The HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL & Co in Cornwall

The dramatic Mount's Bay from Trenow Cove.

I never need much of excuse to head down to Cornwall, even if it may be due to work commitments. With a quick job to carry out on Monday morning, I decided to head southwest a day early and get a spot of winter, seaside birding under my belt. While it is not to everyone's taste, I just love hiking along the deserted coastal footpaths and doing battle against the elements at this time of year.

Following a 1.00am departure from Warwickshire and a quick kip at the birder's traditional stop-over site of Exeter Services, my initial port of call was a blustery Stithians Reservoir. Here I enjoyed great views of a mobile Slavonian Grebe, a long overdue 'Cornish tick'. Other sightings included a female Pintail, four Goldeneye and a mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare. 

I then continued my journey west, stopping off at Helston along the way. It was here where I could not resist paying the boating lake on the outskirts of town a quick visit to check on a particularly obliging adult Whooper Swan. It is pretty unusual to get so close to this 'wild' species of swan and it will be interesting to see how long this bird lingers at this unusual location. Whilst it did pay a bit of interest in the Sunday morning 'crust-chuckers', it did keep a respectable distance and there was no sign of any rings to suggest captive origin. I am willing to give it the benefit of doubt, like the drake Wood Duck I saw at the same site a fair few years ago whilst twitching a Ring-billed Gull...... only joking folks!

Whooper Swan (adult) - Helston, Cornwall.

Following a quick circuit of the lake I then headed across the road to check out the local sewage works. Up to three Common Chiffchaff were found fly-catching around the pans along with a couple of Grey Wagtail and several Pied Wagtail. Along the perimeter fence, several Goldcrests were spotted and a Firecrest was heard calling several times, but unfortunately not seen. There was also a small flock of Siskin feeding in the birch and alder. 

Boat Cove looking eastwards.

It was then onward to the quiet village of Perranuthnoe on the south coast. From here I took the coastal footpath west towards Marazion to search for a Cornish mega-rarity. A thorough search of Boat Cove produced just a Little Egret, a few Curlew and a number of Oystercatcher. Undeterred, I then continued my way further along to the more substantial Trenow Cove. Searching this location was a daunting prospect with the vast rocky shoreline easily able to swallow up and conceal a small, American wading bird.

Further searches produced the same species already mentioned, in addition to several pair of Rock Pipit. There was hope though. The tide was coming in pretty quickly and this would in theory make my task slightly easier. As I waited, I decided to check the sea where a couple of Black-throated Diver showed particularly well on the choppy water. As much as I tried, I could not string either of them into the much rarer PACIFIC DIVER that has spent a number of winters in Mount's Bay since 2007. Other species of note included a pair of Red-throated Diver and several small groups of Guillemot.

It was while tracking yet another Curlew in flight that my luck suddenly changed. As the bird landed, I noticed that it had sought out a small flock of the same species to snuggle up with. At the edge of this group there was a smaller, duskier looking bird with a stonking eye stripe. This was the bird I had been eager to see, Cornwall's first and only HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL. a first-winter individual. The bird initially spent the majority of time sleeping until it was eventually disturbed by the incoming tide. At this stage, fantastic scope views were enjoyed as it poked around the rocks for a while and preened in the open for about thirty minutes. It then took flight in an easterly direction and was lost to view.

Hudsonian Whimbrel (digiscoped)

As I happily skipped back to the car for lunch, I stumbled upon the bird once again, this time in Boat Cove. The tide had also brought in larger quantities of both Oystercatcher and Curlew along with much smaller numbers of Turnstone and the odd Common Redshank. As the water encroached further, the HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL became agitated once again and flew high east. This was another opportunity to view its all dark back and rear end, features that distinguish it from our familiar Eurasian whimbrel species.

After devouring my packed lunch, I continued onward through Marazion and Penzance until I reached Newlyn harbour. It was time for marathon session of Laridae appreciation. Observing gulls at a location like this sure beats a gloomy West Midlands reservoir roost in the middle of winter. You are able to sit back, relax and study the intricacies involved with aging the different species without straining your eyes and developing hypothermia. Having said that, Caspian Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls are pretty hard to come by all the way down here in the extreme southwest.

