A Sociable Plover was found near Penzance back in November but due to work, weather and general life stuff I never managed to get to see it before it disappeared when a cold snap arrived.
I always suspected that it was still lurking around unseen in the wilds of Cornwall and so it proved to be when it was refound in Bude on Saturday 26th December.
I was originally working a long day on Sunday 27th December but due to full staffing, empty beds and being over my hours I managed to negotiate the day off. David had the day free too and very kindly offered to drive me up to Bude for a look and so off we headed on a cold and breezy morning with sunny skies and occasional heavy showers.
On arriving in Bude we headed out towards the marsh but were thwarted by flooded footpaths until eventually we managed to get in to position overlooking the flooded fields where we quickly found the Sociable Plover amongst the Lapwings, Teal, Canada Geese, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, Starlings, Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls.
A very handsome looking bird, it was a little distant but I had some nice scope views of it with its pale eye stripe very noticeable. It looked like an oversized Dotterel crossed with a Grey Plover and behaving like a Lapwing as it pulled up worms from the sodden ground. At one point it flew off with a large worm in its beak as it tried to escape the attentions of nearby Gulls, I don't know if it swallowed the worm or dropped it but eventually it settled on the ground and the Gulls left it alone. At least it meant I was able to see its distinct wing patterning as it flew around but I wasn't able to get a record shot of it in flight.
Also seen were 2 Cattle Egret and a Black-tailed Godwit with a Cettis Warbler and a Chiffchaff heard calling.
After an hour David's boredom threshold had well and truly been reached and so we headed to The Falcon Hotel for a warm up and a very tasty turkey roast dinner, my treat to David as a thank you for taking me to Bude. We then had a quick wander around the town before heading home after an enjoyable day out with a very nice life tick in the bag to end the year - a late but very nice Christmas present.
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