Cornwall in February

The rest of the family had gone off elsewhere for a couple of weeks leaving just me and the cat alone to our own devices. After a few days of rattling around in the house on my own I decided that a change of scenery for a few days would do me good as well so decided to head down to Cornwall. This choice of destination was strongly influenced by the fact that my brother and his wife had recently moved down to Penzance from London. Regular readers will recall that I used to own a holiday cottage down in Pendeen but eventually the burden of constant maintenance and an illegal campsite next door proved too much and it was sold. However, the promise of free accommodation that didn't require any DIY was too strong to resist and I arranged everything hastily before setting off on Friday morning at around 9am. 

In terms of what I was planning for my trip down to Cornwall, there were a few decent birds around. These included a pair of Lesser Scaup at Helston on the boating lake, the (presumably returning) Ring-billed Gull at Hayle that I'd seen last year, a Bonaparte's Gull along the promenade in Penzance and the Pacific Diver near Mousehole. Nothing too urgent but all nice birds to see. With the promise of a supporting case of some Divers, a couple of Black Redstart and an Iceland Gull or two it should be a nice weekend away. In addition, I was keen to do some walking and to explore bits of the area I'd not visited much before. In particular I was keen to visit some of the many ancient stone circles that are sited in this area. With some friends also to catch up with as well as my brother and his wife to see, it promised to be a good weekend away. 

There was one additional reason for going down: as I have discussed in previous posts (see e.g. The Zitting Cisticola twitch) that my binoculars have outlived their usefulness and were in sore need of replacement. I'd been meaning to visit an optics shop for some time to try various things out but each time something had come up to thwart me. I had more or less decided on getting the Swarovski 8 x 32 NL Pures, having read rave reviews about them and having tried out a birding friend's pair. Howver, I wanted to compare them to the 10 x 32's just in case I could be tempted to the higher magnification. I had my reservations about the higher magnification: being of slight stature a small, a lightweight pair would suit me better and I was wary of handshake counteracting any magnification benefit but it would be nice to at least test them out. So I made arrangements to stop off at South West Optics in Torquay. This would more or less be en route, entailing just a thirty minute detour from my route down to Cornwall. 

The journey to Torquay was uneventful and I arrived at just after midday at an industrial estate not too far off the main road into the town. The previous proprietor had been a Cornish birder whom I knew though he had retired and someone new had taken over. On the phone he had been trying to tempt me to the 10 x 32's saying how great they were but when I arrived he was all about the 8 x 32's. I was puzzled at this sudden change of advice until he confessed he'd just sold the last pair of 10 x 32's. Anyway, I tried the 8's and they were really good. I did notice that as I was a bit tired from driving I did have a bit of hand shake even with these so decided that these would be fine. Whenever I've used 10's in the past I've always found them too much in this respect. So I bought the 8's before heading back to the car and back on to Cornwall.

I finally arrived sometime around 3pm. With just a couple of hours of daylight left, and having spent most of the day in the car, I decided to head inland to go for a walk on the moors. There was a stone circle up behind Tregeseal that I wanted to visit so I headed up there. It was rather muddy on the track up but the beautiful ancient scenery and the lovely babbling stream that accompanies the track soon combined to work their magic and to soothe away the travails of the journey. Up on the moors themselves I revelled in the vast emptiness and the timelessness of the landscape. I'd forgotten just how beautiful it all was. I paid my respects to the stone circle and then wandered over to the rocky outcrop known as the Ancestors where I sat atop, taking it all in.

Tregeseal stone circle

The view from the Ancestors looking over towards St Just

 

In terms of birds (I supposed I ought to mention them since this is a birding blog) it was the usual stuff: a Stonechat, a Raven, a Kestrel and a Wren. As it started to get dark I headed back down, spotting a hunting Barn Owl as it quartered over the field next to me. This is actually a species that is not so easy to see in this area. Back in St Just (where I'd parked) I scored a quick cup of tea before heading back to Penzance to where my brother's house was. This turned out to be a wonderfully large victorian house on one of the leafy roads that leads down to the promenade at Penzance. It was far enough from the sea to be sheltered from direct storm damage and sea corrosion (something I knew of only too well from having to maintain my old holiday cottage) but close enough so you could walk there in a few minutes. There I passed a very pleasant evening catching up with the two of them and eating a very nice meal prepared by my brother, who is no mean chef. Then I turned in and slept soundly.

My plan for Saturday was for it to be my main birding day while I was down here. I started off with a walk down to the promenade and then along to Tolcarne beach - always one of my favourite locations in PZ. In past days the Bonaparte's Gull had been frequenting this area though it had not been seen for several days and I had more or less dropped it from my target list. Still I found one of the two Black Redstarts easily enough, hopping about on the wall and perching on the surrounding rooftops. There were plenty of Rock Pipits walking around under the parked cars - I'd forgotten how unphased they could be by people down here. 

The female type Black Redstart on the sea wall

One of the many Rock Pipits peeking out from behind a pub table

Next it was into Newlyn Harbour itself, looking for the juvenile Iceland Gull which has recently been seen on the traditional fish quay roof. There was no sign of it but a Great Norther Diver in the harbour was nice to see. I wandered down to the end of the harbour outer wall, enjoying the morning sunshine. It was all very pleasant.

