Places to see birds in and around St Ives
Welcome to the definitive guide to bird watching locations around St Ives. The place to figure out where to go, when to go and what you think you should be seeing .. and maybe, invent what you have seen so that you drive us all mad with jealousy ...
The Island
The Island is not actually an island. It used to be a long time ago - but now its a headland with a Coastguard station. The good thing about The Island is that whatever direction the wind is from, there is shelter - of sorts. And the other thing is that in a decent W to NW wind (the best for seabirds) then the birds come in close as they battle their way out of the bay. Best time of year is traditionally late July through to mid-September but we have proven that The Island really does produce in any wind with a bit of West in it from July through to November. But if you're planning a visit and your weather info says a strong SW blow veering NW in the morning - get here early! Birds seen recently - South Polar Skua, BB Albatross, Fea's Petrel, Wilson's Petrels, Long-tailed Skuas, Sabine's Gulls, Pomarine Skuas, Loggerhead Turtle ... but don't expect these every week. Cory's & Great Shears, Stormies and Leach's Petrels. The Island doesn't get the numbers that Pendeen does - which is around 10km west of here. There are some reasons for that and we'll probably blog about that some time.
Clodgy Point Coastal Path & Burthallen Lane
Clodgy Point is the next healand along from Man Head which is the one along from The Island. A walk out to Clodgy has delivered migrant birds like Wryneck, Whinchat and others - its an area that really should be watched more in spring and autumn... which is exactly what we'll be doing in 2026. Walk inland and it takes you through the Burthallen Loop - through a mix of scrub, farmland, fields and gardens. This promises much but we've not had time to really see what this area can produce. We have high hopes for Spring and Autumn.
Buttermilk Hill & Treveal Valley
Buttermilk (Rosewall) Hill is one of the highest points in the St Ives area. Regular birds here include Ring Ouzels, Cuckoo, Wheatears. Irregular birds have included Little Swift and Crag Martin in the recent past. Treveal is a NT location just down from Buttermilk and has hosted Yellow-browed Warbler, Golden Oriole, Melodious Warbler amongst other such rarities. Needless to say none of us have actually seen many of these rarities and they were seen quite a long time ago. But that doesn't stop us trying and given that Treveal is a valley, it's in West Cornwall, and those 2 things alone are enough to send birders quiver with excitement in autumn, and to a lesser extent, in spring. Buttermilk is Cornish farm and heathland with Western and European Gorse. Treveal is farmland and then remnant "Atlantic rain forest". The habitat promises much, but is hard to "work" precisly because it has so much cover. Both these locations are walkable from St Ives but need a well planned day trip to do both well.