Initially the number of large gulls around the fish market was disappointingly low, however I soon picked up the head of a curious juvenile Glaucous Gull at it peered down at me from the edge of the roof. All gulls then took flight and spread out around the town, calling noisily as they went. These consisted mainly of argenteus race Herring Gulls along with small numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls and the odd Black-headed Gull. 

Glaucous Gull (juvenile female) - Newlyn.

Whilst waiting for the flock to settle down I decided to turn my attention to a bit a sea-watching again. In the relatively calm waters off Tolcarne Beach there were two Great Northern Diver as well as the odd Guillemot, Cormorant and Shag. Along the shoreline itself there were also plenty of Rock Pipit and a few Pied Wagtail.

Glaucous Gull (juvenile female) - Newlyn.

With the gulls refusing to settle down, I then made my way over to the Penlee Lifeboat Station to check the general area. Almost immediately I picked up the same juvenile Glaucous Gull as before as it loafed among the moorings. Whilst trying to secure a few photographs, an extremely friendly, salty old seadog advised me that another bird was perched up on the harbour wall. No sooner had the fisherman chugged off in his little boat than the second bird appeared and almost landed on top of the first. This new bird was an absolute brute, similar in size to a Great Black-backed Gull, a large male bird no doubt. What a treat it was to enjoy not one, but two of these scarce visitors from the Arctic at such very close range.

Glaucous Gull (juvenile male) - Newlyn.

With a fabulous day drawing to an end, I travelled the short distance around the coast to the beautiful village of Mousehole (pronounced mow-zel in Cornish). It was here I positioned myself at the excellent Rock Pool Cafe, grabbed a brew and started my quest to find a troublesome first-winter AMERICAN HERRING GULL. A bird had been present in the roost at St Clement's Isle the previous night so my fingers were crossed that it would reappear this evening. I have seen this recently split species up in Scotland before, but it would have been a bonus to add it to both my English and Cornish lists.

Mousehole - from the Rock Pool Cafe.

After over a hour of scanning, I finally picked up a possible candidate. This young herring gull type was extremely dark below, with a distinct cut off above the chest, a pale head and a pink-based bill with a dark tip. Unfortunately before I could study it further it dropped down into one of the ravines on the island. I was pretty gutted not to get a view of the wing pattern or the tail. It was all pretty frustrating, but that is 'gulling' I suppose.

  

American Herring Gull by K Mullarney

With the cafe about to close, I joined a small group of local birders up in the car park where most of us hung around until dark without any further sign of the bird. Despite this disappointment it had been another truly memorable 'dawn til dusk' birding extravaganza in my favorite of all the English Counties. It was then time to make my weary way back up the A30 to Launceston to spend the night at my dad's place in Egloskerry.

St Michael's Mount selfie!

MEGA ALERT: The YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO in Cornwall

After the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo hit the west of Britain earlier in the week, it was inevitable that we would receive a few transatlantic treats to keep us birders occupied. As I sat there in the office on Thursday, the battery on my pager was nearly drained within one afternoon. The day before, a FORSTER'S TERN had passed Pendeen Watch in Cornwall, one of Britain's prime sea-watching spots and a place I had been just a few days before. Scotland then hit back with a HERMIT THRUSH on North Uist. It was the day after though when it all finally started to kick off big time.

For starters, a GREY-CHEEKED THRUSH was located on Barra, an Hebridean island that had already hosted a SCARLET TANAGER earlier in the month. The south-west of England then chipped in with a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO in Cornwall, only for the north to go one better with a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO on North Ronaldsay. It was all getting very exciting indeed. News then filtered through of a CHIMNEY SWIFT on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles followed by the second GREY-CHEEKED THRUSH of the day in Orkney, again on North Ronaldsay.

My gaffer at work had already heard the wail of the MEGA alert several times that afternoon. At one stage he looked up at me with his eyebrows raised and quietly enquired whether I was going to be off the next day. There was certainly a strong possibility that I would be, I sheepishly replied.

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (first-winter) - Porthgwarra, Cornwall.
Photo by Pete Morris

With a backlog of work completed and my holiday approved, it was time to start making arrangements for the long trip down to Cornwall. After careful consideration I thought it best if we got on site for first light. It was a huge gamble to make the three hundred mile journey rather then wait for positive news and then head off, but what a stressful five hour car journey that would be. In any case, if there was no sign of the YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO we could still have a good mooch around and attempt to find our own American vagrant in one of the famous Cornish valleys.

