THE LIZARD - MULLION COVE - CAERTHILLIAN COVE (NEAR THE LIZARD)
WEATHER: Attrocious from dawn until lunchtime with torrential rain, thunder and lightening.
It was dull and overcast as we went to breakfast at 7am but by the time we left for our day's birding it had started to rain. We headed off to The Lizard (the most southerly point in the UK). As we drove along, the rain began to get steadily worse. We stopped in Helston to buy lunch supplies and from then on, it rained heavier and heavier. At one stage near Culdrose RNAS we stopped the bus because it was too dangerous to continue.
We eventually made it to the Lizard, we sat in the car park for a short while, the rain was torrential. A cafe opened at 9:30am in the village and we sat in there until 10am when the rain appeared to ease off. However when we drove down to the Lizard headland the rain increased once again and we were directly below the thunderstorm.
It was 11am when we finally got out of the bus and walked down to the Point where we spent a lovely hour sea-watching, cliff watching and searching the scrub for migrant warblers. We saw a lot of sea-birds, gulls, Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Manx Shearwaters and a good number of Grey Seals.
views from the coastal path at The Lizard
The Lizard Lighthouse
more of The Lizard
On the rocks we added Rock Pipit, Common Sandpiper, Turnstones, Oystercatchers and surpisingly, a Red Knot. A couple of Chough flew around as did many Jackdaws and Rooks. A huge flock of Linnets and Goldfinches hung around the fields near the car park as did a few Meadow Pipits. We also saw Pied Wagtail, a Chiffchaff called from the tamarisk scrub and the sky was full of Barn Swallows.
record shot of a Rock Pipit
there is a Common Sandpiper in this picture, can you see it?
there you go!
For lunch we decided to drive to the nearby Mullion Cove were a Wryneck had been reported recently. We sat on benches above the Cove and enjoyed the view, we never spent much time looking for the Wryneck because a new report came in, one was seen just down the road, back at the Lizard.
a Red Knot and a Turnstone
a mixed bunch of Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls with a Shag thrown in!
some Grey Seals
Off we went to Caerthillian Cove just west of The Lizard, it was 2:30pm when we arrived. On the way down we found a sheltered area where many Mint Plants were in flower, they were covered in butterflies, lots of them. We listed 9 species of butterflies!!! Peacock, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Wall Brown, Small Copper, Large White and Small White, it was amazing. We listed more butterfly species in that one place than I have seen all year!!
the view from our picnic bench at Mullion Cove
Wall Brown Butterfly
Down in the cove we noticed another birder on the path below us, he was watching something in the scrub, by the time we got down there he was walking towards us, just as we met a Wryneck flew out of a bush and disappeared in the scrub not too far away. The other birder had been watching the Wryneck and it had flown towards us and landed in the said bush.
Peacock Butterflies
We waited an hour or so but the Wryneck never came back out to play again!! We did see a number of other species whilst we waited, such as: Stonechat, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Robin, Wren and Dunnock. We gave up at 5pm and walked back up the hill to the bus, a brief stop was made to admire, once again, the terrific butterfly activity at the Mint flower bed.
Painted Lady Butterfly
We got back to the hotel around 5:30pm and at 5:50pm we were back in bus heading off to Angarrack Village for our early evening meal. The food was once again superb, we got back to the hotel at 8pm. Some retired to their rooms and others went to the bar for more relaxation.