Daily Sightings in the St Ives 20k Area

Liam had a Grasshopper Warbler in the Burthallan Loop early this am.  Off the Island he had 4 Great Northern Divers, 3 Whimbrel, 3 Sand Martin and a few of the usual seabirds off the Island.  James had 3 Sedge Warblers and 2 Stock Dove at Zennor.  Abbie had lots of House Martins on Church Lane.  Billy then had a Little Egret west past the Island.  News then broke of a Lesser Kestrel on the Lizard and play was abandoned for the day ...

Gareth had lots of hirundines in the morning plus a Dunlin that flew over the town.  He also had a Kite (probably Red) towards Buttermilk Hill which then headed towards the Knills Monument.  A Bonaparte's Gull was reported heading east from Pendeen which is about 10 miles away as the shearwater flies but there was no sign of it in the 20K area.  If it does turn up around St Ives, the town beach at Lambeth Walk might be a good place to start looking for it.  Liam had 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Wheatear on the Island late this afternoon.

Bit of a slow few days in the St Ives area - James had a Hobby over the Tate today which is a cracking recor; plenty of hirundines moving east; a Ringed Plover east over the town and a Whimbrel over - with a rescue of a Pigeon.  

A Puffin and 12 Common Scoter went west this morning and a Great Northern Diver off the Island.  

Bussow Res delivered a Common Sandpiper and a Sedge Warbler early this morning.  Nance and the Island delivered House Martins and other Hirundines. Liam had 2 Stock Doves from the Island.  2 Little Terns were seen briefly off Porthmeor along with several Sandwich Terns throughout the afternoon. A probable 1CY Little Gull zoomed past the Island early evening. Attention today was understandably spread a little thin with Garganey's and Kentish Plover on the menu ...

And still the East wind blows ... Gareth located the Pallas's Warbler again this morning at Trewyn Gardens.  There were Wheatears on the Island, Man Head, Clodgy Point and Bussow Reservoir.  Common Sandpipers were on the Island and up at Bussow again with 4 Swifts over there late afternoon. 

The howling East wind continues to keep the birds down. The day was notable for our first Swifts of the year - 1 past the Island just offshore early morning and then another over the Tate (where else?) late in the afternoon.  One Purple Sandpiper at the Island early morning, Gareth heard a Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper also on the Island with another at Bussow and between 3 and 5 Red Kites over Bussow heading SE.

A strong East wind all day kept many birds down but not the hirundines.  A big arrival with Swallows everywhere with 20+ past Clodgy early on, 100+ over Bussow Res early afternoon and a similar count over/around/through Nance Lakes.  4 Wheatears on the Island, 4 on Clodgy Point and 2 on Buttermilk Hill.  2 Red Kite over Bussow both heading East 30 minutes apart.  2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Green Sandpipers at Bussow - 1 heading East and over the reservoir, 1 on the tiny muddy pool at base of dam before jumping over the wall on to the reservoir itself. The Pallas's Warbler is still present apparently ... but not seen by us.

Another good day.  Spring, and continual effort, continues to deliver.  The morning started with 3 Common Sandpipers, a Purple Sandpiper and between 3 and 5 Wheatears at the Island. The Pallas's Warbler at Trewyn was refound by Gareth by 9am.  Clodgy Point had a Wheatear, 2 Chough and a probable Green Sandpiper heading west high ...  A Grasshopper Warbler reeled briefly for James at Zennor who also had a Wheatear there.  Tara then found a Ring Ouzel up Buttermilk with yet another Wheatear.  Gareth in looking for (and finding) the Ring Ouzel, then found a Green Sandpiper at the small pool in the cow field.  Meanwhile, the Common Sandpiper invasion continues with 6 now at Bussow Reservoir this evening taking today's total to 9!  And talking of invasions, the Annual Red Kite Next Day Return to Cornwall seems to have started with 230 at Lands End - and James had 1 over Zennor heading east late afternoon.

2 Chough possibly 3 on the Island hassling the resident Crows this morning with a Chiffchaff and Greenfinches. The Purple Sandpiper flock is now at least 8 on the Island. There were at least 7 Wheatear on Buttermilk Hill. A Cuckoo up the Foage valley turned into 2 by the afternoon.  A third Cuckoo of the day was at Bussow Reservoir later in the afternoon with a Common Sandpiper.  The Pallas's Warbler is still around Trewyn Gardens but Gareth saw it further up the hill so it's roaming about.

