Gull Fest in Cornwall

Saturday 20th January and it was time for my usual New Years trip down to Penzance in Cornwall for a days birding. I was awake at 5am and so decided to get up and catch the 6:28 train instead of the 8:18 train as originally planned - the train fare would be the same and it would give me more time birding.

Arriving in Penzance on a Crosscountry train (smelly as per usual but with excellent conductors as always) and it was just getting light on a grey and claggy morning. I had a quick look off the sea wall by the railway station but couldn't find anything more than a few gannets offshore in the gloom and so I headed off to the Jubilee Pool just as the infamous Westcountry mizzle-drizzle arrived and which stuck around all morning.

From the promenade by the pool there were 26 purple sandpipers roosting on the rocks at high tide with the turnstones while offshore were 5 great northern divers, a few guillemots and 2 grey seals poking their heads out of the water.

Purple Sandpipers, Jubilee Pool, Penzance

Purple Sandpiper, Jubilee Pool

Onwards towards Newlyn and a brent goose just off the beach with 3 juvenile mute swans was a surprise.

Brent Goose, Wherrytown Beach, Penzance

Arriving at Newlyn fish quay and I immediately found a first winter glaucous gull roosting on the roof with herring gulls, very pale and almost glowing like a beacon in the gloomy light. Part of the fish quay was closed off for building work but by the time I had walked around the outside of the buildings to get a better look at it it had flown off! A nice compensation was an adult Iceland gull bobbing around on the water amongst the boats before flying up onto the fish quay roof and eventually I refound the glaucous gull roosting on the roof of another nearby building - the first time I have seen both species together in the UK.

Adult Iceland Gull, Newlyn

1st Winter Glaucous Gull, Newlyn

Iceland Gull with Herring Gulls, Newlyn

Iceland Gull with Herring Gulls

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

1st Winter Glaucous Gull

The usual turnstones were running around the quayside and out on the harbour water were a few shag and a razorbill.

Turnstone, Newlyn

Razorbill, Newlyn

I had a scan from the harbour wall and picked up a few more gannets flying around offshore and 4 kittiwakes (2 adult and 2 juveniles) resting on the water. A trawler dropped anchor close to the harbour entrance and attracted a melee of gulls including what at first I thought was another first winter glaucous gull, being a digestive biscuit brown colour with pale wing tips and having a black tipped pink bill but the bill was weedy and it was quite small looking against the nearby herring gulls - a presumed herring x glaucous hybrid. Later I refound it on the fish quay roof with the glaucous gull where it looked tiny in comparison.

Herring x Glaucous Gull?

Walking back towards the train station and I had planned to have a quick look around Morrhab Gardens where firecrests and yellow browed warblers have been reported but I mistakenly ended up in nearby Penlee Park instead which was firecrest and warbler free but I did see a few redwings, a coal tit, a nuthatch and a party of long tailed tits.

Back at the railway station and I had a quick look offshore again from the sea wall where I picked up a few gannet, some distant auks and great northern divers offshore and the resident male eider diving at the harbour entrance. I also picked up a juvenile white winged gull flying west offshore heading towards Newlyn, a paler bird then the hybrid seen earlier and with pale wing tips but looking small and not quite right and so presumably another hybrid bird.

I caught the train to St.Erth and walked down to the causeway overlooking the Hayle Estuary where the weather worsened and it became very windy and showery, the conditions not helped by being out on the exposed estuary. There were masses of gulls roosting on the mudflats on the low tide and I picked out herring, black headed, lesser black backed and great black backed gulls but nothing more unusual.

There were plenty of waders and ducks around - lapwing, golden plover, dunlin, redshank, bar tailed godwit, a lone black tailed godwit, curlew, a greenshank, oystercatcher, grey plover, ringed plover, wigeon, shelduck, teal and a redhead goosander - and rock pipits were flitting about on the rocks below the bridge.

Teal, Hayle Estuary

Teal, Hayle Estuary

I walked on to the Carnsew Pool where an adult Mediterranean gull was roosting with some black headed gulls and an adult kittiwake flew over the water but there was no sign of the resident spoonbill and so I walked around to Copperhouse Creek which was spoonbill-less too (but I did get a pasty from Philps for lunch along the way which was delicious). Back at the Carnsew Pool there was still no sign of the spoonbill and so I headed back to the causeway bridge where I eventually found it feeding along the main river channel and being buzzed at times by adult herring gulls. The golden plover flock of around 200 birds had disappeared but the lapwings were still present and very flighty and nervous and my plan to look for yellow legged gulls amongst the gull flocks went out of the window when a particularly heavy shower arrived and so I walked back to St.Erth to catch the train back to Plymouth. Annoyingly there was engineering work being done on the railway track between Plymouth and Exeter and so an amended timetable was in operation which I hadn't realised and just as I arrived at the station a nice GWR train was pulling out which I could have caught if I had known. And so I ended up catching the 15:01 train as planned but it was a little GWR skipper train and as we arrived in Truro the sky cleared and the sun shone brightly but it remained very windy - typical but it didn't detract from an excellent days birding with 8 gull species on the days list.

Heaven in Hayle

Saturday 16th January and a very cold but sunny day saw me heading off to Hayle on the train for a bit of serious birding. Arriving in Hayle at around 10am and I headed off straight away to the Carnsew Pool. A few minutes of scanning and I found the recently reported red necked grebe, only my 6th ever sighting of one and a beautiful bird that gave some great views although it spent very little time at the surface.

Red Necked Grebe, Hayle

Red Necked Grebe

Scanning around and I also found a very smart and confiding razorbill along with 4 little grebes while a kingfisher flew low over the water and a grey wagtail fed around a nearby puddle.

