Bits and Bobs (28th-30th November)

Just a few bits and bobs from the past few days.  Didn't go out birding at all the closest I got was an early morning shop to ASDA at 2am which produced a single Red Fox in the car park, my first Cornish Fox so a very welcome sight!  Also several Redwing Turdus iliacus calling whilst migrating overhead in the pitch black at night, one of my favorite winter sounds.  Also had this Feathered Thorn in the flat early one morning whilst in the kitchen.

Feathered Thorn

Thanks for ID Spider!

Waxwing at last (30th November)

This afternoon I eventually took the opportunity to go and visit the Waxwing in Falmouth.  I arrived after about 2:45 and hadn't even got off my bike at Marlborough Crescent before I set eyes on WAXWING!!!  5 WAXWING Bombycilla garrulus in total to be precise.  They performed amazingly, perched on the overhead wires and TV aerials before making quick visits to the berry bushes below them.  As well as allowing amazingly close views they also made it to my year and Cornwall list!  With a little light left in the day, I went on to check out for the Dusky again.  No sign unfortunately,  although I bumped into Greg again and enjoyed good views of a Firecrest Regulus ignicapillus along with several Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita.  A Robin Erithacus rubecula gave me some aggression as it attempted to collide with my face in retaliation against the little bit of red T-shirt that was stuck out above my collar.

Waxwing! quality winter visitors

Once again another dip on the Dusky, it seems it'll just have to require patience.  A lot of it.

Red-necks (28th November)

Despite Wednesday being my usual day off, I had two appointments that had me kept in uni until 4pm so it was only after this that I managed to rush down to Gylly beach in hope of the Red-necks before hoping moving on to the Dusky.  I arrived at Gylly fairly quickly but the light was already dwindling fast and I only managed a short period of descent scope views of a Great Northern Diver Gavia immer close in the bay before I found the 2 RED-NECKED GREBES Podiceps grisegena that I was here for.  They were much more distant but the distinguishable features were still adequately visible for a few minutes before it simply became too dark to see anything, so I resorted to staring at the GN Diver again bobbing around on the water in the reflection of the town-lights,  a nice way to end the evening.

I never managed to get to Swanvale to check for the Dusky as it was simply too dark so it'll have to wait till Friday.

Dipped a Dusky and brows still not wearing off (24th November)

I was originally planning on going for the Subalpine Warbler in St Just but when news finally got to me in the evening of a Dusky at Swanvale, only a few miles down the road, the careful planing for the trip to St Just went out the window.  Early morning arrived and I found myself standing in the pouring rain at Swanvale, the only pair of eyes about looking for the bird.  I hung around for a few hours getting miserably wet not seeing much other than the occasional Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita trying to fool me.  The horrible weather (which continued throughout the day) was briefly lightened when a Firecrest Regulus ignicapilla came flitting through the vegetation   Next, I decided to wander up towards Pennance Point to take a break from staring at blank bushes.  I was stood at the entrance to Swanvale and only seconds after I had found my third YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER Phylloscopus inornatus in the past 9 days an old woman came up to me trying to lecture me on her bird feeders and Robins!  As much as I like chatting to novices, they always seem to turn up when your most engrossed in looking at something and haven't got the time to either answer questions on what peanuts one should put in feeders or how many Buzzards they've seen flying over their house, just a little fact I've picked up along the way.  All the same I still did get decent views of the bird as it flashed its brightly edged tertials and brilliant super.  Down at Pennace, I picked up on 2 Great Northern Divers Gavia immer as well as the odd Guillemot Uria aalge amongst them.

 both of the Great Northern Divers

A Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla also went past the point and a Mediterranean Gull Larus Melanocephalus was at Swanpool.  On my return to Swanvale to continue the search, three more uni birders joined in the search (at last a a little moral support).  Still no luck and after a few more hours I once again found myself alone staring blankly at more Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita and Goldcrests Regulus regulus.  The Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus came through briefly but wasn't quite compensation for my first Cornish rarity dip.  Here's hopping it gets refound and hangs around long enough for me to see.

Another brief local patch round (22nd November)

Got up early this morning to fit in a brief mooch around one of the many local patches (the footpath by the quarry).  There was very strong wing threatening to blow whole branches of trees so there was little chance of me refinding the YBW from last week.  Instead I made my way slowly on through the fields were I got a better view over the quarry itself.   Here I observed one Raven Corus Corax battling through the rain and wind.  The highlight, a Peregrine Falco peregrinus I found perched inside the quarry had anything but flying on its mind and simply staked out the bad weather but was gone before I returned back to Campus.

