Hudsonian Whimbrel (at last!) and a Penzance Pelagic

Friday 26th August and with 3 days off following my unscheduled days annual leave we headed off on the train to West Cornwall. Unfortunately it was the August Bank Holiday weekend and bright and sunny and warm and so it was a little busy but overall it wasn't too bad.

We had the first class carriage of the train to ourselves from Plymouth to Hayle which was very nice and we enjoyed complimentary tea, coffee, biscuits and cake for breakfast. We alighted at Hayle and walked along the estuary to the railway station at St.Erth so I could do a bit of birding. The tide was heading in and I managed to see a nice selection of waders - 3 greenshank, 2 whimbrel, 2 black tailed godwit, curlews, redshanks, 2 dunlin and a curlew sandpiper (my 3rd in a week after a complete dip last year). Also seen were a greylag goose amongst the Canada goose flock, 5 eclipse plumaged wigeon amongst teal and mallard and a 2nd summer Mediterranean gull moulting into winter plumage.

We caught the packed out train from St.Erth to St.Ives and had an enjoyable few hours wandering around St.Ives. Despite the crowds and sunshine I managed to find a few gannets and fulmars offshore along with an adult kittiwake and a juvenile and 2 adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gulls. A grey seal was also seen swimming in the water off the beach near The Tate Modern with swimmers nearby totally oblivious to its prescence.

We then caught the train from St.Ives to Penzance for an overnight stay at The Union Hotel ready for an early start on Saturday morning (for me) to go on a seabird pelagic trip I had booked (yes, I had finally gotten around to doing it!). The trip was planned for a 7am start but was cancelled due to a lack of people but I was offered an afternoon trip from 5pm instead and so our plans for the Saturday were rearranged and it meant that I now had the opportunity in the morning to visit Marazion while David visited Newlyn.

The Egyptian House, Penzance - opposite our hotel

I headed off on the bus to Marazion and then walked along the coastpath to Perrannuthnoe to look again for the long staying Hudsonian whimbrel which has been appearing, disappearing and then reappearing in the area since November 2015. I hoped that this 3rd visit would be the charm and indeed it turned out to be.

 St.Michaels Mount, Marazion

The tide was heading in and the sun was shining and I found a group of curlews roosting on the rocks with oystercatchers and little egrets. No sign of the Hudsonian whimbrel amongst them but a neurotic sounding whimbrel was whistling away further along the footpath. I scanned around for it along the shore with no luck but as I peered over the clifftop I flushed a curlew then a whimbrel and then the Hudsonian whimbrel which had been making all the noise, noting its dark toned plumage and lack of white rump in flight which looked quite outstanding especially when compared to the curlew and whimbrel flying with it. It disappeared along the coast but I headed back to the curlew roost amongst the rocks and quickly refound it with 3 whimbrels, its uniformly dark plumage and much brighter and distinct head patterning being very noticeable. I often find whimbrels have variably patterned head markings with some more distinct than others but the Hudsonians was very outstanding. It flew off with the curlews and whimbrels a few times as the tide continued to rise and it was quite noticeable amongst them with its darker plumage tones, no white rump and small size - finally I had seen it, a British life tick for me at last.

 Hudsonian Whimbrel with Curlews

 Hudsonian Whimbrel (centre) with Whimbrel (right) and Curlews

Hudsonian Whimbrel and Curlews

Other birds seen along the beach were ringed plovers, dunlins and turnstones, a kingfisher, a grey wagtail and rock pipits with fulmars flying around offshore.

Goose Barnacles on driftwood, Marazion Beach

I met up with David back in Marazion and after a pint we walked back to Penzance for lunch, enjoying an ice cream in the hot sunshine along the way. After lunch and a look around Penzance it was time for David to head back to Plymouth on the train while I headed down to the harbour for my pelagic trip.

We headed off on The Mermaid II along the stunning coast towards Lands End as the sun started to become more obscured by clouds rolling in from the south west. The weather conditions were not looking great for seabirds but I was just excited to be out on a boat with the glorious views and a sense of anticipation.

