Chough Junior Day One - Porthgwarra and West Cornwall

I'm not sure where the time goes but another year has passed and it is time for another week of birding with Pete in October, we try and see as many birds as we can across the county and we also try and eat as much food as we can along the way! The Sunday of Chough Junior has always been a great days birding for whatever reason and with Pete out of action ( it was his girlfriends birthday so he was being a gent and spending the day with her) I headed to Porthgwarra full of hope for the day ahead...

Juvenile Ring Ouzel - poor photo in dull light but note the pale wing panel and scalloping on the flanks and body

Garden Warbler - not ideal views to ID this bird but note the rather featureless appearance and plain undertail coverts

Although it was a tad gloomy at first light there did seem to be a few birds on the move overhead and it wasn't too long before I had a Woodlark fly through the valley calling as it went... As I walked down towards the car park I heard a loud dry tack call and soon spotted the culprit ,a smart female type Ring Ouzel. This turned out to be one of three Ring Ouzels seen during the morning and the other two birds where more cryptic juveniles ( again picked up on call , included the soft trill that sounds a bit like a Fieldfare). I enjoyed watching one of there birds with local birder John Ryan and it was nice to hear his stories of seeing Polar Bears and Ivory Gulls in the Arctic this autumn including an amazing sight of over 200 Polar Bears feeding on a dead Whale ( one day I will go there ! ). I carried on down into the car park and picked up a larger warbler feeding high up in the willows , after 5 minutes of studying it gave itself up as just a Garden Warbler ( but very welcome for me and Pete as it is the first record on Chough Junior) .

I carried on towards the moor and walked as far as Trevean Pool , adding 2 Redpoll's , Firecrests and plenty of Blackcaps. At Trevean I had a warbler tacking from the bracken/ reedbed which sounded to me like an odd Acro type but I never saw the bird despite spending an hour waiting and hoping for it to show. With the rain getting heavier and the bird having not called for half an hour I gave up and started to head back to the car.... by the wall of the moor I bumped into Mark Wallace and mentioned the warbler in Trevean so hopefully he will get to grips with it over the net few days. It was nice to have a catch up with him and hear about how he found the Amur Falcon in July! You just never know what you may see when your out birding and he deserved that on his local patch considering the time and effort he puts in...

After Porthgwarra I made my way to Pendeen as I had heard on the grapevine that a Wryneck had showed up during the morning. I literally pulled off the road by the Coastguard cottages , had a quick chat with John Chapple and Reuben Veal before walking down the path and seeing the Wryneck within 5 seconds as it sat on the top of a bush! A most welcome year tick and another new bird for the Chough Junior list. Instead of heading to the valleys I had a walk around the church yard at Pendeen ( a very underrated spot and well worth checking ) . A late Spotted Flycatcher was the best thing on offer but it looks spot on for a rarity at the moment. 

The last place I went to was the Hayle Estuary and although the tide was out there was a nice mixture of waders and wildfowl with the highlight being a Black-necked Grebe in Carnsew Basin. It was a great day out and I'm looking forward to tomorrow already!