These probables are really winding me up! (19th November)

Didn't go out today, instead the birds came to me (or at least one did).  The only problem being I wasn't fast enough at IDing them.  It was only at about 5-6ish pm with little/no light that I got the first and only bird of note for the day.  I was chatting to friends outside the flats when all of a sudden what could only have been a Woodcock came pelting towards us from over the top of the flat, veering sharply away as it came towards the street lamp and vanished as quickly as it had come back into darkness.  All I could get on it was a brown bared woodpigeon-like bird.  I only saw it for a few seconds (should still have been long enough to get an ID) but it took me by such surprise that I wont count it (this always seems to be the case for this bird always short glimpses as it zooms away from me after being flushed from the undergrowth, never good views, shame).

Here's a list of probables I've had this year which I still haven't managed to nail.  That's right I don't have anything better to do than wind myself up!

Woodcock-one just today, not to mention the numberous others
Velvet Scoter-a scoter sp. with white secondaries flew past Rustington in early January
Pomarine Skua-one past the Lizard after coming down to live in Cornwall, didn't have my scope ready and only bins at hand
Black Kite-one very briefly over the fields behind theRSSKL back in April, strangely this was at a similar time as numerous other records of Black Kite in the county although none of them were records for certain
Melodious Warbler-a self-found bird on Scillies first thought it was Melodious then Icterine then Melodious again (not much chance it will ever resolve itself sadly, would have loved to add it to the life list)
Slavonian Grebe-a very distant bird off Old Hall Marshes when twitching the Red-breasted Goose back in February
Black-throated Diver-also at Old Hall Marshes on the same day as the prob. slav.

Even more scarcities (one of them (maybe) even self-found!) 18th November

Another good days birding (sorry Sh4rpy for stealing your blog title).

I woke up early in preparation to leave for Loe Pool but accidentally fell asleep again.  Thankfully I woke up an hour later, still relatively early although it was beginning to get light.  The long bike ride was certainly worth it in the end, as was wading through the muddy footpath as the first bird I raised my bins to on the Pool was a 1st-win. drake RING-NECKED DUCK Athya collaris!  Having connected with the target bird for the day within seconds of arrival I now had the rest of the day free for some casual birding (I love it when twitches are that easy).  I hung around for a while watching it, digiscoped it, took field sketches and notes before moving on.  The second bird of note for the day was a very close flypast Water Rail Rallus aquaticus which past only a few meters away as I was watching the american.

 1st-win. drake Ring-necked Duck

 amazing scenery

 with friends!

 just a glimpse of the underside

Loe Pool, from Porthleven Sands

 triple rainbow, probably not visible in pic unfortunately

some moree stunnin coastline, all on the doorstep

Next stop was Porthleven Sands.  By now the sun had come out, the temperature was rising and the day could only get better and indeed it did, although it took a bit of work!  From the beach, I watched a few Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla fly past, 1 prob. Great Northern Diver also went SE but once again I was unprepared with only bins quickly at hand (unfortunately this is a repeating occurrence as it seems this is the 12th flypast diver sp. I have had this year that I have been unsuccessful in IDing!).  Anyway, other species of note included 1 Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus, 2 Raven Corvus corax and plenty of Stonechats Saxicola rubicola from the coastal path (along with considerably more Meadow Pipits Anthus pratensis.  To top the day of, after checking on the Ring-necked Duck again, I was wandering back through the grass field east of Carminowe Creek bordering a line of trees overhanging a small stream (which feeds into the creek).  I heard two "hweet" notes, spun around and had already come to a conclusion as to what it was, I had drilled the notes deep into my head using the xeno-canto website in the past week and now the preparation was paying of!  After about five minutes wandering up and down the line of trees I finally came across what I was expecting  another YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER Phylloscopus inornatus!  Once again I was utterly stunned with my success to first ID the bird by call!  I'm getting better at this Yellow-browed game!

Finally, whilst bent over unlocking my bike I felt the wind pick up, oblivious to what was happening, I looked up to realised the cause for the fresh breeze was infact due to large swathes of Stralings Sturnus vulgaris flying low over my head towards the Marazion Marsh roost site, a brilliant way to end the day with one of natures miracles.

(Just got an e-mail from Dave Parker from the CBWPS saying that someone else also found the Yellow-browed Warbler at Loe Pool (most likely before I got it) so unfortunately I might not be able to count it as a self-found, shame)