September 2024

30th. Glossy ibis, 2 hobby, peregrine from Herriot's Pool roadside, Chew Valley Lake.

19th. Back for better views of the Cape Cornwall melodious warbler.

18th. I walked around Land's End, and saw a painted lady butterfly.

Whinchat at Nanjizel and six wheatear at At Porthgwarra. A willow warbler was in subsong near Nanjizel, singing a trucated version of its full song, and a chiffchaff was singing.

I had a frustrating time with the often elusive melodious warbler at Cape Cornwall, watching it fly to where I was initially positioned.

17th. I drove to St Ives via Maer Lake in Bude to see the juvenile white-winged black tern. A cattle egret, a common sandpiper and a black-tailed godwit were also there. I saw a willow tit at Lower Tamar Lake.

I then visited Davidstow Airfield for the first time, seeing a brown hare, 11 ringed plover, 3 dunlin and a confiding pectoral sandpiper.

9th: St Ives Island 07.40-10.30: 34 common scoter, 1 storm petrel, 5 Balearic shearwater, 20 Arctic skua, 2 great skua, 1 Sandwich tern, 1 juvenile Sabine’s gull.

8th: St Ives Island: (08:10-11:10h) Murky conditions and NW wind brought birds close to land. 1 storm petrel, c50 Manx shearwater/min, 3 Balearic shearwater, 10 sooty shearwater, 5 Cory’s shearwater, 555 great shearwater, 5 grey phalarope, 8 Arctic skua, 2 Pomarine skua, 2 great skua, 5 Sandwich tern, 8 common tern, 23 Arctic tern, 5 Mediterranean gull, spotted flycatcher and a wheatear. 

I travelled back to Marazion to get better views of the red-backed shrike, and saw 3 curlew sandpiper again. Two whinchat were also there.

7th: St Ives Island 07.50-10.10h: little egret, 3 Pomarine skua, 4 Arctic skua.

6th: St Ives Island, 07.50-11.30: 2 great northern diver, 1 Balearic shearwater, 17 skuas comprising 4 Pomarine, 9 Arctic and 4 unidentified small skuas.

Basset monument and Hayle Estuary towards St Erth in the morning mist.

5th: St Ives Island: 08.00-09.45h: 1 Arctic skua (dark).

4th: St Ives Island: 3 Arctic skua (dark), 1 juvenile intermediate LONG-TAILED SKUA flew out of bay at 11.15 (one also reported on RBA 10.15), 2 common tern, 20 Sandwich tern, 50 Mediterranean gulls, 27 common scoter.  

I took buses to Marazion and saw the juvenile red-backed shrike distantly. In front of the Goldolphin Hotel I sat and watched waders, and got two photographs of the adult semipalmated sandpiper before it was chased off by a dog. Three curlew sandpiper here too.

Sanderling

Dunlin

Ringed plover

3rd: St Ives Island 08.15-09.50: 11 Cory’s shearwater, 1 Balearic shearwater, 5 Arctic skua (4 dark, 1 light), 1 Pomarine skua (dark), 1 great skua, 20 Arctic tern, 3 common tern, 20 Sandwich tern, 9 common scoter, 11 whimbrel.

Back to St Ives on 2nd. On my return journey on the Scillonian III on 2nd I saw the usual 4 shearwater species, and an adult bonxie.

1st. Another pelagic trip, this time 14 km south of St Mary's. Wilson's petrel, 20 Cory's shearwater, ca. 2000 great shearwater, 20 sooty shearwater, ca. 100 Manx shearwater, Pomarine skua, 3 Arctic skua, 25 common tern, 1 Arctic tern, 2 sanderling, 1 ruff, a pelagic kestrel, ca. 200 bluefin tuna and ca. 50 common dolphin. Two migrant pyralid moths Palpita vitrealis (Olive-tree pearl) landed on the MV Sapphire, and 2 silver-Y's flew over. I saw a pied flycatcher at Lower Moors on my walk back to Longstone.

We saw several large boils of Atlantic bluefin tuna, and these attracted large numbers of shearwaters.

Cory's shearwater

Great shearwater

Sooty shearwater

Manx shearwater

Arctic skua

Arctic tern juvenile

Bella searching for food.

Back in the harbour, and the sun comes out.