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| June 2007 Archive |
| 8th, June 2007 "Aaaaaaaaaaah" - Thats the noise of relief and happiness at the end of exams. Here comes the summer! Hopefully a summer full of rare birds in the Falmouth area, none of this northern bonanza with White-tailed Plovers and Buffleheads turning up on every field and coastal cove north of Manchester. I'll see what I can do. An update of birds on campus as that's the only place i've been recently includes 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Buzzard, 2 Swift and the usual crowd. Nothing amazing and I still need to try and see these darn woodies. Keep checking as I can see qutie a few trips coming up. Woohoo! |
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| 8th, June 2007 A return to the patch beckoned just as much as a nice walk in the sun listening to some beats along the way, so I combined the two together. There was a change in dynamic once again at College Reservoir. Less birds were singing now with more raising families of youngsters. Families of Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Jackdaws, Mallards, Grey Herons, Great+Blue Tits and brief views of a Marsh Tit adult feeding young!! As ever the marshies are tricky to keep in view for long as they carry on rampaging tit style through the lovely forest at College. Things on the water are thin on the ground but included a pair of Moorhens nest building, 2 Mute Swans which dont appear to be breeding, 1 Lesser Black-backed+c20 Herring Gulls and perhaps the reason for so little activity - 2 "nobheads" on a rubber ring in the water. Then I heard a 'ping', a flash a blue bombed it past me at really close range; a Kingfisher! I found a nice bench and sat there for an hour in which time 2 of these gorgeous birds fished away on the banks on the serene waters and continued to entertain even as I left for the walk home. |
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| 9th, June 2007 A walk along the River Penryn to Penarrow Point and the Carrick Roads luckily coincided with high tide. Hoping for passage/returning waders however was a stupid idea and there wasnt a single wader around, summer's definately arrived! On a sun drenched walk me and a friend came across some good stuff knocking around with a fly-by 'ping' from a Kingfisher (well and truly ingrained into the memory after yesterdays encouters), 2 Little Egrets fishing a creek, 3+Buzzards, 3 Shags, 2 Cormorants (very little else on the water), 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Swift, 10+House Martins, 1 Bullfinch, 6+ Goldfinch and the usual stuff to be expected. A high gliding raptor had us going; adopting a very kite like profile but turned out to be a Buzzard. Many fledged birds are around now. Apart from feeling like dying at the end of the walk I had a great time! |
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| 12th, June 2007 I made the 3 mile walk today at last for a long awaited trip to Kennal Vale. This is a predominantly beach+ash wooded steep-sided valley with a decent river running through the base. It is well known for its Dippers and didnt disappoint. For the first 1.5hrs I just got fleeting views as an adult bird flew madly up and downstream, taking food to a nest of young. I couldnt locate the nest but eventually got decent views of an adult when it stopped on a rock for 10 seconds! I mustn't complain! The other hoped for bird here was the Spotted Flycatcher. Couldn't find any of these and it's possible they don't breed here any more. 2 Grey Wagtails, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff were the only other birds of note. It was great to see lots of Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies and on trying to get a better view I fell face down into the river. Luckily the camera stayed dry and the waterproof bins did their job! |
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| 13th, June 2007 Fish and chips down at Jubilee Wharf in Penryn, sat along the edge of the quay watching the birds fly-by above the calm waters at high tide was lovely. A Sand Martin swooped past, almost doing a Kingfisher impression amongst hordes of House Martins which appear to be nesting under the Penryn River Bridge. Swallows were also present, some showing very well even without the bins. A Mute Swan floated along on the tide, 4 Mallards flew over and a Goldfinch chattered away across the water. Local bird life at its best this evening. |
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| 14th, June 2007 Highlights of an all afternoon walk around the local area with a couple of friends included seeing a Fox and a cub, a stunning moment as they stared at us before moving off into cover near College Reservoir. From the lane overlooking the res. by Antron Farm we also spotted a Kingfisher wizz low over the water and land in a tree. Warblers showed well at Argal Res. Families of Whitethroat and Willow Warbler put on great performances. A Bullfinch family here was also very conspicuous and Linnets buzzed at College Res. Later in the evening Swifts were high up over the Tremough campus and a Tawny Owl called late in the evening. Another great day but the weather's turning wet now... |
| 17th, June 2007 Quite possibly the craziest and scariest and most fun day of my life occured today. For a change, birds weren't top of the agenda as me and a few friends emersed ourselves into the world of 'Airsoft'; A combat game using BB Guns which fire pellets at 350fps with, oh, just AK47's! Anyhow, birds were singing loudly here at Tregamere near Wadebridge whilst I was in search of enemy occupiers. Multiple grenades didn't stop 2+ Yellowhammers singing persistantly all day with also a Garden Warbler, 2 Linnets, 2 Skylarks and a Pheasant amongs the more common farmland birds; A pretty good showing under the conditions. How my mind had time to preocess bird song whilst being peppered with pellets shot by marines I do not know. On the route home to Penryn we called in at Bedruthan Steps near Newquay and as I was hoping we found 7 Corn Buntings sat on roadside wires nearby. From Bedruthan there were just 2 Gannets, 4 Manx Shearwaters, Shags and 2 Stonechats but a nice end to the day. Never again... Well maybe just once more! |