A great day to be out in the area.  The seabird passage between 7am and around 10am was epic.  Manx were passing at 1000/min.  Between several of us at least 100K Manx Shearwater passed the Island and Clodgy.  As usual though it dried up by around 11.  Wheatears were at the Island (1) and a male and female together on Man Head.  2 Arctic Terns were off Porthmeor mid-morning, but that increased to 4 and then there were 8 at least past the Island in the afternoon. They were joined by at least 1 Common Tern and a few Sandwich Tern.  The Pallas's Warbler is still present in Trewyn and seems to be getting easier to see in the sycamore. Billy reported a Yellow Wagtail and Osprey over Buttermilk and there were 9 Purple Sandpipers at the Island for the early evening high tide.

The Yellow-browed and Pallas's Warblers are still performing in Trewyn Gardens today.  James has delivered on the Swift front - unfortunately they are Common Swifts but they are the first 2 of the year for the St Ives 20K area. Swallow, 2 Whitethroats and a Rook also around.  

The Yellow-browed and Pallas' Warblers still present in Trewyn Gardens.  A Grasshopper Warbler heard reeling at around 9am near the "sparrow bush" on the Island.  The "sparrow bush" is the large bush in the scrub on the left hand side of the path as you walk up towards the NCI lookout.  It's the bush that very often has sparrows in it.  We're nothing if not inventive ...

Today was a day! The 2 Yellow-browed Warblers actually turned into a YBW and a Pallas's Warbler.  Both in Trewyn Gardens and both vocal and active.  On top of that 2 Little Terns performed well in front of Porthmeor Beach between Man Head and the Island.  We get a few Little Terns in autumn but they are rare in Spring - so to have 2 together is excellent.

There are now 2 singing Yellow-browed Warblers present in Trewyn Gardens with a Willow Warbler also singing.  Gareth has taken a couple of cracking shots of the YBW here.  Video of the initial find by Liam here.

BREAKING NEWS!!  Liam has found a singing Yellow-browed Warbler in Trewyn Gardens in "downtown" St Ives.  Singing loudly and very vocal.  A St Ives mega for sure

A Red-throated Diver west past the Island this morning, one of our first Whitethroat at Treveal.  But the main news today was that one of our own, Liam, found a singing Yellow-browed Warbler on campus over at Falmouth.  Now if only he could do something similar in the St Ives 20K area ... now that would be something ... 

A quiet day with 8 Swallow over Clodgy, 3 Sandwich Tern in the harbour area, a Sand Martin over the Island, 5 Willow Warbler in Zennor and 2 House Martin and a Wheatear on Burthallen Lane.  A Sooty Shearwater was reported heading west up the Coast at Pentire Head which normally means it passes St Ives around an hour later but no sign of it...

Today was all about Wheatears - a trickle of them through Zennor, and 5 on Buttermilk Hill.  Still loads of Manx piling past the Island.  But with several Hoopoes on Scilly today - we hope it will be a good day tomorrow for a Hoopoe around Burthallen Lane ... 

Gareth caused a mini-twitch by finding a Grey Plover on the rocks at the Island this morning accompanied by 18 Purple Sandpipers which is a decent count.  2 Sandwich Tern knocking about Porthmeor as well. 

An epic sea watch with Billy having 25,000 Manx past before 9am with a Great Northern Diver.  Later, Nog had an Arctic Skua and Liam then pulled an Arctic Tern out of the bag which was very close to being the first UK record this year = there were 6 reported past Portland yesterday.  This afternoon 4 members of the St Ives Crew successfully twitched the Killdeer in North Cornwall this afternoon.  EPIC!!

Still quiet - 5 Swallow, 2 Chough and a Peregrine at Treveal, Emma a visiting birder from Belgium had a Sandwich Tern into the bay and 3 Canada Geese past the Island. Everyone too concerned with a certain Kildeer and possible Iberian Chiffchaff elsewhere .... 

Bird of the Day was Billy and Liam's Hooded Crow past the Island at 7:30 am - which about 3 weeks ago would have been a mega for Cornwall - but now it's just a Crow.  A Whimbrel heading West found by Gareth was the second good bird of the day. But the Bussow Reservoir delivered yet again with a Barnacle Goose which was hanging around with 10 Canada Geese.  A Canada Goose around St Ives is a decent enough bird but to be "carrying" a Barnacle is a real mega for us.  It then flew off West with 4 Canada's and we're sure we could see a Svalbard ring on it ....   

Bird of the Day today was Billy's male Ring Ouzel on Buttermilk Hill which is the first of the year.  There were 25 Sand Martins and 2 Swallows over Bussow Reservoir in the morning so there was clearly an "arrival".  A Snipe which is a rare 20K bird was kicked up off the coastal path just beyond Clodgy - on which there was also a female Wheatear.  News however was dominated by the sighting of 2 known Orcas off Coverack and Lizard point in the South most afternoon.