Tuesday 2nd January was yet another grey, wet and windy day in a seemingly endless run of grey, wet and windy days but with the rain forecasted to stop mid-morning I decided to head out to The Plym and Saltram for a walk. The rain did stop and there were even a few patches of blue in the sky at times but it remained very windy and the birding was a bit challenging.
The usual birds were seen and I ended up on 42 species for the day which wasn't too bad considering the weather. The highlights were 5 Goosander (2 males), a Common Sandpiper, a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail along the River, 60 Wigeon, 8 Greenshank and the wintering Black-tailed Godwit on a very flooded Blaxton Meadow and a Stock Dove, a Buzzard and a Kestrel overhead.
I did have a look for Water Rail and Treecreeper with no luck but I'll try again on a less windy day. I did however meet local birder Matt who I know through Twitter but have never met before, nice to put a face to a name at last.
A quick walk around Plymouth Hoe on Wednesday 3rd January was spent dodging the showers while failing to find any Purple Sandpipers or Black Redstarts but I did see a Great Northern Diver and 11 Turnstone.
With a change in the weather (at long last!) I headed off on the train to Penzance and Hayle on Saturday 6th January. It was a glorious day, all cold, clear, crisp, still and sunny. I nearly didn't go due to ongoing toothache problems but I dosed myself up on painkillers and took things slowly and had a great day out.
I arrived in Penzance at just after 9:30am and had a quick look off the seawall by the bus station while waiting to catch the bus to Marazion. The sea was flat calm but there was very little to see other than a few Cormorants and Gulls out on the water and a few Turnstone and Rock Pipit amongst the boulders.
On arriving at Marazion I headed down to the Red River mouth where 2 Bonaparte's Gulls have been showing but on arriving there it was completely birdless with just a few birders and toggers milling about! I knew the birds had been seen that morning as they had been reported on BirdGuides and after a few minutes of scanning around 1 of the birds flew in to feed just a short distance away in front of me, giving some amazing views.
It didn't seem too concerned by people passing close by (and being a Saturday and good weather it was very busy), but it really didn't like any dogs coming too close, giving an alarm call and flying off for a few minutes before returning.
I then had a quick look at Marazion Marsh where at least 10 Chiffchaff were flitting about in the reeds and brambles and flycatching in the sunshine and a smart Firecrest was amongst them. A Water Rail and a Cetti's Warbler were heard and Snipe and Teal were roosting amongst the reeds. Along the beach a pair of Raven were feeding on the washed up corpse of a Dolphin, quite unconcerned by people passing close by, and offshore a male Eider was busily diving away with a Herring Gull in close attendance, presumably attempting to steal anything it brought to the surface.
I caught the bus back to Penzance and walked over to The Jubilee Pool for a look about, there were just a few Shag and Cormorant roosting on the rocks offshore and nothing out in the Bay. A lone Purple Sandpiper was feeding on the rocks along the shoreline, there were many "wild" swimmers present in the good weather so presumably the reason for the lack of waders here. Still, it's one more than I've seen on Plymouth Hoe this winter!
I walked back to the train station and caught the train to St.Erth and then walked down to the causeway bridge overlooking the Hayle estuary. Various birders were present and were scanning through the large numbers of Gulls roosting out on the mudflats, Caspian Gulls were being called but I failed to find them amongst the assorted throng of Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Greater Black-backed, Black-headed and Common Gulls present. I did find 3 Mediterranean Gulls (2 adults and a 1st winter) and at least 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls which I was pleased about but with the birds distant, tightly packed and restless it was quite challenging.
The wintering Spoonbill was roosting along the embankment wall, a juvenile bird sporting a green leg ring from a ringing project in Denmark. It occassionally woke up for a quick preen but mostly stayed asleep, it's feathers were quite a mucky white compared to the pristine white of nearby Little Egrets.
A scan through the Teal flock eventually revealed the wintering male Green-winged Teal, it came closer and closer before roosting on the rocks close to the bridge.
Otherwise the usual estuary birds were present with the highlights being good views of 2 Knot, 3 male and a female Goosander, Lapwing, Bar-tailed Godwits and Grey Plover but it was soon time to head back to St.Erth to catch the train back home to Plymouth.
A grand day out and with my Devon and Cornwall rail card it only cost me £8.80 for the train fare, a bargain, and the bus fare only came to £3.60 as well (although I probably could have walked one leg of the journey and saved some money!). And hopefully the good weather will stay for a while longer.
No comments:
Post a Comment