Gig rowers in the harbour

The Great Northern Diver in the harbour

 

There are always plenty of Turnstone in the harbour at this time of year

Next I decided to walk to the other end of the promenade to year tick Purple Sandpiper off Battery Rocks. I enjoyed the walk but was disappointed to find no Sandpipers at all roosting there even though it was high tide. Disappointed I headed back to the house to grab some elevenses with my hosts before heading out again, this time in the car. 

First stop was to Helston to catch up with the long-staying pair of Lesser Scaup. They had made the boating lake their home for the winter and seemed from reports to be a sure thing. True to form, after a bit of searching I found them tucked up asleep. I took some photos though they never really got too close nor raised their heads for long.

The Helston boating lake has hosted quite a few rare duck over the years

The two Lesser Scaup, tucked up with a wary eye open

The female actually lifted her head briefly

Next, it was off to Hayle estuary to try for the Ring-billed Gull. I opted for Lelant Station as a viewing platform where I'd had success last year on the Booted Eagle trip. There I met with a fellow birder and we scanned together. We got chatting and he turned out to be a local who had moved down from the Teeside area. Despite our combined efforts we could neither find the Ring-billed Gull nor the adult Iceland Gull that had occasionally been reported. There were several Med Gulls, the usual Common Gull flock that the Ring-billed liked to associated with. A Bar-tailed Godwit was a year tick and there were a few Goosander in the channel as well. All good stuff and I wasn't too bothered about missing my target. 

News had broken that the Bonaparte's Gull was back along the promenade at Wherrytown. I'd arranged to meet a friend for a walk at Marazion beach at 3pm but just had time to nip back into PZ to see if I could connect. I parked by the tennis courts and started walking towards Newlyn. In the end the flock of loafing gulls were right by the river outflow at Tolcarne so I had to walk the entire distance. There was a birder down on the beach but I decided to stay on the promenade. After a bit of scanning I found the Bonaparte's on the rocks. I yelled down to the other birder and put him on it. I was just about to do some digiscoping when it flew off. Looking at the time I decided not to linger any longer but hurried back to the car for my rendezvous at Marazion. 

As I didn't manage a photo myself, here is fabulous shot, borrowed from the CBWPS website, taken by Adrian Langdon ©

 

At Marazion I had an enjoyable walk along the beach with my friend, admiring St Michael's Mount (though we didn't go over) and then walking along St. Michael's Way a bit, following the Red River along the edge of the marsh. Very enjoyable! Then we parted company and I headed back to my brother's place. That evening we went out for a very enjoyable meal in the town. I was quite tired after my day out in the fresh air and soon retired to bed for the evening.

St. Michael's Mount as yet another band of rain approaches

 

Marazion Marsh from St Michael's Way

The next day I decided on a more leisurely start. After breakfast I first walked down to Tolcarne and Newlyn again. Once again I came across the female type Black Redstart and the Great Northern Diver was still in the harbour but once again there was no sign of the juvenile Iceland Gull.

The female type Black Redstart. I am guessing a 1w male as it appeared to be singing

The Great Norther Diver was showing better today

 

I went back to my brother's for elevenses and a catch-up with them before heading up the road to the Penzance Quaker meeting. I attend in Oxford and thought it would be interesting to see what it would be like attending another meeting. They had an excellent on site shop where after the meeting I had a nice bit of cake and a chat. Then it was back to base for lunch. 

For the afternoon I planned to explore the area near St. Buryan where there were a couple of stone circles I wanted to visit. The first was at Boscowen-un which involved a five minute slither down a muddy track to a lovely little circle. Set in amongst the surrounding Bracken and Blackthorn, it was gorgeous! 

The beautiful Boscowen-un stone circle

Then on to the Merry Maidens. This was just sited in a grass field so not quite as beautiful surrounding but was still very nice. Then it was back to base via St Just for another quick cup of tea. The evening was spent quietly at my brother's chatting with my hosts before turning in early once again.

The Merry Maidens stone circle

Monday dawned to torrential rain and strong winds. I was due to go back today but as I was in no hurry I thought I would do a bit more birding. I did have to nip into town to buy a gift for the neighbour who was looking after the cat while I was away. So I thought I would walk along the promenade and go via Battery Rocks just in case the Purple Sandpipers were back. This turned out to be quite an experience! The tide was in and despite walking on the landward side of the road I managed to get splooshed by a breaking wave and got soaked. Miraculously there were some Purple Sanpipers hunkered down on the rocks so it was worth the soaking after all.

Purple Sandpipers trying not to be blown away in the wind

After my errand I returned to the house and said my farewells to my host before heading of in the rain back home. Before hitting the A30, I decided to nip into Hayle for one last try for the Ring-billed Gull on the way. As the tide was high I first went to Ryan's Field though something had flushed all the birds and there were only a few Lapwing and Redshank about. Next a trip across the road to the causeway where there were some loafing Gulls as well as the Dunlin flock but no Ring-billed. Not to worry, I soaked up the sights and sounds of the estuary for a bit before reluctantly heading off on the A30 for the long slog home.

Hayle Estuary Gulls waiting out the high tide

I broke up the journey by rendezvousing with a friend who lives in Devon at one of the service stations on the A30. We had a lovely chat while the weather raged outside. Then it was back on the road, negotiating the rain which had reached biblical proportions. It was hard work that required extra concentration but eventually I arrived back at Casa Gnome late afternoon tired but very pleased with my long weekend away down in Cornwall. Now that my brother has a place down there, I can't help but think that this will be the first of many return trips to the far South West.