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| February 2007 Archive |
| 1st, February 2007 To cut an awfully long story (and walk) short, I went in search of Woodlarks at SW.775.315, south of Argal Reservoir and west of Falmouth. Anyway, I didnt see them. This was because a herd of cattle with calves were blocking a gate, stopping me in my tracks and I couildnt get past! (silly I know but they're scary!) Along the way though on the farmland there were 50+Linnets, 5 Goldfinch and 1 Sparrowhawk (female). A patch of woodland held a male Blackcap, Grey Wagtail and 2 Jay. The Tufted Duck remained at Argal Reservoir with a female Goosander still, whilst highlights at College were 2 Goldeneye, 2 Great Crested Grebes and a single female Pochard. |
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| 2nd, February 2007 After yesterdays wintering Blackcap locally it was pleasant to see a wintering Chiffchaff on the Tremough Campus this afternoon. Other birds on Campus included 2 Meadow Pipits, 3 Pied Wagtail, 1 noisy Robin and 5+Greenfinches roosting in deciduous trees before dark. A Tawny Owl has been calling in recent nights at about 8pm, rather early in the evening. |
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| 5th, February 2007 A Photographic Fiesta ensued today with gorgeous weather bringing out the best in all of the birds. I biked it down to Pendennis where the sea was calm and a bumble bee buzzed around the headland (very early). 3 Black-throated Divers and a Razorbill were offshore but generally quiet. A Meadow Pipit here was on the search for dropped food. Then onto Swanpool taking my time along the way to enjoy the weather. On the lake Coots were very active, chasing each other around with 4 Little Grebes, Mallards and c50 Tufted Ducks. A wander up Swanvale showed up a Stunning but elusive male Bullfinch, Robin and some other common garden birds. Pennance point on the other side of Swanpool bay showed up another Black-throated Diver, with Shags and Cormorants constanly flying past (no sign of the huge concentration of shags today). 3 Pairs of Fulmars are back on the cliffs beneath the coastal path, back towards Swanpool. A stop at the Penryn Quayside on the route home was quiet but a Redshank preened close to the harbour wall.Days this good don't come along very often! |
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| 3rd, February 2007 A very quiet walk around College Reservoir was intercepted by a juvenile Scaup near the dam with some Tufted Ducks. This is my first site record but they have been recorded in the past. I also took some time to explore some beds beyond the reservoir on the other side of the A39 road bridge. This area was quiet but looks promising for the spring. |
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| 14th, February 2007 Happy valentines day... Sorry for the lack of reports but it has been the weather's fault only! Our winter of rain is hopefully coming to an end in Cornwall now and today a sunny sky and free afternoon allowed me to head out beyond Flushing along the coastal path. The walk following the river Penryn was productive with 6 Greenshank, 14 Curlew (one for every day of february so far!), Redshanks, 3 Little Grebe and 3 Little Egrets. Flushing was full of Blackcaps, I counted at least 8 (2 males which were very grey on the back and 6 females) feeding on berries in the gardens mainly. Beyond Flushing the coastal path overlooks the Carrick Roads but it was slightly disappointing with 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, c40 Shags and 1 Kittiwake. Goldfinches and Bullfinches kept me company along most of the walk and are always nice to see but a certain sign of early spring were singing Chaffinches, a lovely song, full of energy. Local bird News - Castle Beach - 1 Black Redstart and 1 G.N.Diver Pennance Point - 2 Black-throated Divers, Razorbills |
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| 17th, February 2007 I went down to College Res. with a friend at around lunch today, it was raining and I wasnt hopeful for anything interesting. On the way we came across a flock of c15 Linnets near Mabe. Argal was quiet with a high prescence of anglers present at both reservoirs today. Moving on to College we came to an opening and soon found 5+Goldeneye, 1 Great Crested Grebe, and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull whilst searching the sizeable gull flock. Then I spotted a GLAUCOUS GULL 1st winter out on the water. It stuck out like a sore thumb and I was over the moon! What a local patch bird! Very burly and with a bulbous beak I was pretty sure it wasn't an Iceland. New year tick and Local Patch tick! Local Bird News - Gerrans Bay - 1 Red-necked Grebe, 8 Slavonian Grebe, 1 G.N.Diver |
