Sennen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4FjWtH83Ho

Early morning trips out have been really enjoyable.  Having missed it at Drift Reservoir, on my first look, the spotty Spotted Sandpiper caught up with me.  Literally demanding my attention by flying across the reservoir to pitch in 25 metres away in the mist.  The mist did clear and the characterful little sandpiper showed well.

Sennen gave me a lovely morning in the sun watching 60 or so Mediterranean Gulls at close range on the rocks.  There were 3 young birds with colour rings, 2 from a French scheme (green) and one from Dutch/Belgian scheme (white) evidence of a pretty rapid and wide dispersal of juveniles.  Imagine tackling a channel crossing when just a few months old.

A flock of 8 Chough flew over and I was quite surprised that they pitched on to a nearby roof and then dropped down into the harbour side gardens - Sennen Starlings.  Massively enjoyable.

Hummingbird

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P2HE-USGrU

Staying down the valley, in the shelter of Porthcurno there were numerous encounters with migrant Hummingbird Hawkmoths.  Such a treat to watch them during their frantic visits to the flower heads.  A male Lesser Emperor was an exciting find hawking emerging ants over the car bonnets in the beach car park, it was showy but being in sole charge of the kids and without a camera I had to satisfy myself with just my memories of a fantastic encounter.  Wall Browns were commonplace and the coastal slopes alive with Grayling in chosen spots. A pretty Black Arches was a new moth for me.

The Ocean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBTA3v1Jt_I

A sojourn down to the furthest end of Cornwall for a family holiday allowed for a couple of boat trips out on the Mermaid II out of Penzance and some seawatching from the land.  From the off there were many Manx Shearwaters moving offshore in the of northerly winds - for the first few days I routinely counted passage from the beach at Porthcurno, between beach activities and watching the dolphins, 750 west per hour was pretty consistent and off the boat we also saw many. 

Mermaid II off St Michaels Mount

There were many dolphins from land and on the sea, mostly Common but a few views of a small pod  of Bottle-nosed.  In the flat calm seas they were easy to see and I also had two sightings of the rolling arc of a Minke Whales back and fin.  Sunfish were regular including one where we could see the giant fish underwater, oddly with red dorsal stripe and lips, perhaps to do with the slicks of nasty looking red algal blooms we kept seeing.  Tuna were also pretty prolific, looking to be Yellow-fin when they launched themselves out of the sea and through the air.

Sunfish

Yellow-Fin Tuna

Back to birds, it's always exciting to see Storm Petrels (well for me, being land locked - the Cornish birders seem non-plussed).  Off the boat there were 10 or so and I also enjoyed a still evening at Porthgwarra as Stormies fed offshore.

A couple of hopeful seawatches off Porthgwarra produced a handful of Sooty Shearwaters, Bonxie, a single Balearic Shearwater and best of the bunch Cory's Shearwater lazing northwards on two successive mornings.  Great Shearwaters flirted too - all a bit beyond certainty range but 3 birds off PG and a single from the Mermaid hint at some numbers when the big blow arrives in the next 24hrs.

Welney Heat

Welney has been sweltering for the past week or so, and the Dragonflies patrol up and down the path, creating a distraction from the onset of Autumn birding. A Black-tailed Skimmer, now showing signs of a long season, basked on the dirt, and up on the bank, a pair of Common Darters embraced.

The pool at Friends Hide was baked dry, allowing a slightly scrawny Roe buck to stroll right across it.

At the reed edge, a young Water Rail suddenly remembered it had left the door unlocked.

There was plenty of water at the Lyle Hide pool, and a small flock of Ruff flew in - to the surprise of a Female Garganey.

They too were soon distracted as a Hobby skimmed across low.

Back at the main Obs, another garganey, this time an immaculate youngster suffered in the Sun.

The Godwits squeaked and rattled in the shallows - feeding, preening and fighting. Gulls have been building up in numbers, and among the Black-heads were a returning Common Gull and Lesser Black Back. Egrets and Herons stand watch along the ditches or float in to strut around the main pool.

 

Crimson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNiyy8pS5XY&app=desktop

It's all been about the invertebrates this week.  Firstly a MEGA moth in my new Robinson Trap last Wednesday night, a migrant Dark Crimson Underwing, what a belter.  This is the 3rd Red Data Book Moth to appear in the garden this year with a Reed Leopard back in June and White-spotted Pinion increasing with up to 5 a night at the moment.

A hot day on Friday led us to the coast but it was so jam packed we decided to have a family picnic at Dersingham Bog, which gave me a chance to have a wander.  With some good info from Mark Welch I found a young male  Black Darter right where he suggested.

Saturdays light attracted another Underwing, this time a very smart Red Underwing which hung around much longer than it's rare cousin had done.

A return trip to Dersingham to look for Black Darters took a turn for the worse as the weather turned overcast and blustery.  Waiting for the weather to improve we had a look around Dersingham Fen LNR.  Here Ben found a dead Dor Beetle, the upper side of this fantastic beastie gave just an irridescent hint of the blaze of metallic lapis lazuli hidden beneath.

At the Bog itself we struggled to see any dragonflies finding just a Black-tailed Skimmer and watched a heroic Red Banded Sand Wasp carrying a caterpillar somewhere, it dropped it but didn't seem to be able to relocate it's hefty load.

Returning to the car Ben then found a large primary feather which turned out to be Red Kite's. Very nice.

On Monday we headed down to the river at Over but with the kayak this time.  Getting all the kit ready a dragonfly cruising across the car park to the river caught my eye - a male Lesser Emperor, it's electric blue base to the abdomen quite dazzling.  I hoped it would return or that I'd locate it along the river but that short wizz past me was all I was going to get.  Nonetheless a day spent pottering up and down the river with damsels and demoiselles alighting on our paddles was really lovely.