Razorbill, Hayle

Walking around the Pool towards the estuary and a smart and confiding guillemot was feeding on the river along with a great northern diver which dived just as I got onto it and despite watching and looking I couldn't refind it. An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull flew over looking quite ghostly in the bright sunshine and a greenshank noisily flew off from a roost of oystercatchers by the riverside.

Guillemot, Hayle

At Ryans Field a few lapwing and 20 golden plover were roosting but most of the waders were now feeding on the estuary as the tide began to ebb away - dunlin, ringed plover, curlew, grey plover, oystercatcher, redshank, turnstone and a bar tailed godwit were all seen.  Shelduck, teal and wigeon were also showing well along with a pair of goosander and a female red breasted merganser which was associating with them and allowing some nice comparisons with the female goosander.

 Male Goosander, Hayle

Female Goosander, Male Goosander and Female Red Breasted Merganser, Hayle

Scanning through the large roost of gulls and I found a nice adult kittiwake preening amongst the herring, lesser black backed, greater black backed and black headed gulls, which was a bit of a surprise. I would have liked to have spent more time going through the gulls but time was against me and so I scanned around and eventually found the long staying juvenile spoonbill roosting with little egrets on the saltings. It was fast asleep but had a quite distinctive profile compared with the egrets and just as I got my scope on it it flew off downriver but at least I saw its pinky spoon shaped bill, black wing tips and outstretched neck in flight before it landed on the estuary wall and went back to sleep!

I had hoped to have a look for the yellow browed warbler being seen behind the hide at Ryans Field but decided to have another look at the red necked grebe instead as my time at Hayle was running out. I had some lovely views of the grebe again as it preened on the water, being joined by the razorbill for a while, and it was nice to get some good views of a great northern diver regularly diving nearby.

Razorbill and Red Necked Grebe

Razorbill and Red Necked Grebe

Unfortunately it was time to catch the train down to Penzance, I had thought of just staying at Hayle as the birding was so good (quite heavenly in fact) but I stuck to my plan and arrived at Penzance at around 1pm, seeing the long staying and resident male eider amongst the gull flock close to the sea wall as the train pulled in to the station.

I headed off to the sea wall by the bus station for a quick scan around and found the male eider busily displaying to adult great black backed gulls, much to their amusement and/or fascination, and while watching the eider a large and milky coffee coloured juvenile glaucous gull flew up from the water before settling again further out where I had some nice scope views, a very nice find. A Slavonian grebe was just offshore from the Long Rock carpark, distant views only and my fifth grebe species in 3 days, but 2 great northern divers were much closer in and a male common scoter flew over towards Mousehole.

I headed off to the Jubille Pool where 20+ purple sandpipers gave some nice views with turnstone and ringed plovers while offshore a grey seal popped its head up out of the water and a pair of razorbill were busily diving.

Purple Sandpiper, Penzance

Turnstone, Newlyn

I carried on along the coast path towards Newlyn and on to Sandy Cove (misnamed as not very sandy!) where the regular wintering Pacific diver has mostly been seen but there was no sign of it (it was reported off Marazion that day, the usual place I would normally have visited!). I did see a female type black redstart on the rocky shore and a few great northern divers on the flat calm sea but amongst a large feeding flock of gulls around a trawler I found another juvenile glaucous gull - this one was paler and with worn tail feathers compared to the Penzance bird - but it quickly flew off towards Mousehole and out of sight. I later found another bird resting on the water but it drifted off towards Mousehole and out of sight again, another pale bird compared to the Penzance bird but possibly the bird I had seen in flight earlier?

Another look at the purple sandpipers on the walk back to Penzance was a delight as usual, such characterful and handsome birds, and another look off the sea wall by the bus station and the milky coffee coloured glaucous gull was still loafing around along with the horny but confused male eider. A female blackcap skulking in the nearby bushes finished off an amazing days birding as I headed off to catch the train home - no Pacific diver again (as usual) but some fantastic birds anyway.

Razorbill and Guillemot

Christmas 2015 was enjoyable with time spent with family including my sister and brother-in-law for the first Christmas in 12 years and my first ever Christmas with my 12 year old nephew - also the first Christmas with my mum for 10 years.

Boxing day and a walk along the River Plym from Chelson Meadow to The Beefeater at Marsh Mills and back was grey and windy but mild and dry if a little muddy underfoot. I forgot my binoculars but managed to see 3 greenshanks roosting on Blaxton Meadow at high tide with curlew, oystercatcher, redshank and shelduck. A jay was heard squawking and a noisy mistle thrush flew over. A nice surprise was a kingfisher calling in a tree overhanging the River between the A38 flyover and the Plympton Bridge before it flew off downstream.

A walk around Plymouth Hoe on the 27th and this time I remembered my binoculars. 11 turnstone were feeding on the gravel beach in Sutton Harbour near The China House and there were 12 mute swans including 3 juveniles. A kingfisher was on the rocks near the lock gates before noisely flying off and a smart winter plumaged adult Mediterranean gull flew across The Cattewater to Mountbatten. 3 ravens flying over The Citadel spooked all the roosting gulls and pigeons and were mobbed by carrion crows before flying off towards Devils Point.

The highlight was a guillemot resting on the sea in The Cattewater before flying off in to The Sound and thereby removing "auk species" from my year list.

December 28th and another walk around Sutton Harbour could only find 6 turnstones and there was no sign of the kingfisher today. A guillemot was resting on the sea near the lock gates but the best bird was a razorbill which gave amazingly close views as it regularly dived for fish close to the quayside and giving some fantastic underwater views. Wish I had taken my camera!

And despite my thinking I wouldn't see either guillemot or razorbill before the years end I ended up seeing both on my doorstep and taking my year list total to a pleasing 186 species.

And so to 2016 - what will it bring? Happy New Year everybody!