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| 18th, February 2007 Went for a 5 mile wander around the Helford Passage today. It wasn't really a birding trip and I didnt see much consequently, but birds out on the water included 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring + Black-headed Gulls, 2 Shag, 1 Cormorant. Up one of the creeks on the mud there were plenty of Little Egrets with at least 8 present. A Pheasant called at Gillian Creek south of the Helford Passage - quite a good bird for the area. Otherwise it was just Meadow Pipits, Finches and Tits. Local Bird News - Swanpool - Yellow-browed Warbler (in bushes at seaward end) |
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| 19th, February 2007 News of a possible Pacific Diver at Penzance had me heading out just after 7am and arriving an hour and a half later. The weather was awful, possibly the worst conditions i've ever birded in, even so I persisted and found a sheltered spot west of the Jubilee Pool to scan across the bay from. Close in shore was a Guillemot whilst far out were plenty of Gannets, Auks and 4 Manx Shearwater (a bit out of season!). I found a couple of Great-northern Diver and then I spotted 'the' diver. Obviously smaller than the great-northerns but I couldnt make out the characteristic chin strap, however the bird was really far out and disappearing beneath the line of sight due to a massive swell. The bird had no white patch on the flanks and a puffy neck but it was too distant to see the back pattern. Woohoo - Pacific Diver! (photo at www.cbwps.org.uk). A search down Love Lane for yellow-browed warbler wasnt as lucky but a Chiffchaff and Goldfinches showed well at least and a quick count of the wader flock at jubilee pool totalled 2 Turnstone and 18 Purple Sandpiper. Even with a quality lifer and 2 more year-ticks I was really glad to get back to the warm, dry comfort of Penzance Train Station and sat down for a bacon saani and hot chocolate! |
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| 20th, February 2007 No sign of the Glaucous Gull this afternoon at College Res. but I was gobsmacked to find a 1w Ring-billed Gull on the periphery of the group of Herring Gulls out on the water. It had flecking on the mantle and long primaries giving it a long appearance overall. It was smaller than the accompanying herring gulls and there were also a couple of Common Gulls adults for size comparison which it closer matched. If this wasn't enough a Chiffchaff was busily calling away in the background, wonderful to hear so soon. We're still in winter officially but the birds aren't acting like it. Rooks were nest building and coupled with the singing chiffchaff made the air very spring-like. Other birds at College included a Ruddy Duck (fem), 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Goldeneyes, and 9 Cormorants (3 sinensis or adults in full breeding plumage already, near pure white necks and crowns with a black stripe down the middle). There were 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers, a Jay and 2 Long-tiled Tits in the woodland. Another stonking visit. |
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| 22nd, February 2007 Sorry for the lack of updates but I now have many updates to bring you!! My family came down this weekend which provided a great chance to get out and about in search of birds around Falmouth and furtyher afield. Staying in St Mawes for the few days, I took the ferry across from Falmouth and went for a little walk along Percuil Creek. 1st bird I saw was Whimbrel which called and flew past me but was skittish, wow, the trip was worth it for that bird alone!(possibly overwintering here) Other birds along the walk included what seems to be the main hangout for Red-breasted Merganser with 22 counted up the creek, 1 Med Gull (adult in summer plumage) roosted at dusk, 1 Curlew and 2 Raven flew over St Mawes. A calling Pheasant along the walk seems to me to be a commoner bird over this side of the water. Near dusk also a couple of Little Egrets fed along the tideline. |
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| 23rd, February 2007 Today was jam-packed and it started with a more than pleasant walk from St Mawes at dawn towards the Carrick Roads. Half an hour of searching produced little to keep me interested with 1 Kittiwake, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 5 Red-breasted Merganser until I found a large grebe near the crested one, but with obvious differences in the plumage. Upon closer inspection it was a Red-necked Grebe (winter plumage) - lifer for me, woohoo! A quick stop at Pendennis Point on the way to Mousehole in the rain was quiet apart from 1 Great Northern Diver and 2 Common Gulls here, the latter unusual here. We pressed onto Mousehole which I was excited about going to as it appears to have great potential birdwise but i'd never been. There was a fairly good searbird movement obvious from the harbour wall in Mousehole with over 10 Fulmars, 15 Gannets, 6 Kittiwakes and many Auks in just half an hour. Closer to shore were single Great Northern and Black-throated Divers, and on the large reef offshore I counted over 70 Great Black-backed Gulls with 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst them but no white wingers today! Local Bird News - Tresillian River - 3 Avocets (St Clements, best at low tide) |
