Our targets to get to 300 species

The official list for the St Ives 20K area is 281.  Which is pretty decent for a small area.  We reckon that outside North Norfolk, Shetland, Scilly, and bird observatories there can't be many similar sized places with a similar sized list.  But 281 means that we are 19 short of 300 - which led us to look at what we're missing - which then led us to a rather shocking discovery.

No-one. Near. St. Ives. Has. Ever. Seen. A. Coot.

Or a Little Grebe.  Let that sink in for a bit.  We can't find a record for Coot in our years of notebooks, eBird lists, Birdtrack records, old copies of Birds in Cornwall, even old records from before our time, no old fag packets with "2 Coot, 1 Little Grebe and a Moorhen on a small pool near St Ives - June 1974" scribbled on them ... nothing.  Shocking. 

Which led us then to create a List of Target Birds to get us to 300.  The top 5 of these down to Spotted Redshank - we think - are the more likely.  I mean - Coots are everywhere.  There are Little Grebe's less than a kilometre outside our area.  Garganey might need a bit of luck but there were 6 of them on Marazion for a lot of Spring last year.  Spoonbill appear regularly on the Hayle so should be a flyover for someone - maybe Buttermilk Hill  ... and Spotted Redshank  ... we do get Tringa waders quite often over and past the Island.  One day soon one of those will be a Spot Red, we reckon.

After Spoonbill it gets a bit more sketchy.  Red-crested Pochard ... we actually don't have much hope for that to be honest.  I mean, we can't even find a f^&%ing Coot for Pete's sake - however, Red-crested Pochard do rove around a bit, and they appear in strange places and they look funky ... and well, it's staying on the list.  Red-legged Partridge has probably already been seen, if the rumours are true.  But what with shooters releases and whatever, there is bound to be one or 2 knocking about Buttermilk, Towednack, a farm somewhere soon. 

Thrush Nightingale might prove tricky - unless we start up a ringing location - which is a thought.  But we don't think the rest of them are too outlandish ... nor too much to ask for?!  Right?!!  A Corncrake will be found near Zennor - on a car bonnet - by James - guaranteed. As we are now flogging Bussow daily (in search of that Coot/Little Grebe combo) one of us will bump into a Lesser Scaup and Yank Wigeon.  The Crane will be a flyover having been tracked down the coast, the Gulls - well, we like to think we're good on Gulls.  The Scopoli's will be caught in a photo as a "small cory's" and after some intensive "open heart photo surgery" - it will be pronounced by the powers-that-be as a Scopoli's.  

The Heron will be found at Consols Pool or Bussow one early Spring morning.  The harrier will be no problem because every harrier outside Scotland is a Pallid these days.  Red-footed Falcon will appear over Buttermilk Hill - a flock of them.  The juv Woodchat will be down Treveal in September in a hedge after being misidentified as a Red-backed, by me probably.  The Warblers will be down Treveal as well but in November with a Yellow-browed Warbler. The buntings will be Zennor/Foage.  On feeders. In winter.  James will find them. All of them.  Serin will be singing at the Rugby Club one spring morning near Burthallen Lane.  The Pipit will be running ahead of someone on Clodgy Point who will then run into the Wagtail at the same time. So, yeah - there you go.  And all of them this year, please.  That't not too much to ask, is it?

But a Coot would be a nice start.