Stuart's Wildlife Diary

Saturday, 5 December 2020

No more Tears, just Tiers - and having a Whale of a Time

Wednesday 2nd December and Lockdown ended to be replaced with Tiers. Devon has been placed in Tier 2 while Cornwall is in Tier 1, the lowest Tier level, and after 4 weeks of going crazy with cabin fever I headed out for a proper birdy day to Penzance, observing all the social distancing in place at the moment (Hands, Face, Space, staying outside, not meeting up with others, etc, etc.).

I started my day with a walk from Penzance out to Sandy Cove at Newlyn, noting a male Black Redstart on a rooftop near the Jubilee Pool and a female type around the buildings at Newlyn Harbour along the way.

At Sandy Cove another female type Black Redstart was feeding amongst the boulders while around the bird feeders Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow and a Coal Tit were seen along with around 10 very large and very bold Brown Rats.

Brown Rat, Sandy Cove

I scanned around inside the tangle of trees and shrubs around the feeders and eventually found a Goldcrest, a Firecrest, a male Blackcap, a collybita Chiffchaff, a presumed Siberian Chiffchaff (tristis) and a Yellow-Browed Warbler along with a skulking Water Rail by the waters edge and a showy Grey Wagtail

The presumed Siberian Chiffchaff was very active but showed very well and was pale and brown looking with greenish tinges to tail and wings and giving a strange call at times. The Yellow-browed Warbler was typically mobile and flitty but did show well at times and was quite a smart looking bird, probably the smartest looking one I've ever seen, and it also called a few times.

Siberian Chiffchaff

Yellow-Browed Warbler

I headed back to Penzance and on a quick look around the fish quay at Newlyn along the way I was pleased to find a 1st winter Iceland Gull amongst the throng of Gulls feeding on fish scraps.

Iceland Gull, Newlyn Harbour

Iceland Gull

I carried on to Penzance in a heavy rain shower and stopped off at the Jubilee Pool briefly for a scan offshore and noted 2 Great Northern Divers and a flock of around 30 Common Scoter but there was no sign of the recently reported Pacific Diver. Along the rocky foreshore a few Ringed Plover were seen with Turnstones and 5 Purple Sandpipers.

Purple Sandpipers, Jubilee Pool

Back in Penzance and it was then time to board The Mermaid for a boat trip out into Mount's Bay and fortunately the rain held off but it was cold and the sea choppy away from the coastline.

Offshore good views were had of Kittiwake, Gannet, Fulmar, Guillemot and Razorbill along with a Great Skua flying past the boat and a 2nd Winter Yellow-legged Gull attracted to the back of the boat with other Gulls including an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. A pod of 3-4 Harbour Porpoise also showed briefly at the surface in the choppy waves.

We headed back towards the coastline where the sea was much calmer in the shelter of the cliffs and very luckily found a Humpback Whale which has been seen recently in the area. It was loafing around very close to shore off the Tater-du Lighthouse at Lamorna Cove, showing well at the surface and occasionally fluking and an amazing creature to watch, my second sighting of one in the UK.

Humpback Whale

We eventually had to tear ourselves away and head back to harbour as the light began to fade and on the way back to Penzance a male Eider, 2 Grey Seals and an adult Yellow-legged Gull roosting amongst the Gulls on St.Clements Island off Mousehole were seen.

An amazing day out indeed and much needed by me for my ongoing sanity in the shit storm that is 2020. And the Yellow-browed Warbler takes my year list to 200 species.

Gulls

Thursday, 3 December 2020

Holiday-less Holiday Again

With another week of annual leave from work and travel plans abandoned yet again due to Lockdown (which ends on December 2nd to be replaced by Lockdown Tiers) the general weirdness of life in 2020 continues.

A walk at Wembury Point on Sunday 29th November was stunning in sunny skies and no breeze with the sea flat calm and mirror like. Unfortunately it was absolutely heaving with walkers and dogs but we enjoyed the walk anyway.

A female Blackcap, an adult Mediterranean Gull, a singing Cirl Bunting and a bubbling Curlew were the avian highlights with a quick look for the Water Pipit drawing a blank, not surprising with the low tide and the number of walkers along the beach.

Female Blackcap

A Honeysuckle in flower was a surprise and 3 large Parasol Mushrooms looked stunning (and were very tasty for tea that night).

Honeysuckle

Parasol Mushrooms

The log store in the front garden was disturbed that afternoon on our return home as logs were chopped up for the winter and a surprise find amongst the logs was a Beautiful Plume moth, ID'd with help from @MothIDUK and my 97th moth species for the garden in 2020.

Beautiful Plume

Monday 30th November was dry but overcast and after a tip off from my mate Mavis we headed up to Burrator for a walk to look for Devils Fingers, an introduced species of fungus from the Southern Hemisphere which originally was common in the New Forest and is now spreading across Southern England. We quickly found the area where Mavis had seen them and soon found some emerging from the soil, they were very weird and wonderful looking and quite smelly too.

Devils Fingers

We found one emerging from its "egg", looking slimey and gross and like something from the film "Alien" but fascinating to see.

Devils Fingers

A walk around Burrator Reservoir was very quiet bird wise with a Cormorant, a Canada Goose with a white Farm Goose, a few Mallards, Blackbirds with a few Redwing snaffling down Hawthorn berries and a chipping Great Spotted Woodpecker the highlights.

Canada Goose

Farmyard Goose, Burrator Reservoit

Tuesday December 1st was another sunny and still day and so I decided to revisit Wembury again. It was unsurprisingly very busy with dogs and walkers especially along the beach and I was unable to find the Water Pipit again amongst the Rock Pipits and Meadow Pipits, also not helped by it being low tide. A smart Grey Wagtail was a nice consolation though.

On the rocks with the usual Oystercatchers were a Curlew, 2 Little Egret and 3 Mediterranean Gulls (2 adults and 1 2nd winter) while along the footpath Cirl Buntings were vocal and showy along with Stonechats.

Cirl Bunting, Wembury

A male Kestrel, 2 male and a female Bullfinch and a Song Thrush were seen at The Point while on the hillside above the wheatfield a male Pheasent strutting its stuff and a Buzzard feeding on an adult Herring Gull carcass were noted. At least 27 Skylark were feeding in the wheatfield and only visible when they occasionally took to the air calling.

The best bird was a Firecrest in the gardens by the road leading to the beach, mobile and flitty amongst the evergreen trees and bushes but showing well at times and my first for Wembury this year.