Wintering Whimbrel at Wilcove, Torpoint

Wednesday January 30th was a cold but sunny morning with patches of hail on the ground and despite my late awakening I decided to take the bus across the River Tamar to visit Torpoint for a walk.

I arrived at Marine Drive in Torpoint at just after 11am to find the tide higher than I expected and the only waders noted were a few redshank and an oystercatcher. 2 great crested grebes were diving for fish out on the water along with a few cormorants and a small flock of Canada geese flew upriver. The overwintering brent geese which I had hoped to see were however showing very well close to shore, 4 pale bellied types that always kept together and 8 dark bellied types.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Brent Geese

Dark-bellied Brent Geese

Brent Geese

I walked on to nearby Wilcove, noting on the walk there 2 mistle thrush and a curlew feeding on the school playing fields, a small flock of linnets, chaffinches and meadow pipits in a weedy stubble field, a chiffchaff in a small wood by the roadside and a few redwing with a song thrush and blackbirds in a cow field.

At Wilcove there was still a little mud on show on the incoming tide and I found a greenshank, a black tailed godwit, a turnstone, redshank, 2 common sandpipers and a whimbrel busily feeding. The whimbrel presumably is the same bird that overwintered here last year and was a strange sight on a cold January day.

Common Sandpiper

Also noted here at Wilcove were a kingfisher, wigeon, teal (no sign of last winters green winged teal amongst them), cormorants and a noisy flyover raven.

I walked back to Marine Drive where the brent geese were again showing very well close to the shore and a noisy chiffchaff showed very well in a nearby garden before  I caught the bus back to Plymouth - a nice local walk with some good sightings as January comes to an end