LANDS END (TRINITY LOOP) - NANQUIDNO - CAPE CORNWALL - COT VALLEY
WEATHER: It's getting boring now! Wall to wall sunshine all day, cold breeze in the afternoon and then a little cloudy.
Our final full day turned out to be just the same as all of the other days, very few birds were seen and migrants were almost non-exisitent. However, The scenery is beautiful, walking along the coastpath is enthralling, the sunshine helps and we are enjoying the walks even though they are sometimes not as fruitful as we expected.
We knew that at least two Wrynecks had been seen for the last few days at Lands End and although we didn't have much faith in our finding one of them we took the chance and went to look anyway! Ha! We should have stayed in bed as far as finding a Wryneck was concerned.
We parked the car just above Lands End and walked down to the start of the Trinity Loop, we saw a pair of Red-billed Chough not long after leaving the car. We also saw Blue and Great Tits, a Chaffinch and some Goldfinches in a garden. From an open gateway we scanned some fields and I came across our first Blackcap, a migant bird, as well as a few Stonechats a Wheatear and some Barn Swallows.
looking southward from Lands End
and looking northward to Cape Cornwall
We reached the designated 'Wryneck Spot' and scanned the dry stone walls the hedges and the open ground, we done this for an hour or so and then some more. We did find 3 Whinchats sitting fairly close together, but too far to photograph. A couple of birders passed by, they hadn't seen a single migrant and were very frustrated.
We gave up after another 30 minutes, not a sniff of a Wryneck was had. Walking up to the Trinity Houses in Sennen we were watching Meadow Pipits when a Sparrowhawk dropped down into the bracken and nearly nabbed one of them!
of the many butterflies on the wing today we saw several Wall Butterflies
We saw Buzzards and Kestrels, Ravens, Jackdaws, more Chough, also Magpies and Crows. We found another couple of Wheatears and we saw more Stonechats than you could shake a stick at!!
Mike and Lorna persuaded me, no, forced me, to take them to Sennen Cove for a coffee, which we promptly did. After our short break we drove towards St Just and as we drove past the Airport we turned down the lane towards Nanquidno Valley. We stopped at the head of the valley to scan the airfield and the surrounding meadows. This resulted in sightings of two more Whinchats and two more Wheatears as well as more Stonechats, Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches. The obligatory Red-billed Chough also put in appearance, we watched Buzzards soaring and Kestrels hovering and not much else.
Sennen Cove with Cape Cornwall in the distance
In St Just we bought lunch and then drove to Cape Cornwall to eat it. We sat in lovely sunshine eating our picnic supplies watching Ravens and more Chough. Our walk produced very little, Stonechats, Robins, Wren and Dunnock, we saw a Pied Wagtail down on the beach and a Raven landed on the obilisk on top of the Cape headland.
Cape Cornwall
For our last birding of the day we drove to the next valley which gave a lot more shelter from the chilly wind, we were hoping for a few migrant warblers. We did see a single Chiffchaff and a Firecrest called but other than that it was very quiet. Down by the beach we found two Pheasants??? We saw Chough, Ravens and Buzzards and lots of Gannets out at sea.
The journey back to the hotel was interesting, we came to a traffic jam due to a road closure, so we followed a van that turned off onto a side road. We followed the van which wove its way through lanes and streets thinking that the driver knew of a short cut to avoid the traffic jam. Wrong, after many turns in a small village the van stopped outside a fish and chip shop.....oops!!
the ubiquitous Stonechat
The sat-nav then directed us onto a very long-winded route to get to Camborne, it took us nearly an hour to travel 15 miles which should have taken 25 minutes!
the dynamic duo - Mike and Lorna
We ate dinner in our local pub, the steak and ale pie is to die for!! Our last bird log wasn't completed because some-one forget to bring their list. But I can safely say that we have barely touched 100 species throughout the entire week, which is probably the worst ever effort for this trip. We have to blame the weather of course, it was too nice!! We all said that it had a great trip because of the scenery and the coastal walking that we took in in our pusuit of migrant birds.