2009 Another day, another early morning trip to the patch in hope of something a bit special. No one bird stood out as unusual though in a blustery and showery walk but again the weather brought in decent numbers of hirundines including c30 Swifts which put on a great show. All the while during the scan, the Garden Warbler sang away, joined by 4 Linnets, and a Bullfinch sporadically. Out on the choppy waves were families of Mallard and Canada Goose, both species which try every year but don't always succeed to raise young. There must be pike lurking down in the murky deapths I reckon. My first juvenile Robin hopping about and young Rooks still on nests were signs that spring is rapidly progressing. |
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| 15th May 2009 Down the Lizard peninsula today but with fairly attrocious weather first thing. Not suprisingly this meant little was seen whilst checking out Hayle Kimbro pool. At Church Cove the rain petered out and the protected topography on the east coast of the peninsula meant that some birding could be done. It was fab to bump into about 4 Spotted Flycatchers here, though counting was made hard due to their extreme, incessant need for flies! Other birds in the vicinity included 2 Sedge Warblers, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Swifts, 4 Linnets and a steady passage of hirundines. Lizard Point was the next obvious spot with seawatching conditions looking good. 100's of Manx Shearwaters were moving through with lesser numbers of Fulmars, Gannets, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Shags and 1 Whimbrel. The Choughs were nowhere to be seen; sensibly laying low. Long thought-out, calculated choices lead us to Lizard village fields, Croft Pascoe pool and Coverack valley where we saw very little! The spot.flies. maintain that a trip to the Lizard is very rarely a let-down. |
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| 14th May 2009 "... six hours later and we'd reached home". This might sound like the stunning conclusion to an epic walk covering a vast distance, but no! Myself and my mate, Jacob, only reached the bottom of the patch and back home again in this time. The wonderment of flowers (err, I mean distraction) and a concomitant botanists pace; the cause. Nearly 150 wildflower species 'in the bag' for the local area was a suprising sum and the birds were trying their best to make it onto the auxiliary avian list. A visit to the patch only takes one amazing piece of behaviour or a special sight to make it a worthwhile work. Today was the turn of nesting Blue Tits popping in and out of a beautiful looking nest-hole in an ancient knarled oak at Argal Reservoir with lime-green catterpillars in their beaks. The young could just be heard faintly screaching away to be fed which was great to watch. Other birds seen included 2 Marsh Tits, 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Bullfinches, 1 Pheasant, 3 Whitethroats, 8 Swifts, 4 Sand Martins and a country ton of Swallows. |
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| 19th June 2009 My time at university in the fabulous county of Cornwall has abrutly come to an end. I always knew it would as when you're having fun you never want it to end! Firstly, a few exciting sightings, from the last few weeks during which I wasn't able to update this website. On the 17th May I popped up to the north coast to Tintagel and Boscastle where Peregrines, Ravens and offshore Manx Shearwaters all put in appearances. Up at Davidstow, 9 late migrating Dunlins complete with black bellies were on the airfield pools. On the 21st May the Lizard produced some good breeding birds including Grasshopper Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoos and a late migrating Spotted Flycatcher. At windmill farm on the Lizard a Sedge Warbler was heard immitating the calls/songs of over 10 species, confusing wasn't the word! An early morning walk to check the campus moth trap on 27th rewarded me with a fly-by Hobby falcon which at head-height and close range was a fantastic bird to see locally. A late Whimbrel was at Stithians Res. on 28th May although it was heard only, a new bird for me here and only possible to see them in a short window of time locally. A couple of calls within half an hour on the 30th May alerted me to the presence of first an Osprey over Argal and then a BLACK KITE coming the same way. For the latter I pegged it out of the house and down to the reservoir but both had obviously drifted away. What could have been as i've never seen either locally! A Cetti's Warbler was singing at Helston Loe Pool on 5th June along with an overwhelming migration of Painted Lady butterflies, numbering around 1000! Amongst this lot was a vagrant Red-veined Darter Dragonfly, a nice suprise find. On the 7th June a day trip up to Crackington Haven on the north coast again showed up a Marsh Tit and more Peregrines in some lovely sunny weather. On the 12th and my last full birding day in Cornwall revealed 1 Whimbrel, 6 Sandwich Terns, 3 Reed Warblers at Hayle Estuary, 6 Sanderlings and 3 Cetti's Warblers at Marazion Marsh, good views of a hunting Hobby at Hayle Kimbro pool (Lizard), and finally down the Lizard Point where a family of 5 Choughs and a migrant Sand Martin were spotted amongst others. So whilst few rarities were seen/found it was good birding throughout the busy period. In the Falmouth area the only quality bird seen by others during the period was Red Kite over Mylor Creek, 11th May, so it was generally a quiet May/June for the area. It's now my time is over that I can reflect superficially on some of the sights and sounds which Cornwall has offered me in the last three years. I will put up an article soon of the highlights of my time in the county, and if you're lucky maybe a few photos too! Cheers. |
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