Eastern Black Redstart at Mousehole

I revisited Mousehole on Saturday to take another look at the stunning Eastern Black Redstart, which seems to have taken up residence on the beach by the Rock Pool.  As of today, its been there for 29 days.

 

Female Kingfisher at Tehidy CP

A couple shots of the female Kingfisher at Tehidy Country Park from the weekend. Only females wear the lipstick...

 

Short-eared Owl at Bartinney

I visited the popular Short-eared Owl site yesterday afternoon in perfect light.  I saw two of the three birds here along with Alan James, Bob Sharples and nearly 20 other birders!  The best time to visit is just after 2pm when they start hunting the fields.  You need to hunker down behind the hedge and use a bit of fieldcraft.  The owls were unperturbed by everyone there.  I waited until near sunset and got some nice views of these charismatic birds.

Short-eared Owl hunting down a flushed Skylark

Short-eared owl at last light, Bartinney Downs

Taken with D5, 500mm F4, 1.4x TC and cropped 50%

Eastern Black Redstart images from Mousehole this morning

Eastern Black Redstart, Rock Pool, Moushole. Nikon D5, 500mm F4.

I took these shots this morning in stunning light. These shots are probably the brightest that I've seen so far; the sun really has brought out the orange tones nicely.

Eastern Black Redstart at Mousehole

A male Eastern Black Redstart was found on Sunday 18th December by Glynnis and Linton Procter on the coastal footpath by the rock pool.  It is the first Cornwall record of this form.  It follows other records this autumn in the Midlands and North East of England and Lothian, Scotland.  The first record for Britain was at Dungeness, Kent, in November 1981.

Quote from AW Birder's blog: "Eastern Black Redstart is a long distance migrant from its central Asian breeding grounds to wintering areas in central India west to northeast Africa. Its breeding and wintering distribution is comparable to species that occur regularly in northwest Europe, including Desert Wheatear and Isabelline Shrike (Slack 2009), both of which seem to have been recorded in fairly decent numbers within the UK and other areas within northwest Europe this autumn." More info here.

Eastern Black Redstart, Mousehole.  Image courtesy Brian Field.

Sanderling at Marazion beach this morning

Sanderling. Marazion Beach. Nikon D5, 500mm f4. 100 iso.

Franklin's Gull at Hayle Estuary, Cornwall

An adult Franklin's Gull was found on Wednesday 26th October by Jon Mycock and Dan Eva. I saw it on Sunday in the fields behind Tempest Printing, Carbis Bay and then saw it well on the estuary.  It is the 9th record for Cornwall, the last record being an adult or second winter on the Gannel in Nov 2005.  A first winter bird was also on Hayle Estuary from the 1st-2nd Nov 2005. (There has also been reports of Franklins Gull at Siblyback and the Camel in this first winter period though I don't know any dates).

 

Isabelline Wheatear image and video

One of my favourite Isabelline Wheatear images.

Video of Isabelline Wheatear by Mr John Chapple.

Snow Buntings at Godrevy

Four Snow Buntings were found last week in and around the Godrevy head area. As always, this species is very confiding and also very photogenic.  Snow Bunting is a regular passage migrant and winter visitor in small numbers and is usually found on favourite coastal sites.

Isabelline Wheatear at Godrevy, Cornwall

Paul Freestone found this stunning Isabelline Wheatear on Godrevy head on 20th October.  This is the second record of the species in the county.  The first was within a whisker of 20 years ago at Church Cove, Lizard. (29th Oct 1996) and seen then by just a handful of birders.  This long overdue species was enjoyed by many birders yesterday as it fed freely across the whole headland.  It follows several other records mainly on the UK east coast and continues the strong easterly theme of birding this Autumn. 



Isabelline Wheatear, Godrevy, October 2016.

Images taken with Nikon D500, 500mm F4, 1.4x Teleconverter.

Sparrowhawk eating Woodpigeon

I saw this large female Sparrowhawk devour a Woodpigeon by the side of the road at Kenidjack yesterday.  I photographed the event from the car.  I think it must have been hungry as the pigeon was consumed inside 15 minutes!

Red-eyed Vireo at Porthgwarra

A Red-eyed Vireo was found in the elm trees beside the toilet block at Porthgwarra on Saturday 15th October by visiting French birder Paul-Elie Jay. After quite a bit of searching I saw it at midday on Sunday typically feeding high in the leaf canopy.  As in the states, where they are fairly common, they always associate with smaller passerines and usually lead the flock through the trees.  This is the 27th record of the species in Cornwall with Porthgwarra the top site.  October is the prime month. The last record was in 2013 at Prussia Cove.