A good days birding

!4th October 2024. I had a day out down on the Lizard in Cornwall, mainly to look for the Red Flanked Blutail which had been around for a couple of days.( I had seen one before but that was twenty odd years ago). Finding this bird proved to be a bit of a slog, after parking at Kynance, a long walk along the steep coastpath and through very muddy fields to the cove where the Bluetail was meant to be , no other birders were around ( It was qiute early) I could'nt find the exact spot and ended up walking the long way back ,hot and sweaty and now getting wet in the heavy drizzle, with my feet covered in mud and cow s..t., should'av brought my wellies.But things started to look up as I headed into Lizard village where I easily found the juvenile Rosy Starling with a flock of Common Starlings on overhead wires.

From here ( after buying the obligatory pasty )I went to look for the Lapland Bunting which had been showing really well over at Goonhilly downs, I found this site fairly easily and enjoyed very close views of a bird I.d seen a few times ,but never this close and not photographed . I lay on the ground and it just walked around feeding in front of me, so very pleased.

Decided as I was here may as well have another go for the Red Flanked Bluetail, the rain had stopped and I had dried out , so another long walk where this time I met a few birders who put me onto the exact spot ( frustratingly only a very short distance to where I'd turned back this morning). The bird was showing only intermittently around the hedges of a farmhouse ,and every time it showed the local Robins would drive it off, but I had good views and managed to get a few record shots.

On the walk back to the car , it was nice to see some Choughs feeding close to the footpath. So a good day in the end.

Waders on Marazion beach.

We spent a few days down at Marazion in West Cornwall, staying in the van in a campsite pretty much adjacent to Marazion marsh annd beach. A couple of early mornings trying to beat the dog walkers on the beach where quite a few waders were at the waters edge.Good numbers of Sanderlings running back and forwards and a few Turnstone and Dunlin and one Knot. I managed to get quite close to the Knot, a species i,ve really not got too many decent photos of before, and lying down on the sand to try and get some low level photos of the Sanderling and Turnstone. What a nice place to be first thing in the morning.

Waders on Davidstow airfield

September is usually a good time for seeing waders on Davidstow airfield in North Cornwall. This year was fairly productive with two Spotted Redshanks and a Little Stint feeding on the short grass and in the shallow pools,along with the more usual Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Ruff and Golden PLover. ( I did somehow miss the Pectoral Sandpiper after four tries though)