Newlyn Harbour & Gerrans Bay - Fri 9 Apr

A day trip to Cornwall, with the family, and a three hour drive down to Newlyn to see the long-staying American Herring Gull was top of the agenda. Upon arriving at Newlyn I found the favoured beach and it didn't take too long to get on the bird in question, I'm sure the sliced white bread I'd bought along helped the cause.

Having dipped American Herring Gull on two previous occasions I was thrilled to finally get this bird on my list and it was a very obliging one at that. To be honest it was somewhat paler than I was expecting but well within the range of the species. The lovely pink bill with a dark tip stood out like a sore thumb.
After connecting with the target bird we hopped back in the car and headed home via the Roseland peninsula, taking the King Harry Ferry and then driving to St Mawes for a nice hot Cornish Pasty and a coffee for a rather late lunch before driving down to Pendower Beach. Despite it being April I still counted at least twenty Great Northern Divers in Gerrans Bay and a single Black-throated Diver. I managed just one semi-OK photo of a summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver that had just caught some sort of flatfish.

A small number of Gannets were seen passing through, though five terns were too distant to identify. A Guillemot was on the water and another auk was again too far out to nail identification. Several Shags were feeding and were another addition to the year list and a lone Oystercatcher flew across the bay. A Rock Pipit was seen below the cliff and a male Stonechat was in song by the car park.
We then headed to Portscatho to get a fish and chip supper and ate it overlooking Porthkernick Beach where at least one more Great Northern Diver was present. After another quick stop at Pendower we headed home at around 7.00pm, getting home at 10.00pm after a long but amazing day out.