A Tale of Two Rivers - The Plym and The Hayle

A short morning walk around Saltram and along The Plym on Saturday 24th August was quite productive despite the heavy showers with the highlight being a Tree Pipit, initially it was quite uncooperative, flighty and skulky but eventually it showed very well when it briefly perched up in a bush before disappearing again. I didn't see a Tree Pipit on The Plym last year and have only had a distant view of one on Dartmoor this year so it was a very welcome sighting.

Tree Pipit - totally silent as all my Plym birds have been

Tree Pipit

It was a very high tide and Blaxton Meadow was well flooded but waders were roosting around the edges, probably due to the rowers out on The Plym flushing them off The Embankment wall. Amongst the usual Redshank and Curlew were a Knot, 2 Dunlin, 5 Oystercatcher and 12 Greenshank with Grey Heron and Little Egret present too. The Canada Goose flock was Pink-footed Goose-less this time but 2 Kingfishers were watched chasing each other around over the water.

Curlews

Other sightings of note were a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard overhead, the female Red-crested Pochard on the duck pond, a showy Whitethroat and a skulky Blackcap on The Tip, good numbers of Swallows and House Martins hawking insects over the cow fields and a Grey Wagtail along the River at Marsh Mills.

Red-crested Pochard

I had planned to visit Hayle by train on Sunday 25th August but after too many sherbets on the previous nights get together with Julie and Matt I overslept (and felt a little bit rough too!) and so I headed off the next day instead (Bank Holiday Monday 26th August). 

A pair of noisy adult Herring Gulls were flying around the rooftops as I left the house and a noisy juvenile bird was with them too. I wondered if it was Birdy 2024 but he didn't come down onto the flat roof next door.  However as I walked up the street towards the railway station the juvenile bird flew down and landed very close to me on the pavement where he just stood and looked at me, I don't know if it was Birdy 2024 but I would like to think it was.

The train ride to Hayle was pleasant and uneventful but it was a sad sight to see so many dead and dieing Ash trees in the landscape as we travelled through Cornwall, something that seems to be getting more and more noticeable now.

On arriving at Hayle it was high tide and so I headed straight to Ryan's Field. From the causeway I could see small waders feeding out on the mud so I made my way to the hide for a closer look. I quickly picked out the Semi-palmated Sandpiper feeding amongst the Dunlins and Ringed Plovers and it gave some lovely views before it went to sleep - my 4th one ever and my 3rd at Hayle. I also quickly found the Grey Phalarope too but it was a little more distant and kept disappearing from view as it fed along a drainage channel out on the field - my 4th one ever and my 1st at Hayle.

Semi-palmated Sandpiper (right)

Sleepy Semi-palmated Sandpiper (top right)

The hide was full of Toggers, all dressed up in Arctic weather camo gear and with massive camo covered camera lenses. They seemed more interested in showing each other photos on their phones of recent birds they had togged rather than watching the Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Grey Phalarope in front of them but unsurprisingly there was an absolute frenzy of activity when a Kingfisher perched up in a bush by the hide.

A trio of Buzzards flew over and spooked all the birds roosting on the field and everything flew over to the estuary on the dropping tide and so I headed to the causeway bridge for a look. There was no sign of any little waders but I did see 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Greenshank, a Whimbrel, 2 Teal and 2 immature Shelduck along with the usual Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Gulls.

Curlew

I then walked down to the Carnsew Pool and and along the way enjoyed some lovely close views of the Grey Phalarope feeding on Ryans Field right by the side of the road, it presumably hadn't been flushed earlier by the passing Buzzards. It was strange to watch it walking on the mud, I've only ever seen them in flight or sat on the sea before.

Grey Phalarope 

Grey Phalarope 

Grey Phalarope 

Grey Phalarope 

Grey Phalarope 

At the Carnsew Pool there was a flock of small waders roosting on the beach below the golf course, I picked out a juvenile Knot and a Turnstone amongst the Dunlin and Ringed Plover sleeping amongst the seaweed but couldn't find the Semi-palmated Sandpiper amongst them. Unfortunately some walkers then flushed all the birds off the beach and they all flew off upriver and out of sight.

I decided to head back upriver to look for them but on my walk back up to the causeway bridge I never found the small waders again although the Grey Phalarope was still showing well on the field. 

Small Tortoiseshell- probably the rarest sighting of the day

Red Admiral

With time marching on I returned to Hayle train station for the journey home, I had a Philps pasty for a late lunch beforehand which was very tasty but the train journey home wasn't quite as pleasant as the mornings trip had been, who on earth thought having a 2 carriage train in service on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday in Cornwall was a good idea? It was hot and stuffy and absolutely packed and I was glad to disembark the train in Plymouth but it had been a very good day out.