It was mostly overcast and cool as I headed out to The Plym for a walk on Monday 30th March, a flock of 8 Black-tailed Godwit had been present the previous day but as expected they had moved on although I can't help but wonder if The National Trust wasn't messing about with the water levels on Blaxton Meadow they might have lingered for longer.
Anyway, I started my walk at Laira Bridge, it was low tide and from the Bridge the usual birds were seen including a Mute Swan, a Shag, a Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank while a Sparrowhawk was seen flying over the river being pursued by a Carrion Crow.
From The Amphitheatre I scanned the mudflats and found the now long staying 1st winter Bonaparte's Gull roosting amongst a flock of 20 Common Gull along with a single Black-headed Gull, distant views only before something spooked them and they all flew off upriver and out of sight.
There were no Red-crested Pochards on the duck pond again but a male Mandarin was present before flying off and the pair of Grey Wagtail were still catching Flies from the pond edges. The blue Ring-necked Parakeet was also in the usual tree and defending the nest hole from all comers along with her green mate.
With a Dusky Warbler having been found at Boscathnoe Reservoir near Penzance in December last year and with it still being reported this month I decided it was high time I went to have a look for it as it has only been present now for over 3 months!
I caught the train down to Penzance and then the bus to Madron with the bus stop being very close to the reservoir entrance. It was cool and overcast again but within minutes of checking out the Willows where it is usually seen I had found a Chiffchaff closely followed by the Dusky Warbler. It showed ridiculously well as it fed in the Willows along the waters edge before moving up into the bare branches of a nearby tree where it caught a massive Fly, scarfed it down and promptly disappeared into cover, never to be seen again.
It had been very showy for what is usually a bit of a skulky bird and I enjoyed my views of it, certainly better than the views I had of my only other sighting of one at Landguard in Suffolk in 2014 where I saw it flitting between Bramble patches being chased by Twitchers.
While waiting around for the Dusky Warbler not to reappear I also saw 4 Sand Martins overhead, a Green Woodpecker, 2 Jays, a pair of nest building Little Grebes, a Moorhen sitting on eggs and a male Blackcap before I caught the bus back to Penzance and then the train to St.Erth for a look at the Hayle Estuary.
On arriving at the causeway bridge there were plenty of the usual Gulls out on the mudflats - Herring, Common, Great Black-backed, Mediterranean, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed - and I easily found the reported 1st winter Bonaparte's Gull amongst them. It showed very well and quite close to the bridge at first, sometimes busily preening and other times settling down on the mud for a nap. A Little Gull and a Ring-billed Gull had also been reported but I failed to find them although while scanning around for them I did see 2 redhead Goosanders, 9 winter plumaged Bar-tailed Godwits, 13 Sandwich Tern and 2 Greenshank before heading back to.St.Erth to catch the train back to Plymouth.
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