Cornwall - 23rd to 30th August

We had a week booked at our cottage in Cornwall, four nights of which were to be camping in the garden as we had family staying in the house. The weather for much of the week was hot, sunny, still and generally glorious, great for camping and the beach but not so good for birding - and in particular seawatching.

On 25th I was up early and went to Pendeen for a brief seawatch and then on to Kendijack. At Pendeen the sea was like a millpond and I saw relatively little a single Sooty Shearwater and a Balearic Shearwater plus 1000's of Manx Shearwater moving west. At Kenidjack the highlights were three Tree Pipit moving west, Blackcap, Whitethroat, 12 Chiffchaff, a single Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank over. The resident pair of Chough put on a good show at the seaward end of the valley.

Chough - Kenidjack

Chough - Kenidjack

Sleeping in the garden in a tent overnight was fantastic, not a breath of wind and lovely mild evenings. During the four nights we had Barn Owl over the cottage and Little Owl and Tawny Owl calling a little more distantly plus we heard Curlew, Whimbrel and Dunlin during the night.

On 28th I walked out from the cottage and west along the coast path, it was absolutely still and I didn't see many birds. Highlights being thrree Yellow Wagtail and two Tree Pipit plus a couple of family parties of Stonechat. Offshore there were large numbers of Manx Shearwater many becalmed and loafing around in large rafts. There were around 25 Common Dolphin (including at least five calf) and two Bottled-nosed Dolphin offshore while an lovely female Adder was new for the patch.

View from Pen Enys Point west towards Carn Naun Point. This is the nearest stretch of coast to our cottage

Stonechat (juvenile male) - Pen Enys Point

The parasol mushroom Macrolepiota procera - Pen Enys Point

Speckeld Wood - Trowan

Common Dolphin off Trowan

Common Dolphin off Trowan

On 29th the forecast was for a force 4-5 north-west wind and so I headed for Pendeen and spent the morning seawatching. It was not as busy as I had hoped but 18 Sooty Shearwater, five Balearic Shearwater, one Storm-petrel, one Arctic Skua and a Bonxie plus a constant stream of Manx Shearwater made the morning enjoyable.

I ran the moth trap at the cottage on four nights but it was fairly slow going. Highlights were Frosted Orange, Small Wainscot and up to six Delicate, a species often thought of as a migrant but it certainly breeds around Trowan. A list of species recorded is provided below.

Frosted Orange - Trowan

Frosted Orange - Trowan

Delicate - Trowan

Small Wainscot - Trowan

Rosy Rustic - Trowan

Macro-moths

Angle Shades

Brimstone Moth

Burnished Brass

Common Carpet

Common Rustic agg.

Common Wave

Dark Arches

Delicate

Double-striped Pug

Early Thorn

Flame Shoulder

Flounced Rustic

Frosted Orange

Garden Carpet

Green Carpet

Hedge Rustic

Knot Grass

Large Yellow Underwing

Lime-speck Pug

Lychnis

Mullein Wave

Orange Swift

Peach Blossom

Pinion-streaked Snout

Poplar Hawk-moth

Purple Bar

Rosy Rustic

Ruby Tiger

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Sharp-angled Peacock

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Small Square-spot

Small Wainscot

Snout

Spectacle

Square-spot Rustic

Straw Dot

Micro-moths

Acleris comariana

Acleris variegana

Agapeta hamana

Agriphila straminella

Agriphila tristella

Agrotis segetum

Celypha lacunana

Elophila nymphaeata

Epiphyas postvittana

Evergestis forficalis

Lobesia littoralis

Nomophila noctuella

Udea ferrugalis

Cornwall - 14th June

I was up early this AM, covered the trap and then headed to Kenidjack. I sorted the trap later but here are some of the species caught in the garden (all the moth pics were taken on my iPhone):

The star, a Striped Hawk-moth the first I have ever caught

Striped Hawk-moth

Elephant Hawk-moth - Always a stunning species to see

Cream-spot Tiger - Three in the trap

Broad-barred White

Middle-barred Minor

Silver-ground Carpet

Buff Ermine

Brown Silver-lines

At Kenidjack it was very quiet and I saw little of real note. There were five Chough at the bottom of the valley and while I didn't get great views it appeared that they were two adults with three recently fledged young. Both Whitethroat and Swallow also had fledged young, a pair of Whitethroat had three fledged young and the male was in full song presumably hoping for a second brood despite his rather worn looking plumage while another male lower down the valley was nest building.

Kenidjack

Recently fledged Swallow

Whitethroat - Male in full song while his mate tended three recently fledged chicks

Whitethroat - Kendijack

I then headed to Pendeen and birded for a short while around the lighthouse and the scrub just inland but again it was pretty slow going. A flock of 15 Kittiwake fed in the bay below, stunning with their crisp plumage against the blue sea but a little distant for any more than a record shot. The grassland sward was vibrant with Common Blue amongst the Common Bird's-foot-trefoil and Dyer's Greenweed. A brood of very recently fledged Stonechat flicked around the lighthouse grounds and adjacent garden and a pair of Chough fed along the roadside. Out to sea a large flock of 2,000-3,000 Manx Shearwater was feeding but they were just too far out for anything more than a record shot. I returned back to the cottage and headed out for an afternoon on the beach in the glorious conditions.

Kittiwake - Pendeen

Common Blue Pendeen

Common Bird's-foot-trefoil - Pendeen

Juvenile Stonechat - Pendeen

Chough - Note the heavy wing moult - Pendeen

Chough - Pendeen

Raven - Pendeen

Linnet in breeding plumage - Pendeen

Manx Shearwater - Part of flock of 2,000-3,000 birds feeding off Pendeen

Cornwall - 13th June

Sarah, Tobias and I were staying in our cottage just the west of St.Ives for the weekend, I intended to relax after a busy couple of weeks at work with some walking and a little birding thrown in. I had my moth trap with me and intended doing some trapping in the garden. Today we walked out onto Gurnard's Head and showed Tobias some of the wildlife of the Cornish coast, day flying moths, Grey Seal, gulls etc. He managed to point out a Peregrine that I missed. we spent the afternoon in St.Ives. All in all a pleasant day which was blighted by the news of an Eastern Black-eared Wheatear on one of my home patches - Acres Down, made worse by Trev texting me a back of the camera image, it pains me but here is a link to his blog write-up, bugger, no doubt a one day bird.

All the below images were taken on my iPhone:

Dusky Brocade

Small Square-spot

Thrift - Carpets in flower on the Gurnard's Head

Wild Carrot

Six-spot Burnet - Abundant on Gurnard's Head 

Six-spot Burnet

Cream-spot Tiger - Freshly emerged and in process of drying wings