COPPERHOUSE CREEK – PORTHLEVEN
WEATHER: dull overcast, high winds, rain and quite cold.
THIS IS NOT A BIRDING HOLIDAY
Well, another day of high winds and lots of rain, it wasn’t very pleasant at all. We decided not to go for a long walk for obvious reasons. The girls went shopping and I went birding to Copperhouse Creek. Despite this not being a birding holiday I somehow managed to have my scope and my bins with me, lucky me.
I walked around Copperhouse Creek during this high tide period and made a few stops in areas were I could find a little shelter from the wind and rain. It was a south-westerly wind and came right up the valley so it was hard to avoid.
Copperhouse Creek and Pool at high tide
From a car park in Hayle I scanned from a low bench and managed to list a few species: Redshank, Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Curlew, Oystercatcher and lots of Wigeon with a few Teal.
A Redshank
Greenshank
a Redsahnk roost
From another position further round the Creek I saw Grey Plover and a couple of Ringed Plovers, in the marsh area a small number of Lapwings were present.
Ringed Plover
Dunlin and Wigeon
A large flock of Starlings looked amazing in their winter garb as they sat on the telephone wires and down on the marsh I picked out a few Mediterranean Gulls in the Black-headed Gull roost. Lesser Black-backed Gulls joined the Herring Gulls, I saw 3 Little Egrets, lots of Canada Geese, a few Cormorants and a couple of pairs of Mute Swans.
Common Starlings
After a couple of hours I was getting wet and cold so I decided to give it up.
During the afternoon we made an effort to visit a National Trust House and Gardens at Gunwalloe, but when we got there the whole place was shut because of ‘high winds’ forecast by the MET office.
From there it was short drive down to Porthleven where the 40-50 mile-an-hour winds could be really appreciated. You could hardly stand up in exposed places, the rain came down at such a speed it stung your face and yet there was quite a few ‘tourists’ walking around this picturesque seaside town.
Porthleven harbour entrance
Huge waves pounded the harbour walls and white water covered the beach area. I never saw a bird as I scanned out to sea, the visibility was practically zero. Dawn, Celia and I ducked into a café and had a hot chocolate drink which warmed us up. Rachel and Ian dropped into a pub and we never saw them again!
It was getting dark and yet it was just 4pm, so we made an effort to get back to the car and drove back to the hotel. We had an early dinner and early night. Apparently, the weather is going to be much better tomorrow, fingers crossed.