RSPB RYAN'S FIELD - HAYLE ESTUARY - CARNSEW POOL - COPPERHOUSE CREEK - DRIFT RESERVOIR - CAPE CORNWALL
WEATHER: glorious sunshine all day with some cloud, light winds. Top temp 19C
We had a superb birding-day in Cornwall, with a mixed bag of species topped by sightings of the elusive Melodious Warbler which we failed to see yesterday.
With a full complement of clients we set off after our comprehensive breakfast to the Hayle Estuary, we knew it was going to be a very high tide this morning ( a spring tide) and that is exactly what we got. We parked in the car park at RSPB Ryan's Field, a marsh area with pools and reedbeds that lies adjacent to the Hayle Estuary, it is often full of birds during the high tide period. As we aproached the area on the bypass we saw a Spoonbill in flight, not a bad start!
Ryan's Field - the view from the hide
Viewing from the hide we spent 40 minutes or so finding lots of species, mainly waders, but also egrets, geese, herons and a couple of Chiffchaffs, one of which was singing!! The most numerous wader species was the Redshank closely followed by the Curlew, we watched good numbers of Oystercatchers, also Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Greenshank.
Walking across the main road we scanned the estuary which was totally full of water, a 'spring tide' with the water level at the highest I had ever seen it at Hayle! Nevertheless, the tide was receding and many birds were dropping in, in readiness for a feast in the soon-to-be exposed mud and sand flats.
The Hayle Estuary at full tide and below, an hour later
We saw our first Wigeon of the autumn and a distant female Pintail, dozens of Teal join the other ducks and gulls on the water. Many waders started to appear, mostly Redshanks and Curlews, but others too, it was quite a spectacle out there. As the tide receded more waders dropped in and lots of gulls, we added Great Black-backed Gull to our list and a pair of Kingfishers enetertained us, Curlews came closer and a group of Black-tailed Godwits flew around.
Redshank with Dunlins
Wigeon - our first of the Autumn
Our walk around the pool at Carnsew was very pleasant but it didn't produce any new species, we had good views of Greenshanks and Mediterranean Gulls but the pool, which is tidal, did not drain out until near the end of our walk. We picked up lunch at a supermarket and drove to the little car park at Copperhouse Creek. My group loved the idea of sitting in the sunshine, drinking coffee from the little cafe, eating lunch and watching Bar-tailed Godwits which ventured very close to us.
we counted over 50 Curlkews on the Hayle Estaury but I'm sure there was probably double that count!
we did find this single Whimbrel near the supermarket
We walked the length of the saltings at Copperhouse, down to the 'Black bridge', we came back with very few sightings, we saw a lot of white butterflies and too many Canada Gesse to count. From the Black Bridge we watched more Bar-tails (a couple with a lot of summer colour in their plumage) and added Lesser Black-backed Gull to our list.
After the walk we drove up to the reservoir at Drift, a few waders had been reported from there, including a Wood Sandpiper. During the journey to Drift we got news that the MELODIOUS WARBLER was showing again at Cape Cornwall, and as we drove past Ryan's Field Reserve at Hayle we saw the Spoonbill feeding in the pool near the road.
a first year Mediterranean Gull, yet to moult into its 1st Winter plumage
At Drift we walked down the steep slope towards the dam, the light was perfect for long-distant scoping so that is what we did. We picked out several Little Grebes, Great Crested Grebes, Kingfishers, some distant Mallards with a small bunch of Lapwings. After a short while we added Greenshank, Green Sandpiper and finally Wood Sandpiper to our sightings, but boy were they distant!! Everyone preferred to drive to Cape Cornwall rather walk along the reservoir to get better views of the waders, so that is what we did.
close-up Bar-tailed Godwits at Copperhouse Creek
It was 4pm when we got there and about 4:10pm when we had our first sighting of the Melodious Warbler! Wowza!! It did show extremely well for short bursts, everyone saw it, the weather conditions were perfect for warblers, nice sunshine very little breeze (unlike yesterday's visit, which was very windy).
Melodious Warbler at Cape Cornwall
During our hour-long stay we saw a pair of Chough again, we added both Meadow Pipit and Rock Pipit to the list, we saw Goildfinches and Linnets and enjoyed a lovely ice-cream in the car park at the National Trust Shop. We all went home happy.
this Chiffchaff was singing at Ryan's Filed this morning, I'm not surprised as the morning was so beautiful
At 7:30pm we drove into a village near Hayle for dinner, which was lovely, but nobody could finish their very large portions!!