With a light south easterly forecast for the day ( probably the best wind for migrants at Trevose ) I was probably too keen as I arrived at the headland at least half an hour before sunrise! Still it gave me time to walk down to my favorite spot overlooking Trevose Golf Course and set my scope up in readiness for what I was hoping to be a good Vis Mig. A few Thrushes were on the move at first light included a smart Fieldfare but apart from the odd
Brambling ,
Siskin and
Reed Bunting there wasn't really much going on. In the tamarisk hedge I enjoyed seeing two species which are common in most places but actually rather scarce on the headland,
8 Long-tailed Tits and
2 Bullfinch. By now movement overhead had fizzled out and with roadworks blocking my normal drive to the top of Trevose I was keen to start walking as I was planning to walk around the whole headland. I nipped back to the car to drop my scope off and set off down the golf course fairway towards some rough ground which can hold migrants. After a few footsteps a call made me stop dead in my tracks, a buzzy Pipit! It called a second time and I picked it up flying fairly low straight towards me , another call was heard as it flew straight over my head I reached for the camera for a record shot , it carried on up to the wires and landed , I couldn't believe my luck! But sadly it either dropped down into the tamarisk or carried on as I lost it to view. This all happened in less than a minute and I felt elated and frustrated at the same time as I am certain it was an
Olive-backed Pipit!
Call - Tree Pipit like but key differences : to my ear sounded 'softer' , less buzzy and clipped at the end , it didn't have that zzzZZZt of a Tree Pipit , more like zzzss .
In Flight - a strong flyer ( more purposeful than Meadow , and in turn Red-throated but no chance it was either of these species). Tail seemed short? No idea if this is a feature but it made the Pipit look rather stocky. Despite the poor light it looked bright and showed a contrast of colour between the underparts and upperparts which was quite interesting in the field, it also looked quite dark around the breast ( perhaps owing to heavy streaking).
Perched- Yes is looked bright , well streaked on the breast, it had a good supercilium and looked uniform on the upperparts, but that is is all I got , in my 10 second view I didn't see the black line under the supercilium or the pale spot on the ear coverts , I coudn't assess the flanks either. I was a good 100 yards away - probably too far to see these things. Views were better in flight.
So can I claim it? I think I can , it was a striking bird even in flight , the call was perefect! ( I would claim a calling bird again, I really think the call is different enough from Tree Pipit , I guess it helps that I've heard plenty of Tree Pipits this year for comparison. I am also confident with my Pipit skills, they have always been my speciality.)
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My record shot shows naff all really, but it does show the short tailed , stocky shape I noticed in the field, heavy streaking around the breast , plus you can see it literally flew over my head!
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Trevose didn't produce much else barring a few more finches overhead and a nice
Black Redstart so I headed to Park Head for a change ( via lunch at Porthcothan were I heard a
Cettis Warbler singing, a nice local record.) . What a great afternoon! Two stunning
Black Redstarts showing well for photographs, a smart
Snow Bunting on the headland and best of all and totally by surprise a
Richards Pipit! A jogger flushed it out of tallish grass by the footpath and it landed in the long grass to the left of the path as you walk up from Porth Mear beach. I didn't chase it in case anyone else went looking for it as I think it's the only Richards that has been reported away from The Lizard/ West Cornwall ( I reckon it will be there tomorrow).
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| Black Redstart |
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| There were some big flocks of Woodpigeons passing through Park Head, I counted 750 |
I did have one last stop around the Trevarrian area hoping for a rare Bunting in the good habitat there, but I was happy enough to see a
Redpoll and a
Brambling feeding amongst finches and Buntings near to Bre Pen farm. Another great day out after I had a very quiet spell in September the end of this autumn has certainly been my purple patch this year.
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| Reed Bunting |
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