GODREVY – GWITHIANS POOL – PORTREATH – CHAPEL PORTH BEACH – STITHIANS RESERVOIR
WEATHER: sunny all day, some high cloud.
It was a beautiful sunny day, chilly first thing but very warm later, a light breeze all day kept us cool. After breakfast we drove the short distance to the North Cliffs near Godrevy where we searched for Peregrine Falcons at a known breeding area. We failed to see a Peregrine and a Kestrel was a poor stand-in. We also watched Stonechats and Linnets on the gorse and Gannets and Gulls out at sea.
a view of the north cliffs looking toward Godrevy Point
At Gwithian, the National Trust Car Park was full at 9am!!! So we had to park on the side of the road near the pool. People were everywhere, surfers, dog walkers, tourists! We stood on the side of the road and scanned the area with our scopes picking up quite a few species despite the human disturbance.
We added Tufted Duck, Reed Bunting and Song Thrush to the list and we eventually found a Peregrine sitting on some grass high up on the slopes above the area. We also found Northern Wheatears, Stonechats, Linnets, Teal, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Cananda Goose, Cormorant, Mallard, Common Buzzard, Meadow Pipit and lots of common species. It was really quite good for birds around the pool.
Next, we drove to Portreath along the north coast where we stopped for coffee before driving round to St Ives and onto to Chapel Porth where a Wryneck had been reported for the last two days. It was a long uphill walk from the car near the beach but most of us made it. The scenery was stunning. We made it to the ruins of an old ‘Engine House’ and that is where the Wryneck was found yesterday. The whole area was crawling with people, it was a sunny day and it was Sunday! We never had a sniff of a Wyrneck but we all enjoyed the walk and the scenery.
the tiny cove and beach at Chapel Porth
We did watch several Northern Wheatears, Stonechat, Meadow amd Rock Pipits and lots of Feral Pigeon pretending to be Rock Doves.
the Engine House Ruins where the Wryneck was seen yesterday
We were all hungry now so we drove to Redruth and stopped at the famous ‘Rowes Pasties’ shop. It was treat, eating a traditional Cornish Pasties, a large one!!
Our afternoon was spent visiting Stithians Reservoir, we made stops at both the Southern and Nortthern Causeways and we made a brief visit to the dam. It was surprisingly very good for birding there, lots of common waders, nothing rare, but plenty to look at.
the marshy area at the South of Stithians Reservoir
At the Southern causeway we found a Green Sandpiper with about 6 well hidden Common Snipe. We also saw Grey Heron, Little Egret, Little Grebe and Mallards. Scanning the main body of water we saw hundreds of Herring Gulls, Canada Geese and more Mallards. Other species seen in the area included, Common Buzzard (3), Meadow Pipits and Chaffinches.
one of the small flock of Common Riged Plovers seen from the hide
The Northern Causeway was much better we sat in a hide and scanned the muddy margins and rocky islands around the edge of the reservoir. Lots of waders were out there, we saw a dozen more Snipe, a small flock of Dunlin, 14 Common Ringed Plover, 2 Curlew and a host of Pied Wagtails. Out on the water we saw both Great Crested and Little Grebes and more Canada Geese.
the northern mudflats at Stithians
On the north side of this causeway we scanned a marshy area which had a few small pools, we saw our first Lapwings of the trip, also Teal and Mallards. A party of Long-tailed Tits flew over us as we made our way back to the bus.
The dam area was disappointing, we saw nothing much on the water and the shoreline was alive with dog walkers and many people fishing. A pair of Green Sandpipers were found by Debbie and dozens of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits were catching flies on the roof of the water-works' building. It was now approaching 5pm so we drove back to the hotel to finish the day with a shower and then dinner at 7pm.