Turnstone, Penzance Harbour

The guide began to chuck food over the back of the boat which attracted gulls as we sped along the coast and amongst the herring, great black backed and lesser black backed gulls of various hues and ages a juvenile yellow legged gull was picked out. I managed to get onto and noted its white rump, black tail band and dark upperwings with a poorly marked  inner primary window as we bounced along over the waves but it was a brief view only as it disappeared in the melee of gulls. An ocean sunfish was also seen flapping its fin in the air as we whizzed by.

 Here Come The Gulls!

 Gulls

Gulls

A juvenile kittiwake, variously aged gannets, fulmars and Manx shearwaters were also seen before the engines were cut off Lands End and chumming began. The silence was a shock after all the engine noise and it was peacefully beautiful as we bobbed around in the waves waiting to see what would appear. Manx shearwaters and fulmars circled around the boat at times but didn't linger unlike the mass of gulls. I managed to find 2 Balearic shearwaters flying by but they were distant and quickly disappeared off into the Atlantic, being noticeably paler toned and with dusky looking underparts compared to the crisp white underparts and dark tones of the Manxies.

Some fins were seen breaking the sea surface, presumably common dolphins, but they were very unobtrusive and quickly disappeared. Compass jellyfish were also seen but it was decided to head back towards Penzance as there was little seabird action going on.

Heading back and a lone common dolphin came to the boat, circling a few times and leaping out of the water before disappearing behind the boat. A circling group of gannets gave away the prescence of a group of feeding harbour porpoise which gave their usual brief fin views before moving away. Another group of common dolphins came to the boat but also quickly disappeared from sight and with the light fading we continued on our way back to Penzance, watching Manx shearwaters and gannets and gulls along the way.

A fellow birder on the trip called a large shearwater off the back of the boat and I quickly got onto it in the dull and fading light as it flew low over the waves away from the boat, noting its long wings and pale brown looking upperwings. At first I thought it was a Corys but it banked to the left before appearing to land on the sea, showing a distinct dark cap and looking almost skua like before I lost sight of it - a great shearwater and another British life tick for me (my second of the day!). Despite going back and searching for it we couldn't refind it but it provided an exciting end to the trip.

We arrived back at Penzance harbour just before 9pm and it was quite dark by this time as I headed off to the railway station to catch the 21:30hrs train to Plymouth, the last train of the day. My shins were black and blue from knocking against the boats benches in the choppy swell and my core muscles ached too from trying to keep myself upright as we bounced across the waves but it was worth it - I had had a fantastic time despite the less than ideal conditions and I am looking forward to doing a pelagic trip again next year.

Burrator Reservoir and a trip to France

October 10th and a sunny morning and so we headed up to Dartmoor for a walk around Burrator Reservoir. With it being a Friday it was very quiet and much more pleasant than the chaos of a weekend visit. The biggest surprise was how low the water level was, I don't think I have ever seen it as low before. More trees have been cleared too and loggers were noisely chainsawing down more while we were there and as a result it all looked very different although still stunning.

Burrator Reservoir - normally this would all be under water!



A female mandarin duck was seen with mallards near the dam as I got out of the car and a kingfisher called as it flew low over the water, looking resplendent in the bright sunshine. The 2 white feral geese were still present along with a Muscovy duck and a Canada goose and at least 4 little grebes and 8 cormorants were seen busily diving for fish which must be much easier to catch in the shallower water. A surprise were 8 redhead goosander which flew in and landed on the water where they began to fish too. Returning to the car and a quick check of the ducks by the dam before heading off and I found a nice male mandarin duck with the mallards just as it flew up on to the rocks by the waters edge and disappeared from view.

A late juvenile swallow flew over the Reservoir heading south and 2 grey wagtails were feeding around the waters edge. A few red admiral and speckled wood were also flitting around along with a common darter and in the remaining woodland the usual small birds were seen - coal, blue, great and long tailed tits, siskins, chaffinches and robins.