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| 24th, February 2007 Another dawn walk around St Mawes failed to produce the Red-necked Grebe again but the wind was up and the whole area was blown out. I forgot to mention though that there were 3 Med Gulls in the St Mawes gull roost last night which were all adults in summer plaumge. Back to today then... Our destination was the picture perfect town of St Ives on Cornwalls north coast. This site has a reputation as one of the best seawatching site's in the country and I could see what they mean. For the time of year 1 Shearwater spp (possibly Balearic) was impressive but the numbers of passing seabirds were massive. In an hour I notched up over 500 Auks (c20 Razorbills), 200 Gannets, 200 Kittiwakes and 14 Fulmars all passing near the furthest surfers in the bay. If its like this out of migration season what's it like in the Spring and Autumn (I feel a return trip coming on soon!!) A diver in the bay which disappeared beneath huge rolling waves was a tricky beast to ID but I had the impression it was Red-throated, I couldn't see enough of the bird sadly for confirmation. Acting on the local gen. we called in at St Clement for the Avocets, lovely birds in a lovely area. 3 Avocets showed distantly downstream and constituted a great Falmouth Area bird! There were also a Greenshank, 2 Little Egrets and a male Pheasant here. Local Bird News - Falmouth - 2 Black-throated Divers |
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| 25th, February 2007 Before my family departed for the north, we stopped off for lunch at the famous 'Golden Lion Pub' near Stithians Reservoir which serves a wonderful sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream (Right thats enough of that, I should be getting paid for this advertising!). Obviously a quick check of the reservoir was in order. The windsufers were out on the water and they had something to celebrate (wind!!). This was not good for birding and consequently there were just 30 or so birds the water and that was it. 20 of those were Herring Gulls of varying ages and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. 2 Wigeon, 2 Coots and 3 Great Crested Grebes in summer plumage made up the rest. To pass the minutes here I took a look in the southern hide log book and a Red-necked Grebe had been seen yesterday. I put the book down and took another glance at the water. I couldn't believe it, the Red-necked Grebe had immediately popped up not far from the hide and allowed me to take a few decent Photos of this rare winter visitor (in summer pluamge with the red neck and yellow oin the bill). A great finish to the weekend with my second ever Red-necked Grebe within days of the first. I said goodbye to the family and have to knuckle down to some work over the next few days, sorry! |
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| 28th, February 2007 A top notch day to bring the first two months of 2007 to an amazing end. The whole afternoon was improvised, moving with the flow as such. By the afternoon I found myself at Hayle Estuary and within minutes was viewing the WHITE-BILLED DIVER, clearly not a Great Northern Diver (as there had been some confusion over the previous day!). These were only poor distant views from the estuary near Carnsew pool but I got talking to a chap from Nanquidno who kindly gave me a lift over to Lelant Station where it was clear the birders over there were getting a treat. White-billed Diver breeds on the northern coasts of Arctic Russia and rarely reaches Britain with a maximum of a few birds in the Northern offshore Isles of Britain every winter. It was feeding well and flapped at one point showing semi-moulted primary feathers, I'm guessing it might hang around for a while because of this. There were several Great Northern Divers for good comparison, obviously smaller than the White-billed Diver which at times showed down a to a few meters from the crowd of birders in awe, a lifer for quite a lot of us!!! WOW. 200+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls at the high tide roost were surely a sign a migration well underway now, very early... |
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