Newquay

Lu and I were politely asked to make ourselves scarce so that Joel could have a load of friends round to celebrate his 21st. We booked a guesthouse in Newquay and I managed to squeeze in a bit of birding on the way there (a quick look at Porth reservoir) along with a 90 minute sea-watch first thing this morning, from Towan Head.

Porth Reservoir yesterday - 1 Temminck's Stint, 1 Green Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpipers, 8+ Ringed Plovers, c10+ Dunlin, 3+ Great Crested Grebes and 2 Marsh Tits.

Newquay golf course - 2 Whimbrel and 4 Choughs.

Towan Head from 0630 'til 8am this morning (before breakfast) - 1380+ Manx Shearwaters, just 2 Kittiwakes and 1 skua sp (probably just Arctic). On the golf course - 1 Whimbrel and 15 Choughs.

Mudbank early pm - a juvenile Osprey on Cockle Sands along with just 8 Sandwich Terns.

Decent scope views but a devil to pick out at times. Here with 2 Dunlin in front of it.

Green Sandpiper - Porth reservoir.

I counted mostly those Manx Shearwaters that were passing close west off Towan Head. There were masses more further out but the vast expanse of sea was just too much for me to cover on my own. My count of 1380 therefore in no way reflects the true numbers of birds that must have gone past this morning. I figured that if I studied the closer birds I'd at least have a chance of identifying any rarer shearwaters or petrels if they passed. It was a little galling to find out that there had been a Wilson's Petrel in Fistral Bay which was just behind my watching position on Towan Head.

I wasn't really expecting to see Choughs in Newquay. I didn't even have my bins or camera with me yesterday when the first one flew over. Fifteen were counted on my way back to the guesthouse from my sea-watch this morning - all on the golf course.