HAYLE ESTUARY - MARIZION BEACH - CROWLAS - HAYLE ESTAURY - COPPERHOUSE CREEK - EXMINSTER MARSH/RIVER EXE
WEATHER: Heavy showers with long bright spells. Much cooler with a northerly moderate breeze.
Our second and final day was spent searching for two of the three species that we missed yesterday which were the main reason that we came down here. Ringed-billed Gull and the Booted Eagle!!
With our Premiere Inn breakfast inside us we set off just before 8am having checked out of the hotel. We drove straight to Lelant Saltings to view the mudflats so that we could search for the Ring-billed Gull. From the platform of the Lelant Saltings Station the birds were a little too far away, we did note Goosander and a Spoonbill from there.
the view from the Lelant Saltings Station first thing this morning, very few gulls were out there, we didn't stay long
After driving around to the Lelant Station, which was a much closer position to the roosting gulls we set up our scopes once again. We spent an hour sifting through those gulls, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed, Common and a few Mediterranean Gulls filled our view, but we did not see the Ring-billed or the Iceland Gull.
very distant Gossanders with a flying Oystercatcher and a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits
Other birders reported the Iceland Gull from back at the Saltings Station but we never saw it. Nevertheless, it was a lovely sunny morning, the light was great and we saw dozens of species, musn't grumble.
Next we drove to Marizion Beach and parked next to the RSPB Reserve, we 'scoped the St Mount's Bay in the hope of seeing a Velvet Scoter with some Common Scoter and perhaps a few Eider Ducks. We saw none of those!! We picked out three Great Northern Divers, dozens of Gannets, Shags, Guillemots and several wader species along the shoreline. They included: Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover.
the beach at Marizion looking towards Penzance
St Michael's Mount
After talking to a local birder we drove into the countryside near Crowlas to make one more attempt at seeing the elusive Booted Eagle (it hadn't been seen since Saturday, by anyone), but we had hope. We did see a nice flock of Stock Doves in one of the fields and clocked a Common Buzzard or two, the eagle did not turn up.
some of the fifty plus Stock Doves seen near Crowlas
we saw a lot of these! Frequent rain showers were the order of the day
After spending more time on Hayle Estuary looking from Lelant Station, Carnsew Pool area and parts of Copperhouse Creek, we gave up on the gulls and the eagle.
Greenshank above and Redshank below - both taken at Copperhouse Creek
It was 1pm when we pulled into Philp's car park and bought ourselves a standard sized CORNISH PASTIE, yum, yum. That went down very well.
So that ended our quickie-birding trip to Cornwall. Guy drove us all the way to Exeter and onto Exminster Marshes, we hoped to see the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher near the Turf Pub adjacent to the Exeter Canal and the river Exe.
there were 52 Curlews in this flock, we saw at least another 100 fly over us later.
It was approx. a mile walk from the car park and it was worth it. We had driven through some heavy showers but now the sun was shining and it felt warm. We were optimistic that the bird was still around. Lo and behold, there it was, right where we expected it, it took us all of 30 seconds to find it once we had arrived at the designated spot. Wowza!! I had searched for this bird at least five times when it used to hang out at Bowling Green Marshes in Topsham during November, December 2024 and in January this year.
the water just below Turf Lock where the Dowitcher was favouring
the long awaited viewing of the Long-Billed Dowitcher, what a cracker!
Dowitcher and a Greenshank
Other birds noted on the mudlfats as the tide came in were: Redshank, Greenshank, Dunlin and Shelduck. Large numbers of Curlews flew over us and landed on the Exminster Marshes whilst we were walking back. We stopped to view two more Spoonbills and we searched for a Russian White-fronted Goose, which failed to show up.
two Eurasian Spoonbills seen on Exminster Marsh with Cormorants
It took us another hour to drive home, Guiy dropped me off at 5:30pm , bless his cotton socks, he was knackered and was overdue a good sleep.