LOWER MOORS ISBG HIDE - SHOOTER'S POOL - CARREG DHUR - LONGSTONE CAFE - HOLY VALE - HIGHER MOORS AND PORTH HELLICK POOL - PORTH MELLON - MOOR WELL LANE (DUMP CLUMP TACK)
WEATHER: Horrendous for most of the day, very high winds and driven rain. Some cleaer sky around 4pm for an hour then more rain. How nice!
What do you do on day like this? You sort out the wind direction and head to the sheltered spots on the lea side of the island. Our problem today was that te wind was so strong and blustery that finding shelter was almost impossible. The next best thing is to sit in hides and that is what we did today.
We saw nothing much on our walk to the hides at Lower Moor except for Song Thrushes, Wood Pigeons and House Sparrows. We sat in the hide for 30 minutes befoe a single Common Snipe appeared, then a second snipe popped out. These two birds provided enetertainment for a while and gave the guys with cameras a great time as they came very close to the hide.
two Common Snipes taken by Phil Naylor
At Shooter's Pool we heard 'crests' calling from the bushes behind us and a shrt walk produced Goldcrests and a Yellow-browed Warbler, seen by Dave and myself.
Common Snipe by Phil Naylor
Our walk to Carreg Dhu gardens (Black Rock or stone in Cornish) was very wet, but the gardens, situated in an old quarry, were quite sheltered and it stopped raining for a while. We heard Firecrests calling and it took us a while to track them down. We saw two of them over a preiod of 30 minutes, all of the group saw at least one.
three shots of a Firecrest taken at Carreg Dhu Gardens by Phil Naylor
It was hard to pass Longstone Cafe without popping in for some respite from the weather and to enjoy a piece of their Lemon Drizzle cake washed down with the best cafe latte on the planet. When it was time to leave it took us a while to compose ourselves for a return to the outside world it was so warm and inviting in the cafe.
We walked down through Holy Vale and saw nothing except the local House Sparrows and Collared Doves. We heard 'crests' in the sallows and saw Blue and Great Tit along the way to Higher Moor. We sat in the hide at Porth Hellick Pool, which was being battered by very strong winds. Whilst eating our lunch we searched for waders along the very narrow shoreline and found nothing. A couple of Greenshanks dropped in for a rest, a single female Mallard swam about with a single Coot and a single Moorhen. A Grey Heron flew over, the Greenshanks flew off and returned later.
two Greenshanks taken through mist and rain
a single Greenshank taken when the rain stopped for a while
I had already lost Sally for the day, now Phil and Sue deserted me and not longer afterwards Roger departed. That left Lyn and Dave and unfortunately they wanted to stay out!! We started walking back to Hugh Town along the lanes stopping to search sheltered spots and coming up with nothing but common garden birds. Dave did flush a Stock Dove from one field.
All of a sudden the light improved, the rain eased off and the sun came out! This lovely spell lasted about an hour and we made the most of it. From the roadside we scanned Porth Mellon Beach and found a flock of waders consisting of Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Turnstones, a single Black-headed Gull stood nearby and served as a good reference point for direction to the waders.
Porth Mellon Beach - the waders were at the far end
A Pied Flycatcher had been seen in the allotments along Moor Well Lane down by the recycle centre so we walked for a few minutes along the lane and found a bunch of excited birders looking into the gardens. They had found a Red-backed Shrike as well as the Pied Flycatcher. All three of us had glimpses of the Shrike but had better views of the Pied and a Spotted Flycatcher. We also saw Blackcap, Wren, Barn Swallow, Robin, Goldfinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit.
tis is all I could manage to get of the Pied Flycatcher. The shrike was impossible to shoot through corwds of people and small gaps in the hedges.
The weather worsened as we walked up the hill to the Guest House and later we had to go back out again to dinner. We walked to Old Town beach to 'Pom's which is a Thai Restaurant, the food was delicious but the walk there and back was dreadful.