Cornwall (31/10/12-4/11/12)

31/10/12
On Wednesday I went down to Cornwall with my Mum and my Dog to visit my brother who is now studying in Falmouth. On the way down I planed with my mum to stop off at some places to see some birds the first stop being the Hoopoe which has been staying in Somerset for a while now. When we arrived we found ourselves at a beach were my mum took the dog for a walk and I went in search of the bird. After coming out onto the beach I immediately saw a bunch of birders who were huddling together. When I came over they said they had seen it fly across but it had hardly been showing over the last hour. I stayed with them (with my lucky hat on) and looked for a minute or two and then the HOOPOE (year tick) flow up and onto the ground. Other birders were in a different position where you could actually see the bird properly and I headed over to them. We waited for a while before it came out and showed itself properly but when it came out it stayed out for a while. Unfortunately I was unable to get any good pictures because of the harsh winds and the over clouded day which only allowed me to get a shutter speed of 1/200 at a ISO of 800.

Hoopoe

After the Hoopoe we carried on until Plymouth were we stopped to see a Lesser Yellowlegs this is a simple story I didn't see it.

While I was in Cornwall I went on two birding trips one to the Lizard to see Choughs and another to Lands End.

First stop Lizard

On Lizard I decided to try and look for the well known Choughs which live there. As I was walking on the path four CHOUGHS decided to show themselves and flow up very close to me. After that we headed on where I saw more Choughs infact I spotted 10 together at one point which I think is a nice number. On the Lizard I also found a mystery warbler which only made one short appearance, a Stonechat and a half minute sea watch brought a Gannet and a Common Scoter. But by then it was time to go seeing that the sea was pelting us with water and so where the skies.

Lands End
I made a journey with my brother and parents to lands end where we first stopped off at St Micheal's Mount were I found a 2 PURPLE SANDPIPER ((life tick) living in Hertfordshire has made it very hard to get one of these on my list) amidst the Turnstones. After that we headed off to Lands End but it was already late afternoon and we were hoping to find a Richard's Pipit or a Lapland Bunting but unfortunately it was not to be and we were fruitless in our search.

Me after findiong my first Purple Sandpipers.

Purple Sandpiper

We also found a Great Northern Diver washed up on the shore.

St. Micheal's Mount

Me at Land's End