MORNING WALK ON PENZANCE COASTAL PATH TO MARAZION – FLIGHT TO ST MARY’S – AFTERNOON WALK TO PENINNIS HEAD – OLD TOWN BAY – LOWER MOORS – PORTHLOO BEACH – TOWN BEACH
WEATHER: sunshine and showers very windy all day, gusts up to 40mph. Temp 14C
earkly morning light over the bay at penzance looking towards St Michael's Mount
It wasn’t too windy first thing and the walk along the coastal path from Penzance was really quite pleasant, it felt warm if you found shelter from the wind. We saw all of the same birds as we did yesterday except for the Curlew.
this picture sums up our morning's weather - sunshine with showers
At 11:15 all six of us boarded a minbus to be taken to the airport where we met Vicky the final member of our group. Our flight was a few minutes late in taking off and despite the strong winds it was a relatively smooth flight and landing.
the air hostess bowing to the WINGSPAN GROUP as we boarded!
Once we had checked into our Guest House and dropped off our luggage we set off for an afternoon walk. The wind was quite strong by then and we didn’t hold much hope of seeing much.
It was so good to step out once again onto these beautiful islands, the colours were stunning in the afternoon light, it was so good to be back.
On bench facing Porthcressa Beach we sat an ate our picnic lunch whilst watching a number of species along the shore. Oystercatchers were sifting through the piles of sea-weed whilst Grey Herons sat on Rocks, Sandwich Terns sat buoys and Herring Gulls begged us for food. We also saw Greenfinch, Rock Pipit, Song Thrush, lots of Northern gannets a few Cormorants and Shags.
Sanderling and Ringed Plover taken on Penzance Beach
The walk to Peninnis Head was unpleasant at times because the wind was very strong you could hardly stand up at times. We searched for a Snow Bunting and a Ring Ouzel, both of which were recent sightings, we found neither.
the rugged coastline looking towards peninnis headland
It was much more sheltered as we walked to Old Town Bay, we found Little Egret, Curlew and a couple of Greenshanks, a family party of four Common Stonechats joined some Starlings and Blackbirds feeding in the washed up kelp weed, but there was not a lot else. Lower moors was a bit of a dead loss, again the wind spoilt our enjoyment. Four Wigeon sat asleep whilst a dozen Mallards milled about in the water. Both the hides were covid-shut. From one of the blinds we saw a Common Chiffchaff and we heard a Goldcrest but did not see it.
Curlew taken in Old Town Bay
In a pond along Porthloo Lane we added Moorhen to our day list and on Porthloo Beach we scoped Taylor’s Island where we could see a group of roosting birds. It was very hard to keep the scopes still in the windy conditions but we managed to find twenty Black-headed Gulls, over 20 Oystercatchers, a single Whimbrel sat fast asleep and a Bar-tailed Godwit mingled with the Oystercatchers.
We walked back into Hugh Town and concluded our afternoon birding session, it was great to get into the guest house and out of the wind! Despite the conditions we saw a respectable 51 species, the wind is forecast to die down tomorrow, let’s hope we can find something exciting!