It has been a very long time since I last updated this blog. The workload as my degree progressed made it difficult to keep the blog going and I fell out of the swing of writing blog post regularly. This academic year has been especially busy as this is my Masters year. I finally handed in my Masters thesis at the end of May and suddenly I have lots of free time again. So far, I have been catching up my bird records, submitting them all to BirdTrack and eBird, and another plan post-degree was to get the blog up and running again.
So here is a little round-up of some of the birds I've seen this spring. As for most people, I haven't had the chance to get out as often as I would've liked due to lockdown restrictions but still managed to make the most of my last spring in Cornwall.
Following the government easing lockdown restrictions in the second week of May, our (Matt Doyle and I) first plan was to catch-up with some good birds around West Cornwall. On 12th May we lucked in to great views of the immature male Montagu's Harrier that had been frequenting the fields around Polgigga/Nanjizal area for about a week, and a surprise Woodlark flew towards Sennen.
Later that day a Turtle Dove flew over the road whilst driving to St Just. Unfortunately, a very notable bird these days.
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| Montagu's Harrier |
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| Turtle Dove |
Next was a Tawny Pipit at St Just on 16th, again an increasingly rare bird in Britain and the first twitchable in Cornwall for several years. We had great views of the bird feeding in a daffodil field, which made up for the incredibly brief view of a sandy pipit I flushed from the seaward end of Nanjizal valley in autumn 2016.
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| Tawny Pipit |
I was dying to get back on to the Lizard after lockdown, and Wednesday 20th, with light southeast wind forecasted, seemed an ideal day to visit. Matt and I arrived early and set off on our usual route that takes us through Caerthillian valley. Instead of carrying on around Old Lizard Head we decided to walk up the small valley between Caerthillian and the village, locally known as Hellarcher. We reached the small pond just up from the coast path and stopped to check the area. As we were about to carry on an oddly large, brown passerine flew over us and dived into the water hemlock around the pond. Puzzled by the size and shape of the bird we tried to get more views but typically it was very elusive. We managed a few more flight views but only brief as it would dive back into thick cover. The views we had suggested it was an Acrocephalus warbler and a big one at that! Great Reed Warbler was the mostly likely species but we needed more to confirm. I walked around to the top end of the pond and Matt waited by the bush the bird had flown into. It again flew, this time across the pool and up the field a little to land out in the open on a blackthorn bush. Matt managed a couple of pics and I had nice flight views confirming the large thrush-like beak, long tail and supercillium. A Great Reed Warbler! It then flew further up the valley and disappeared into the sallows. I put the news out and Tony Blunden and Mark Pass were first to arrive. It took a while to re-locate but Tony heard it singing much further up the valley. It stayed singing most of the day and was twitched quite widely by Cornish birders. It never seemed comfortable though and unsurprisingly had gone by the next day. Apparently the 8th for Cornwall and the first since 2012!
We went down to the Lizard again that evening with hope of seeing the warbler again. There was no sign but a Woodchat Shrike at Old Lizard Head as the sun set ended the day perfectly.
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| Flight only views at first. |
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Finally perched out in the open.
(photo: Matt Doyle)
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A much better photo courtesy of Steve Rowe.
Great Reed Warbler
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Woodchat Shrike
(photo: Matt Doyle)
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Another highlight in May was a male Red-backed Shrike near St Just on the 21st.
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| Red-backed Shrike |
With the influx of Rosy Starlings to West Europe gathering pace we headed out to Lizard again on 1st June to check the local Starling flocks. No pink but a surprise Serin flew low over Lloyd's lane (towards Bass Point) heading east. It was seen a few days later and likely has been on the Lizard since early May. In typical Lizard Serin fashion, it's very mobile and good at hiding!
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Rosy Starling
(photo: Matt Doyle) |
We got in on the
Rosy Starling action on the 4th, with an adult in fields behind Sennen School.
A Hoopoe on the Lizard 8th June was a surprising date and a species I thought I had missed this year.
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| Hoopoe |
We managed to catch up with a Hooded Crow on the Lizard on 9th June as it flew north over Housel and carried on over the village. We decided to wander over to check if the Hoopoe was still present in its favoured thistle field. We couldn't find it but quite a few Starlings were feeding in the field. Matt suggested this may be a place to keep an eye out for a Rosy Starling. A few moments after he said that one walked out from behind a thistle clump! Nice to find one for ourselves. The bird was quite a dull individual, likely a female or immature male. The flock was mobile and shortly flew off towards the village. It was cool to hear and see the Rosy calling as it flew away with the flock. We walked back to the car and headed back to Falmouth. Half way to Helston I had a phone call from Tony Blunden saying he had a bright pink adult male Rosy Starling feeding by itself in the same field! We turned back and had ace views of the male Rosy. 2 on the Lizard! Unfortunately, no pictures as we both left our cameras at home.
