With a Pacific Diver being reported off Marazion and the Booted Eagle still being present in the surrounding area I bit the bullet and headed down to Penzance on the train for a look about on Saturday 25th January. I decided to concentrate on just birding the Marazion area and to see how things panned out, I wasn't expecting too much but as ever I was realistically optimistic.
I arrived in Penzance at around 9:30am on what was a cold and fresh and mostly sunny day and I started off by having a quick look offshore from the bus station but there was very little to see out on the water. I also failed to find any Black Redstart here but there were 2 Purple Sandpipers feeding amongst a small flock of Turnstones down on the rocks, the first time I think I've seem them here before.
I caught the 10am bus to Marazion and had a look around the Marsh from the roadside viewing area, there were good numbers of Teal, Snipe, Mallard, Canada Goose, Moorhen and Grey Heron present along with 3 male Wigeon, a pair of Stonechat, a Chiffchaff and 2 Little Egret. A loose group of 5 Raven showed very well close to the path as they fed on something unseen in the long grass but there was no sign of the Booted Eagle.
News came through of the Pacific Diver being seen nearby on the east side of St.Michaels Mount so I headed over there for a look. Viewing into the harsh and hazy light proved difficult and there was quite a swell still after Storm Eowyn moved through the previous day, I had a brief sighting of possibly the Pacific Diver and also a brief sighting of a probable Black-throated Diver amongst the 20+Great Northern Divers present but I couldn't confirm either of them.
A large flock of Gulls were feeding in the swell close to the beach, mostly Herring and Black-headed Gulls with a few Common and Mediterranean amongst them. The tide was heading in and roosting out on the rocks were 8 Redshank, Turnstones, Sanderlings and 7 Purple Sandpiper while a female type Black Redstart was catching flies along the beach and 4 Chiffchaffs were feeding in a village garden.
A consolation for dipping the Pacific Diver was having a Philps pasty for lunch from the shop in Marazion, I bought a standard sized one but it was massive and with it being hotter than a nuclear reactor it took me a little while to eat it - it was a tough job but I managed it!
While I was not seeing the Pacific Diver at St.Michaels Mount the Booted Eagle was putting in appearances at Marazion Marsh and so I headed back there for another look about, the same birds were seen again along with a Sparrowhawk overhead but there was no Booted Eagle. A Marsh Harrier hunting over the reed beds was a surprise find though, my first one ever at this site but it unfortunately disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
Despite further sightings of the Booted Eagle coming through on the bird news channels I failed to see it (and further sightings of the Pacific Diver had been reported too!) but with time marching on and the light fading I had to pack up and catch the bus back to Penzance.
Before catching the train back to Plymouth I had a quick look around Penzance, again there was very little offshore but there were Turnstones, 24 Purple Sandpiper and 23 Sanderling roosting at the Jubilee Pool, a nice sighting to end a double dip day. The Booted Eagle was also reported again after I had left Marazion, some days the birding God's do not smile down on me, but despite the double dipping it had been a very enjoyable day out.
It was grey and windy on Tuesday 28th January but I headed out anyway for a walk along The Plym despite the ominous looking clouds. There had been an accident along The Embankment and the road was closed off so I caught the bus to Laira Bridge and walked up to Blaxton Meadow and back, getting increasingly wet as the grey clouds started to produce heavy showers which then eventually turned into rain.
The tide was low but heading in and as I scanned across the water I found a Great Northern Diver, a Shag, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Goosander (2 males, 3 females), 2 immature Mute Swans and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. The usual birds were feeding and roosting out on the mudflats too - Curlew, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Redshank and Gulls but just 4 Dunlin - while Blaxton Meadow was full of water despite the low tide and only contained a small flock of hunkered down Wigeon.
It was cold and sunny on Thursday 30th January which made for a nice change after all the wind and rain we've had recently due to Storms Eowyn, Herminia and Ivo having rattled through in quick succession. I decided to make the most of the change in the weather and caught the train down to Newquay for the day, a trip I've only ever made once before back in 2014, and I had forgotten how scenic the journey is from Par to Newquay but also how slow the journey is. I also hadn't realised how tight the connection was in Par, only 7 minutes, and with the Plymouth to Par train getting progressively later and later I only just made it otherwise I would have had to have waited another 2 hours for the next train!
On arriving in Newquay I headed down to the boating lake to look for the long-staying Long-tailed Duck which I quickly found busily diving away, my first sighting of one since 2021. At times it came very close to the path and gave some great views but it was never at the surface for more than a few seconds before diving again.
I then headed up to the golf course near Fistral Beach, Choughs are often seen here but I was out of luck today. A good day of weather for birding is also a good day for golf and the small course was very busy with golfers but there were plenty of Jackdaw about along with a few Carrion Crow, 2 Magpies, House Sparrows, Starlings, a Kestrel and a male Stonechat as I walked around the perimeter footpath.
I walked over to the nearby Headland Hotel where there were good numbers of Gannets diving away quite close to shore and also present were Shags, Kittiwakes and Guillemots but there was no sign of the recently reported Humpback Whales. A female Stonechat, 2 Raven, a Rock Pipit and a Greenfinch were seen along the cliff path and on the rocks 2 Turnstone and 4 Oystercatcher were also noted.
And so it had been an interesting day out, Newquay is a lot bigger than I remembered but the town is not a pretty place despite its stunning location. I was pleased to get some nice views of the Long-tailed Duck but not so pleased to experience another double dip day with no sightings of Chough or Humpback Whale to be had, some days you really just can't have it all.
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