Friday 11th December was the last day of my annual leave time from work and so I decided to revisit the Penzance area again for a final day of holiday birding.
I started off at Hayle and walked around Copperhouse Creek on the low tide. A Ruff and a Curlew Sandpiper had been seen there the previous day but there was no sign of them on my walk but I did see a Kingfisher, a Greenshank, a Grey Plover and a Bar-tailed Godwit amongst the usual birds.
Onwards to the Carnsew Pool and a Great Northern Diver and 4 Little Grebe showed well along with 24 Grey Plover, 14 Dunlin and 2 Greenshank. A walk along the estuary towards St.Erth revealed another Kingfisher flying over the mudflats along with another Greenshank feeding in a small creek and there were 2 male Goosander fishing together in the river channel. The usual Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal and assorted Gulls were also seen.
I carried on to Penzance to stake out the sea off the Jubilee Pool to look for the Pacific Diver reported the previous day and again it was a big fat dip. 4 Great Northern Diver showed well though and further offshore Kittiwake and Gannet were flying around.
On the rocks the small waders were gathering to roost on the incoming tide and I had some nice views of Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Turnstone and 2 Purple Sandpiper.
Sanderling
Sanderling
Turnstone and Sanderling
Sanderling and Purple Sandpiper
Another Kingfisher perched briefly on the rocks before flying off out of sight and on the nearby roofs a pair of Black Redstart were flitting around but were very elusive, disappearing for long periods of time before reappearing elsewhere.
Kingfisher
A Chiffchaff gave itself away by calling in trees near the railway station in Penzance as I returned to St.Erth for another look at the Hayle Estuary. The tide was quite high by this time and so I walked over towards Lelant Station to scan through the Gulls amassing to roost in the saltings.
Amongst the mostly Herring, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were a few Common, Great Black-backed and Mediterranean Gulls and at least 2 very smart looking adult Yellow-legged Gulls with Daz white heads glowing in the shaded sunlight.
Yellow-legged Gull with Lesser Black-backed Gulls
A Knot was roosting in the saltings too along with 3 Bar-tailed Godwit and Redshanks and out on the water there were 3 redhead Goosander roosting amongst the Gulls. I also thought I had a brief view of the reported adult Ring-billed Gull amongst the throng of Gulls on the saltings but couldn't be sure, quickly loosing sight of it as the Gulls moved around and despite searching I couldn't refind it. I also failed to find the reported adult Iceland Gull and the 2 1st Winter Caspian Gulls before I had to head home but an enjoyable day out was had despite it being a very dippy day.
Monday 14th December was wet and windy on awakening but as the skies cleared I decided to visit Exwick in Exeter where a Dusky Warbler had been found. The bird was frequenting a stand of trees alongside the River Exe but had to be viewed from the opposite side of the River due to a lack of public access.
A few Birders were already present but the news wasn't positive and after 3 hours of watching, waiting and listening it wasn't positive for me either! A few times I thought I heard the "tac" call of a Dusky Warbler but it was faint and difficult to hear with all the ambient traffic noise and I think it may only have been a case of wishful thinking.
It was nice to be out though with COVID Christmas meltdown building and chatting to the Birders present was interesting and informative.
A few birds were seen as well - 3 Little Grebe, a Kingfisher, a Grey Wagtail, Mallard and Cormorant along the River, a Chiffchaff with Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits in the trees and a Sparrowhawk and a few Redwing flying over.
Very dippy days out indeed, I hope it doesn't continue!
