 If I am to drag myself away from my local patch at the start of the 'peak season' then what better place to go than Cornwall! Arriving on 29th March and departing on 4th April I managed to fit in some good birding that included 3 life ticks! First up was the long-staying Booted Eagle just north of Penzance that had arrived the day after I left Cornwall in January. Thankfully it had then stayed put all that time and had developed a routine of appearing just south of Sancreed Beacon each morning. My wife and I therefore joined the assembled photographers and watchers on top of the beacon first thing along with some inquisitive wild ponies. I was perhaps the only one present who hadn't seen the eagle yet so was particularly focused on scanning the tall pines at Trelew Farm above which it apparently arose each day. Sure enough I picked it up a couple of miles south, rising just above the tall pines - my first ever British BOOTED EAGLE. A pale-morph bird, it then slowly made its way towards us but remained distant, perhaps giving the best views as it glided down below the horizon on occasion. The Booted Eagle from Sancreed Beacon, Cornwall on 30th March 2025 With the main bird in the bag it seemed rude not to poke my head over the fence of a small paddock at Marazion and see the Hoopoe - one of many birds in this Spring's influx. The following day I stayed local on The Lizard and picked up a few year ticks in the form of a Great Skua passing with lots of Manx Shearwaters and Kittiwakes off Lowland Point near Coverack. I also found my first Willow Warblers of the year and Coverack bay held fishing Sandwich Terns. A walk out along the cliffs and through the heathland around Kynance Cove the next day found me several Wheatears, including my first female of the year, and a smart male Black Redstart. Female Wheatear and male Black Redstart around Kynance Cove on 1st April The 2nd April found me a Red Kite on passage over St Keverne around midday (still a scarce bird here) and then a visit to Loe Bar later in the day connected me with my first Osprey of the year. I scanned the beach and sea at Loe Bar picking out Sanderlings, a male Common Scoter and a Red-throated Diver but nothing rare...however that was all about to change! Red Kite over St Keverne and Osprey over Loe Pool on 2nd April Early the next day, local birder David Collins, messaged to say he had found an adult male Kentish Plover on the beach at Loe Bar - definitely not there the evening before! I got there as quickly as I could and thankfully immediately got on the bird - my first ever KENTISH PLOVER and a very smart bird at that.  The Kentish Plover at Loe Bar on 3rd April 2025 As I arrived to see the plover I was also conscious that many other birders were rushing back past me to go for another rarity that had turned up near Lands End just the day before - an Alpine Accentor. It would seem rude not to follow suite and later that day, accompanied by my wife and dog Max, I arrived at the stunningly beautiful stretch of coastline north of Sennen Cove. The bird was favouring a rocky outcrop (Aire Point) just north of Gwynver Beach and walking down the steep slope to the coast path, the azure-blue sea before me, glistening in the sun and lapping at the white sand of the beach made me feel like I had been transported to a tropical paradise! I don't think I've every 'twitched' in quite such a beautiful setting. After a 20 minute walk I arrived at Aire Point joining around 10 others all looking for the bird. It had just been seen but disappeared behind the rock outcrops. A tense wait followed but all of a sudden it was back in view, seemingly unconcerned about the admiring onlookers. A set my scope and phone camera up and managed some pleasing shots of what was my first ever ALPINE ACCENTOR. The Alpine Accentor at Aire Point, Cornwall on 3rd April 2025 A subtly beautiful bird with many features only becoming apparent after close scrutiny - its partly yellow beak and speckled white throat for instance. It behaved exactly like its smaller relative, the much more familiar Dunnock, hopping slowly amongst the rocky, coastal flora. It struck me that perhaps this remote headland resembled the closest thing to a rocky alpine outcrop in its more usual territory in the mountainous regions of southern Europe. Both the Kentish Plover and the Alpine Accentor were birds that I had missed much closer to home with both occurring at Pitstone Quarry in recent years. Needless to say, the Cornish setting was undoubtedly the finer scenery! I was also later very pleased for my photos of both birds to feature in the Rare Bird Alert Weekly Roundup Report. My time in Cornwall was up but not before I added my first Whitethroat of the year, singing along the entrance road to Kynance Cove. Welcome back and I'm sure the first of many still to come!  Whitethroat at Kynance Cove on 4th April 2025
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 As has been my wont for the last few years the New Year saw me visiting The Lizard in Cornwall for a week. There is nothing that I like better than to walk out along the coastline and encounter the elements and the wild ruggedness of the landscape. Lowland Point (pictured) is usually one of the first places I head to where usually it is just me and the sea and the rocky shore. There's always something of interest, either in the bird and marine life or in what the sea has thrown up. I've learnt to linger, even in a storm, and take time to sift through what can be found. Mediterranean Gulls and Firecrests are common encounters at this time of year giving the feel of rarity. Wintering Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps also pop up hinting at the warmer climes - although no sense of that on the first day I arrived. Instead a storm blew from the southwest throwing foam onto the beach and driving rain. Guillemots and Razorbills sat on the sea while Kittiwakes along with a single Fulmar and Manx Shearwater sheared past. And then a small wader flew up from the beach and settled just ahead of me - the first treasure in my search: a Purple Sandpiper! This was my first ever at Lowland Point in over 40 years of visiting.  A hastily taken shot of the Purple Sandpiper before it disappeared into the storm! Further along the shore I came across three large eels washed up on the rocks. Each about a metre long I realised they must be Conger Eels - a species I had only ever heard of and never seen. Perhaps victims of the storm or more likely a fisherman's by-catch. They looked fairly fresh with just the first marks of gulls beginning to feed.  