Common Darter, Burrator Reservoir



That evening we headed off to Roscoff in France on the Amorique ferry from Plymouth for a short break. The crossing was pretty smooth but I didn't sleep particularly well (probably too much food and alcohol and excitement!). The weather the next day was perfect - warm, sunny and still - and we had a very pleasant day. Red admiral, large white and speckled wood were on the wing along with 2 common darter. The tide was out in Roscoff at 4 o'clock as we checked in to our hotel for the night and so we had a walk around the quay where I had good views of turnstone, redshank, little egret, oystercatcher, brent geese and a kingfisher. The best sighting was a very obliging hummingbird hawkmoth feeding on flowers at Morlaix which we watched for a while very close too, I guess the warm weather wasn't quite warm enough for it to be too skittish.

 Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Morlaix

 Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Hummingbird Hawkmoth



Incoming tide at Roscoff



The following morning and it was time to head back to Plymouth and we caught the 09:15 Pont Aven ferry back to Plymouth. The weather could not have been more different, it was cool and cloudy and breezey but at least it didn't rain. Finding a spot to sea watch was difficult due to the breeze and an excess of very excited French school kids. The vibrations from the ferry also hampered viewing along with my overall tiredness but I did manage some good sightings.

A few miles out after leaving the harbour and a brent goose was seen flying strongly West. A few gannets and great black backed gulls were noted before a skua caught my eye flying low over the sea away from the ferry. It had a very large white wing flash on its left upper wing primaries but smaller and less extensive on its right wing. At first I thought it was a great skua due to its quite measured, almost ponderous flight, apparent large size and white wing flashes but as I got on to it with my binoculars I was pleased to see it was a moulting adult pale phased Arctic/pomarine skua. It landed on the sea where it disappeared amongst the waves just as I caught a view of its dark cap and buffy coloured cheeks but I couldn't see any tail feather projections, not unusual in adult birds at this time of year. The flight manner was unlike the fast, agile style of Artic skua but may have been due to the wind and I think it was a pomarine skua which would be a new bird for me but I am not sure. In any event it was seen in French waters so wouldn't be a British life or year tick anyway!

During the whole crossing I saw small flocks of migrating meadow pipits flying south, up to 10 birds in a flock, and consistent with sightings of meadow pipits along the South Devon coast that morning. Mid channel and more gannets were seen along with 7 great skuas - most were a little distant but 2 were disturbed from the sea quite close to the ferry, giving good views as they flew away. As South Devon appeared in the distance a feeding flock of gannets close to the ferry gave some nice views and scanning the sea below the swirling flock I saw around 10 harbour porpoise flashing their fins briefly and 1 individual leaping out of the water like a dolphin.

There were a few trawlers out fishing although they were not very close to the ferry and I checked out the mass of birds flying around the back of the boats. There were plenty of great black backed and herring gulls and gannets but I couldn't pick out any skuas. I did however see 3 storm petrels and a Balearic shearwater amongst them and a brief view of a long winged, dark shearwater that may have been a sooty shearwater. Arriving in to Plymouth and a smart adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull was feeding around a floating mass of seaweed in Plymouth Sound and finished off what had been a very enjoyable sea watching session.

Isles of Scilly Day Trip - September 15th 2014

I had planned to visit the Isles of Scilly on a day trip in August with my birthday money but changed plans and went to the caravan at Bude instead - just as well as the weather wasn't great and it would have been a rough sea crossing and there wasn't much reported birdwise.

And so at 04:45hrs on September 15th the alarm clock sounded and off I headed on the train to Penzance for the 09:15hrs crossing on the Scillonian III ferry to St.Marys. Leaving the harbour on time and the sun was shining between the gaps in the clouds but as the day progressed the cloud thickened and it remained grey and overcast. There was also a stiff Easterly breeze and so the sea was choppy but the crossing wasn't too rough and provided some fantastic sightings.

