Wryneck in the bag!

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to find my own Wryneck and recently I did on a visit to Cornwall!  Sadly, my camera continues to play-up and this was really the only shot I managed, the others all too blurry to share.

We were staying just outside St Agnes on the north Cornish coast and just a short walk from St Agnes Beacon - a small tor that, once climbed, gave far-reaching all round views of the area.  The surrounding farmland, hedgerows and scrub all made for excellent Wryneck habitat and it was the perfect time of year for one to pop up.

The Beacon also looked like a good vismig spot so I scheduled an early morning visit on 6th Sep to see what might be there and watch the sun rise.  At the top, I was rewarded with breath-taking views as the mist hung in the valleys and the sun began to rise.  Quite a few Meadow Pipts were mobile around the beacon and one of my target birds then called overhead - a Tree Pipit!  It settled further down the Beacon so I made a mental note to look out for it later.

As I walked the path along the Beacon ridge a lark flew up and landed just a few metres away - a Woodlark!  It didn't stay long enough for a photo but flew off across the nearby field and out of sight.  I continued on a loop down to St Agnes Head to check out the headland scrub and the back up to the Beacon.  I didn't add much on my loop save the local pair of Choughs and a Whinchat with the many Stonechats.  A Ringed Plover and Dunlin flew over - typical passage birds at this time of year.

A Chough at St Agnes Head

As I walked along the lower path round the Beacon a small bird flew up and across the gorse.  I put my bins to my eyes and bingo!  There sat a Wryneck and the very first one I had found myself.  I was amazed at how small it looked in flight - just like a large warbler really.  They are peculiar, cryptic birds with their unique camouflage and habit of twisting their neck like a serpent.  They also - at least to me - possess a 'larger than life' quality as when observed in binoculars or in a scope they seem a fairly significant bird and yet the moment they fly or start flitting around the resemble a bird not much bigger than a House Sparrow.

The Wryneck remained in the area and eventually disappeared into a small holly bush not to be seen again.  However, the Tree Pipit did reappear in the same bush!  My next target must surely be a new camera!!