Cornwall - Fri 24 Mar to Fri 31 Mar

Cornwall in the last week of March and whereas I was on a family holiday I was still hopeful of getting in a bit of birding. The weather over the course of the week did limit us somewhat, but despite that I was able to get out and about and take the opportunity to see what birds might be around. As it happened, I saw little in the way of Spring migrants, just a singing Chiffchaff or two, an unidentified hirundine that whizzed past our accommodation before I could get my bins on it.
A couple if visits to Ruan Lanihorne were actually quite disappointing this holiday, despite timing my visits for low tide I only saw a single Greenshank and a couple of Redshanks on the wader front. A few Wigeon were lingering and several Shelduck were present.
Seawatching off Pendower beach and Portscatho provided the most interest. The former site producing good numbers of Great Northern Divers and Black-throated Divers plus a lone Fulmar gliding across Gerrans Bay and small numbers of auks, mainly Guillemots but at least one Razorbill. Portscatho turned up a few more Great Northern Divers but more interestingly a couple of Slavonian Grebes and four Black-necked Grebes, including some in nearly full summer plumage. A couple of Mediterranean Gulls were with fifteen Sandwich Terns on rocks at Portscatho one afternoon.

A visit to Towan beach, primarily for a cream tea, did turn up eight Kittiwakes and three Sandwich Terns offshore as well as another Great Northern Diver.

All in all a much needed relaxing break, and it was wonderful spending time with the family after a manic few weeks at work, and to round it off a Cirl Bunting was singing somewhere out the back of our accommodation.