The Egyptian House, Penzance

 



We passed a small fishing boat not long after leaving the harbour and on scanning the water behind the boat there were a few gulls loafing around and I had a very brief view of a shearwater taking off from the water before flying off and out of sight across the front of the boat. It appeared long winged and uniformly brown and was probably a sooty shearwater but I couldn't be sure and I couldn't refind it. My attention was also distracted by a small bird fluttering over the waves which turned out to be a storm petrel which gave some nice views as it flew away from the boat. Not a bad start although a little frustrating.

Heading along the Cornish coast towards Lands End and birds were everywhere - gannets, Manx shearwaters, shags (including a very pale juvenile that looked very red throated diver-y from a distance), kittiwakes (adults in winter plumage with black smudges on their heads and 1 juvenile), 2 juvenile Commic terns (distant views), great black backed-, lesser black backed- and herring gulls and 2 probable Balearic shearwaters (distant views again). Another storm petrel was also seen close to the boat in its characteristic fluttering and dipping flight over the water but as we passed Lands End the seabird sightings dwindled and eventually stopped. However between Lands End and The Scillies I did see a flyover goldfinch and 4 pied wagtails heading towards The Scillies and a kestrel low over the waves heading towards Land End along with 2 red admirals.

I also had some cetacean sightings with the best being 2 harbour porpoise, an adult with a calf, which passed quite closely alongside the boat with the calf showing very well on surfacing as it raised its head quite high out of the water, presumably to watch the boat going by. I also had some brief fin views of some common dolphins and later some brief fin views of bottle nose dolphins (larger and with a blue hue to them) and while queueing for a cup of tea in the café and looking out of the porthole I saw 2 common dolphins leaping out of the water and heading towards the boat before being lost from sight.

The Scillies were looking stunning as usual despite the grey skies and strong breeze. I had planned to visit Tresco as some good birds had been reported from there but with a greenish warbler having been reported on St.Marys the previous day I decided to stay on St.Marys - needless to say I didn't see the warbler!

Scillies Mega! (Telegraph pole ornament)

 



 The Scillonian III in St.Marys Harbour

 

St.Marys Harbour on a grey and breezey day

 



Birding was heavy going in the cool, overcast conditions and the strong Easterly. Highlights were a spotted flycatcher, 2 whitethroat, 2 willow warbler (1 seen and 1 heard singing), a kestrel hovering over the fields, a peregrine flying over with a small bird in its talons, swallows everywhere with 1 sand martin, wheatears everywhere with many being quite tame, Sandwich terns fishing offshore and a 1st winter Mediterranean gull flying by the ferry as we headed back to Penzance. A few speckled wood and red admirals were also flitting about in more sheltered spots.

Wheatear

 



After such an eventful ferry crossing from Penzance I was looking forward to the return crossing but the light was poor and the sea choppier and the only sea mammal I saw was a seal poking its snout out of the water as we left St.Marys harbour. Again there were very few seabird sightings between The Scillies and Lands End but as we approached the Cornish coast birds began to appear. A great skua was seen flying across the back of the boat before landing on the sea along with gannets, gulls and Manx shearwaters and as we neared Lands End 10 ringed plover flew over the boat heading out to sea. A raft of shearwaters was resting on the sea and as we sailed through them they all scattered and I picked out a Balearic shearwater - noticeably larger and paler brown than the very dark looking Manx and with dirty looking underparts compared to the white of Manx. As we sailed on we disturbed more rafts and feeding flocks of shearwaters and I found at least 2 more Balearics amongst the Manx with 1 bird seen very well alongside the boat as it flew past, being much bigger bodied than the Manx and with noticeably paler upperparts. A juvenile Commic tern was also seen and as we approached Penzance harbour I had a distant and brief flight view of a long winged, uniform brown looking shearwater again before it landed on the sea - the sooty shearwater again? Very frustrating!

And so it had been an exhausting day (I didn't get home until 22:45hrs) but it had been a great day out and one I will be doing again. The weather conditions had resulted in some poor birding on The Scillies but some fantastic sightings on the ferry crossings, the journey back being especially magical along the coast between Lands End and Penzance as the light began to fade and shearwaters were flying around all over the place. Life doesn't get much better than that.