After a few hours sleep, I picked up Martin Smyth at 1.30am and headed down to Worcestershire to meet up with Jase Oliver and Steve Allcott for the onward journey down the M5. Within a few hours we had hit Exeter Services. Predictably, there were other weary-eyed birders in situ, sipping away at over-priced coffee in order to stimulate their exhausted senses into staying awake for a few more hours. Amongst the group was the infamous Garry Bagnell who regaled us with tales of woe surrounding booked-up charter flights, younger twitching rivals and the heartbreak of loitering around Aberdeen airport in anticipation of a SIBERIAN THRUSH being relocated on Shetland. 

The YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO twitch at Porthgwarra.
Photo by Adam Archer

We finally arrived at the extreme south-western tip of England sometime around 6.30am. It was cool, dark and extremely quiet down in the cove of Porthgwarra, with a mist rolling in off the sea adding to the eerie atmosphere. With other dishevelled looking birders arriving on site and slowly climbing from their vehicles and stretching their tired limbs, it was reminiscent of a scene from the eighties horror classic 'The Fog'. As the light improved and the mist turned into rain though, it was time to make a move and do our best to relocate our target bird.

As all you experienced birders will know, the YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO is a bitter sweet species to see on this side of the Atlantic. It is a rarity that has never really been easy to successfully twitch, based on the fact that the majority of them probably expire within a few days of making landfall in Europe. The last bird that was truly 'twitchable' in Britain was fourteen years ago in the neighbouring valley of St Levan just a few miles east of Porthgwarra. Since then, there have been just five accepted records in Britain and tragically, three of those involve dead or dying birds.

With such statistics to dwell on whilst standing in the rain for a rarity to show, it is sometimes a struggle to remain positive. Personally for me though it was still a great privilege to be positioned in one of my favourite places in the whole world, breathing in the fresh sea air and watching Chough rising and tumbling above the grand cliff tops. Finally though, after a long ninety minute wait, a few excited whispers were heard to the right of where we were standing. I looked across to see a birder pointing towards the mass of willows just in front of where he was stood. Within seconds the whole crowd had descended upon those two excited fellows and after some scrabbled directions I caught my first glimpse of my first ever YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO in Britain. Against the odds it had survived through the night and even better still, it seemed to be in good health!

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (first-winter) - Porthgwarra, Cornwall.
Photo by Pete Morris

Initially this handsome bird was quiet elusive as it remained low down feeding amongst the dense vegetation. Eventually though, as the weather conditions improved it showed extremely well at times, often perched up in the same position for several minutes at a time. During the few hours we spent enjoying the bird, it was seen to catch and eat a few prey items including bush-crickets and caterpillars. At this rate it looked good for those birders who were unable to make the trip until the weekend. Other species of note included 6 Swallow passing through, a few Common Buzzard, a hunting Sparrowhawk, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a few European Stonechat.

As another dense carpet of fog rolled in, we then decided to head back to the car and plan our next move for the day. It was here that we celebrated with a dram of single malt whiskey courtesy of our fellow West Midland birders from Coventry and a hot pasty from the nearby cafe. It was yet another stunning rarity in a superb location with some top notch company to share the memorable moments with. It really does not get any better than this.

The notice board at the excellent  Porthgwarra cafe!
Photo by Adam Archer

Afterwards, we then made our way over to the north coast and the beautiful Nanquidno valley. Despite a thorough search of the area we could do no better than a male Blackcap, a single Chiffchaff, a few Goldcrest and a Grey Wagtail. On the way back up the A30 we made a quick detour over to Hayle where a juvenile LESSER YELLOWLEGS performed well as it fed in the company of the Common Redshank around Copperhouse Creek. Also in attendance were a few Little Egret, the odd Curlew and 7 Dunlin.

LESSER YELLOWLEGS (juvenile) - Hayle, Cornwall.
Photo by Adam Archer

It had been a great day all round, full of laughs, dramatic scenery, the odd decent bird and another step closer to my personal target of five hundred species before I snuff it..... like an unfortunate American cuckoo!

AMERICAN GREEN HERON at The Lost Gardens of Heligan

An excellent video sequence of the famous Heligan Green Heron by Cornish birder - John Chapple