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| 21st, June 2007 A long walk on Bodmin Moor to the highest summit in Cornwall - "Brown Willy" was nearly birdless due to the weather. Jeans became soggy in minutes and the wind was howling. There were plenty of Wheatears up here though (10+), with 4+Meadow Pipit, 4 Skylark, 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Linnet, 2 Swallow, 1 Sparrowhawk, and 1 Grey Heron making up the total count for the morning. Spent the afternoon being boy racers on the abandoned airfield at Davidstow which was very fun. I should perhaps have headed to the coast at Falmouth instead as a friend had 171 Storm Petrels past in just over an hour! Doubt there'll be any tomorrow as the wind is forecast to die down, opportunity missed... Local Bird News - Gyllyngvase (Falmouth) - 171 Storm Petrels past (b/n 10.15 and 11.30am) |
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| 22nd, June 2007 I eagerly reached Swanpool as early as poss this morning and scanned the bay. I'd had a tip off that there was still activity offshore and I wasn't disappointed. Just using bins from the beach I spotted several European Storm Petrels dancing over a very calm sea. A scan of the whole bay revealed at least 15 birds. It was lovely watching these dainty little things and I sat there for over an hour. Swanpool held a Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant and 2 Tufted Ducks (possibly breeding). A Song Thrush posed beautifully for photos on the mini-golf course and a Great Black-backed Gull stood on the tide line on Swanpool beach. There are 4 active Fulmar nests to the south of Swanpool on the cliffs and 6 returning Oystercatchers were beneath on large rocks. Towards Gyllyngvase there was a Sandwich Tern offshore with a Rock Pipit and 2 Pied Wagtails down on the seaweed. A top morning was finally topped off with a subway breakfast bap, mmmmmmmmmmmm! |
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| 23rd, June 2007 Up pretty early again and back to Swanpool this morning. I was with a friend and we took things at a botanitsts pace (even slower than a birders pace!). Still we saw some great stuff whilst moving at a slower pace than usual. The Storm Petrels had departed from Swanpool Bay and things were the same on the lake. We took the coastal path from here to Maenporth and saw 4+ Linnets, 4 Bullfinches, 3 Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Stonechats and a possible Cuckoo along the brushy areas. Offshore was much quieter today with 3 Gannets, 2 Fulmars, 2 Guillemots, 30+ Shags (loads for the time of year) and a Sandwich Tern. At maenporth we enjoyed the brief spell of sun and walked along the vale here. 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff were heard whilst 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Goldcrest family and a family of Treecreepers showed pretty well which was definately the highlight of the walk. On the return we came across a Hummingbird Hawkmoth briefly and several Common Lizards - Getting continental here! Back in Falmouth Feral Pigeons kept us entertained whilst waiting for the bus. A tiring but great walk, bursting with wildlife. |
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| 24th, June 2007 Spent the morning partaking in a regular litterpick event on the Hayle Estuary. Over the 3 hours of morally fulfilling cleaning I noted 1 Green Woodpecker, 7 Little Egrets, 12 Curlews, 1 Oystercatcher, 4 Herring Gulls, 4 Linnets and 1 Swallow. Activity is still slow in the region by the looks of things although it's always nice hearing a Green Woodpecker yaffle away. Later in the day we went to Gwithian, on the coast near Hayle. A fairly long walk yielded plenty of stuff including 1 Guillemot, 5 Gannets, 3 Shags, 1 Sand Martin, 2 Swallows, 4 Skylarks, 2 Meadow Pipits, 1 Stonechat, 3 Linnets, 4 Starlings, 2 House Sparrows, 1 Kestrel and 3 Buzzards - A lot more than I was expecting and made the walk fully worthwhile. |
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| 26th, June 2007 A full day trip out to the far west of Cornwall encompassing Porthgwarra, Lands End and north to Botallack was rewarded with several scarce species. At Porthgwarra a short seawatch in the wrong conditions (but sunny for a change) yielded a Storm Petrel, 200+ Manx Shearwaters, 4 Guillemots, 1 Kittiwake, Gannets, Fulmars, Shags, 8 Linnets and a Whitethroat singing from the car park. Moving to lands end, and the tourists are already arriving for the summer. There were a few Stonechats, Swallows, Starlings, House Sparrows and common seabirds offshore but no sign of the Red-backed Shrike reported recently. At the famous Cot Valley near St Just in the afternoon I was slightly confused whilst watching the Brisons Rocks offshore and saw a couple of Auks at quite a distance head into a burrow! Surely Puffins! A Razorbill was also present amongst c50 Guillemot but there may have been more present. Final stop of the day at the spectacular coastline of Botallack and 6 Choughs showed and called briefly, perhaps wandering juveniles from the Lizard. A family of Rock Pipits also performed well. Sun, Sea and Birds, a perfect combo for a top day. Local Bird News - Swanpool - 1 Med Gull Falmouth Yacht Marina - 1 Med Gull |
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| 28th, June 2007 My last trip out to College before a lenghty spell away from the Falmouth area for the summer hols was similarly quiet as has been the last few visits. There was still the odd good bird around including a Marsh Tit which showed well but deep in shade so not good for photographing. 4 Swallows fluttered over the choppy water in the sun (2 chased off a Buzzard! Impressive stuff!) and Damselflies+Dragonflies were everywhere. A Moorhen called from within the sedges whilst further out on the water were 2 Cormorants, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull and c20 Herring Gulls. In the woodland a Blackcap and Chiffchaff sang away beautifully whilst other birds seen included 6 Long-tailed Tits, 1 (juv) Song Thrush, 5 Wrens, 2 Blackbirds, and 4 Bullfinches. Keep checking for news from the Falmouth Area, updates and articles etc. Have a wicked summer readers! |
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