One of the 3 European Conger Eels In the afternoon I opted for the shelter of the wooded valley that leads down to Tremayne Quay on the Helford River. Along the way, more Firecrests and a brief glimpse of a Marsh Tit as it made its way along with a flock of Long-tailed Tits. The river banks held Curlew, Redshank and Greenshank - all welcome additions to my year list and by the end of the day I had run up a total of 57 species. The next day I took advantage of a break in the weather to visit the Helford River again in search of a Red-necked Grebe. I knew one had been sighted a while back and in previous years I had managed to find one just off the mouth of Frenchman's Creek where it enters the main river. I scanned with my telescope for a while finding several Great Northern Divers in the process. Just as I began to lose hope a Red-necked Grebe swum into view - a juvenile bird - and gave good but brief views as it constantly dived, only staying surfaced for less than a minute at a time.  Juvenile Red-necked Grebe on the Helford River on 6th Jan 2025 Later in the day, another bird - an adult - was found by another birder and at times both birds showed together. I, however, had moved on, picking up a very smart Black-throated Diver off Dennis Head and the usual wintering Common Sandpiper on Gillan Creek. A brief look at Coverack Sewage Works revealed at least 4 Chiffchaffs along with a very pale Siberian Chiffchaff of the tristis race. This was to be the first of several 'Sibes' with another 3 seen at Helston Sewage Works later in the week along with another obliging Common Sandpiper. One of the Siberian Chiffchaffs at Helston & a Common Sandpiper I finished the day on Goonhilly Downs with a hunting male Merlin, my Cornish tally now up to 70 species. The next day saw me back along the Coverack coast from Lowland Point with the target set as 'Grey Beach' - a sheltered cove that often attracts passerines and waders thanks to the abundance of insects out of the wind and the, presumably, warmer section of sandy cliff. Last year I found a Water Pipit feeding amongst the seaweed with the Rock Pipits...what might be in store this year I wondered? Despite there being a flock of around 20 Rock Pipits my search revealed no unusual pipit. However, I did note many Chiffchaffs flitting around on the cliff, catching flies so I turned my attention to them as previous years had revealed a Siberian Chiffchaff and a Black Redstart. However, the bird that caught my attention this year was a little Yellow-browed Warbler - my 5th find of this species this year!  The Yellow-browed Warbler feeding on the cliff Making the most of the sun I visited Kynance Cove in the evening where a pair of Choughs were enjoying the clifftop thermals and a Peregrine soared across the downs. The rain however, returned with a vengeance the next day so I headed out in the car for some roadside birding. In a sodden field full of Redwings I found 3 Cattle Egrets but the rain denied any decent photos. At this time of year, finding any livestock puts you in with a good chance of finding these birds and flocks of up to 100 have been seen in previous years. Moving on to Gunwalloe Cove and some more car window viewing I found a Red-throated Diver on the sea with a lone Guillemot. Diving constantly, the diver (and the weather) denied me any decent shots but I did manage just one record shot!  Red-throated Diver The next day, in contrast, was sunny and bright and I joined two local birders - Steve & Joe - for a visit to Loe Pool in the hope of locating the regular wintering Bittern. Joe had a secret weapon in the form of a thermal imager and very quickly located a likely heat-blob in the reedbed. Sure enough a Bittern-like area of feathers could be seen but the bird quickly moved further into cover and out of sight. We moved around to the other side of the reeded area noting several Cetti's Warblers, a Firecrest, Kingfisher and at least 3 squealing Water Rails as we did. Once again we located the likely Bittern heat-signature and before long we had managed to train my scope onto the bird. We all had reasonable views of this highly elusive and highly camouflaged bird before once again it disappeared. The short video clip below shows how well-hidden it remained! Three Goosander were also on Loe Pool and on the way home I picked up a juvenile Marsh Harrier near the Lizard village and Golden Plover and Snipe over Goonhilly Downs. My Cornish year list had reached 89 species with one day left but more rain forecast. Undeterred, the next day I headed out to Lowland Point for a good soaking but, truth be told, I find battling the elements somewhat therapeutic - especially when I know there's a hot shower to go back to! The wind was blowing directly onshore with no chance of shelter. In a short lull in the rain I scanned the sea revealing a steady passage of auks - Guillemots and Razorbills - along with a strong passage of Kittiwakes. Three Manx Shearwaters went past too and a Cetti's Warbler called from Godrevy Beach. The real find however, and a sad one at that, was a dead Common Porpoise on the beach. The Great Black-backed Gulls had begun to tuck in and when I walked back later the tide had reclaimed the corpse. It is not the first cetacean I have found on this beach and it is always a sorry sight, particularly as I had seen a small pod of porpoises heading past Lowland Point just a couple of days ago. The dead porpoise on Godrevy Beach I reported the dead porpoise to the Cetacean Strandings Investigations Programme (CSIP) based at the London Natural History Museum. Here you can report both dead and live strandings and hopefully the information will contribute to a better understanding of these ocean-going creatures.
My time in Cornwall was up but my stormy visit to Lowland Point gave me one more gift in the form of a Whimbrel - a scarce wintering bird and no doubt one of the first to be recorded in Britain this year. Soaked through I could return for my hot shower with 90 species under my belt for the week and a respectable 114 for my British Year List 2025. |
Rupert’s BlogHere you'll find my observations and musings on the wildlife I encounter - usually locally but sometimes further afield. Archives
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