Homeward bound & a Pacific Diver - Scotland trip (Day 5)

My second Pacific Diver of the year

Closer views approaching the reeds

Superb habitat

Ringed Plover, Sanderling & Turnstone

Twite 

Twite  

Twite 

Sanderling

Route planner

It was breakfast on the move at the start of day five with the sun shining as we left Scotland for East Chevington. Quickly parking up at Druridge Country Park we marched south to the hide where we got our first glimpse of the Pacific Diver which was a great confirmation the bird was still present. We spend the next thirty minutes rotating our position around the lake as the Diver stayed close to the reeds making viewing difficult. Whilst the Captain was delighted to record another lifer the tiredness of five non stop birding was sinking in.

Finally the Diver moved to a central position where we were able to get some outstanding scope views and a few record shots. The bird was identified on the 20th January making it the 3rd record for Britain & Ireland this winter & since this time a juvenile was discovered in Broadsands, Devon.

On the same lake there was a great selection of birds including a Slavonian Grebe, 4 Whooper Swans & 5 Scaup. Satisfied with our views we took a short walk along the beach where 7 Shorelarks were showing before being flushed by a dog walker. The Shorelarks flew into the sand dunes however there were still a large flock of Twite & Sanderlings that showed well before we headed back to north Wales & then finally home. 

Many thanks to the Captain for five brilliant days, I don't think there was any subject we didn't discuss over the trip. I'm sure the trip will take a few days to get over but the scope & binos will be ready by the weekend.

Winter Cornish Capers (Day 2) - Peaky Divers

Sea-watching at Penzanze

 Pacific Diver (File Photo)

Top sea watching stop

Eider

Rock Pipit

Eastern Black Redstart

Eastern Black Redstart

Eastern Black Redstart

Drift Reservoir

Pendeen

With the wind having dropped on our second day in Cornwall we were hopeful for much improved views of the Pacific Diver. We headed straight to Jubilee Pools and set up ready for a what could be a lengthy session. There was no need to worry as we found the Diver inside fifteen minutes and it was 100% the same bird we had seen the previous day.  The bird was generally in a line from the right edge of the Mount back to Jubilee Pools. All very satisfied we watched the waders below us including a superb count of 84 Sanderling, 20 Purple Sandpipers, 47 Ringed Plover, 12 Dunlin and we also added Shag, Common Scoter, Mediterranean Gull & Eider to the trip list. 

The Eastern Black Redstart round the bay at Mousehole was our next stop which was a place I'd not been to previously. As we arrived we saw the bird fly into the garden above the steps but it only took a couple of minutes before it returned. The bird had been reported as very confiding however he did keep his distance clearly he wasn't happy we hadn't brought the meal worms which he seems to have grown accustomed to. A Rock Pipit and a Grey Wagtail were both recorded in the vicinity.

The drive to Nanjizal valley left Paul rocking with travel sickness leaving him looking whiter than the Eider duck and he did well to keep up as we tried our luck to find a rare Bunting. No buntings but we picked up a hunting Merlin & a short tailed Peregrine. A rain shower caught us just before we reached the car but we did pick up a Brambling on the edge of the farm. 

Drift Reservoir held a surprise when we found two Cattle Egrets in the field behind. Other scoped views we obtained were a Wigeon flock , two Mandarin (inc an albino) & two Great Crested Grebes.

Before wrapping up our morning we had a quick look at Pendeen before heading back to Hayle where our final trip bird was a Bar-tailed Godwit. 

Winter Cornish Capers (Day 1) - Dawn to dusk

We are off to Cornwall

First stop

Squire bagging Lesser Scaup

Spot the hidden beauty

Grey Plover

Wigeon army 

Dunlin flock

Purple Sandpiper

St Micheal's Mount

Hudsonian Whimbrel

You-tube video

Can't beat a bit of gulling

Closer views

When the eldest lads basketball fixtures were announced with a game at Plymouth in January I thought I'd double it up with a birding trip in Cornwall. These plans went astray when he suffered a grade b ligament tear which ruled him out from the trip however the Squire was keen to step in for a two day birding jolly. A four a.m alarm call got us well ahead of the traffic but it was quite a shock when we got out of the warm car on Bodmin Moor for our first stop at Dozmary Pool. Our target bird was a drake Lesser Scaup which took us around fifteen minutes to locate in the near arctic conditions. Other sightings in the notebook were eight Tufted Duck, nine Pochard, Little Egret, a Snipe & Stonechat. The Lesser Scaup was a lifer for Paul so the frozen fingers & running nose were worth it.

Next stop was Hayle where we found another two of our target birds, a juvenile Spoonbill & a Green-winged Teal that did take a bit of finding. The waders were very close to our causeway viewing spot. Other species included Grey Plover, Dunlin, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Redshank, Teal, Wigeon & a good selection of gulls but not the Iceland we were really after. 

Now for the big target the Pacific Diver, first reported in St Austell 2007, it was a species I'd been wanting to catch up with for a long time. By bizarre coincidence a juvenile was reported up in Northumberland as we were in Cornwall. Conditions were far from ideal but on the plus side there were only two divers to be seen, a Great Northern & the Pacific. The problem was the sea was so rough the views were very limited. A return visit in the morning beckoned. Purple Sandpipers & Turnstones fed on the rocks below us. I'd never seen Purple Sandpipers so close & active.

We then headed round to Hope Cove where the Hudsonian Whimbrel past us calling to land on the beach with four little Egrets. Out at sea a flock of Black-necked Grebes were sheltering in the shadow of the mount. 

Our final stop was back at Hayle where we were staying. With the Squire starting to think Iceland Gulls didn't actually exist he then shouted "I've got one" and for sure as I looked through his scope and it was a spanking juvenile. We got a few other birders on to the bird before walking around for a closer view where I took a few shots as best as I could in the fading light.

After a quick battery re-charge we headed up the road to local pub where we met up with top local birder Paul Freestone who maintains the websites Cornwall & the Scillies as well producing the rare/scarce bird reports. Paul had agreed to show us a few of the local sites the following morning.