The Cornish Coastal Experience - Part 2

  Welcome to the second part of my blog about our Cornwall adventure.Thank you for coming back for more but be happy in the knowledge that it is a shorter blog than Part 1 ;)

  I was once again up around 7am as I wanted to enjoy the serenity of being at Seacrest and also because I was excited to check the Moth trap and trail camera I had set up the previous night.It was overcast and very fine rain was falling but I was straight out to the moth trap.

  Crane Flies were everywhere, at least 30 of them inside the moth trap and more covering the fences and plants.Not a major interest to me but it showed the abundance of food available to our feathered friends, mainly a male Blackbird and a Robin which were happily bouncing about the decking enjoying a protein full breakfast.There were quite a few Moths with Marbled Carpets and Large Yellow Underwings being the most numerous.Square-spot Rustic,Beaded Chestnut, Lunar Underwing, Straw Dot, Snout, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Garden Carpet were also among the egg trays in the trap.

  Snout

  Setaceous Hebrew Character

  Square-spot Rustic

  Lunar Underwing

  Garden Carpet

  Marbled Carpet

  Beaded Chestnut

  The most intriguing Moth though was, what I thought a well marked Rush Veneer.After asking a few Lepidopterists on social media it was suggested it could possibly be a Lucerne Moth(Nomophila Nearctica).An American moth that had maybe been blown in by the oncoming storms and a species with no confirmed record of it in Europe.Unfortunately without further examination of the Moth we will never be able to confirm it's true identity.

  The Rush Veneer or potential Lucerne Moth

  Finishing with the Moths I then removed the SD card from the trail camera and was excited to find it had recorded three times during the night.The first 2 clips were of nothing but the third featured a quick pass of a jumping Mouse.

  Our plan for the rest of the day(once Majella had woken up) was to explore the headland on the opposite side of Mount's Bay, the Lizard Peninsula.It was just a 20 minute drive around Penzance and into Marazion where we parked to walk to St. Michael's Mount.

  At low tide the causeway is exposed giving you access to walk over and explore this island community.The receding tide had unveiled a myriad of food that Gulls, Oystercatchers and Little Egrets were taking advantage of.

  Little Egret

  Young Herring Gull with a Starfish

  Mute Swans with Oystercatcher in the foreground

  We crossed the causeway and explored the village and harbour while learning about the history of this ancient island parish.The castle watching over the neighbouring island and bay was stunning, now a family home, it had been a monastery and a battle sieged fort in it's past.

  The view of Mousehole across Mount's Bay from St. Michael's Mount

  We grabbed a coffee in the island cafe and headed back to the mainland before the encroaching tide swallowed the causeway once more.

  A quick walk through Marazion brought to us this fabulous Dolphin water feature which I photographed with St.Michaels behind.

https://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/

  There were a few coves we wanted to check out and so decided to begin at the most Southern end and work our way back.Onwards to Lizard Point.

  Britain's Southern most point reaching out into the Atlantic Ocean.

  We sat on the cliff top watching Great Black-backed Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Jackdaws glide by on the Ocean breeze.Atlantic Grey Seals swam in the water below, occasionally stopping, head skyward as if watching the Human circus up on the cliffs or maybe silently pleading with us to halt the destruction of their home.

  Gulls on Lizard Point

 Atlantic Grey Seal

  

  We ate at the most Southern cafe in Britain along with the House Sparrows who were intent on longingly staring at your food like feathered Dogs while inches away from our plates.Our original plan was to also visit Kynance & Mullion coves but we just lost track of time relaxing and marvelling in the Natural beauty before us.I did however get one last close encounter with the beautiful Cornish Chough ;) 

  As we were losing daylight we decided to head back North along the peninsula to Marazion and have a quick walk around the RSPB Marazion Marshes.When we arrived the tide had risen and now covered the causeway to St. Michael's Mount.

  Marazion Marshes

  One roadside pool at the reserve held numerous Moorhen, Mute Swans, Little Egrets, a Little Grebe and a Grey Heron, while a walk through the scrub revealed Robins, Blackbirds and more amazing Stonechat sightings.It was a wonderful way to end another day exploring the stunning South West coastline.

  It was time to head back to Seacrest and pack for our 400 mile journey back North.Cornwall is such a beautiful part of the country with so many places to explore and wildlife to see and we feel just so privileged to have been able to stay in such amazing accommodation at Seacrest.

  We cannot thank Alexia enough for giving us this opportunity to experience Cornwall.She is a special person, a massive voice for Wildlife and a Trustee of The Wildheart Trust.

https://isleofwightzoo.com/the-wildheart-trust

Our final Cornwall Sunrise as seen from Seacrest in Mousehole.

  Thank you again for reading and browsing through my photos :) I hope you enjoyed it a little bit.It is very much appreciated :) 

  

  

The Cornish Coastal Experience - Part 1

  I cannot begin this blog without saying a heartfelt thank you to the wonderful Alexia Fishwick who invited us into her amazing home, Seacrest, to experience the dramatic scenery and Wildlife of Cornwall.
 
  We arrived in Cornwall just as the rain was easing off and a little too early to meet Alexia's friend, Tiggy at the house so detoured through Penzance.As the town traffic slowed to a crawl I thought we had made the wrong decision but by chance slowly moving up beside us was the classic locomotive, The Flying Scotsman arriving into town.

  After getting through the Penzance traffic it was only a short drive down to Mousehole where we would be spending the next 3 nights.At Seacrest we met the cheerful Tiggy who gave us a tour of the house, explained a few things about the accommodation and also gave us a few tips on the local wildlife.The car was rapidly unpacked as I was eager to get out and explore the village with the camera.We found a shoreline pathway opposite the house which would take us into Mousehole harbour.
  My first view from Seacrest, overlooking Mount's Bay.

  As we descended the steps to the path I could already see Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Cormorants, diving Gannets and foraging along the rocky shoreline, numerous Rock Pipits.
  Rock Pipit in Mousehole

  On the short walk to the harbour we found Zen stone towers(cairns) standing on the beach defying the strong Cornish sea breeze.

  The tide was emptying the harbour and the Sun was flitting in and out of the clouds constantly changing the light on the water.
  Mousehole harbour

  Turnstones were congregated on the gently rocking boats and as we ambled around the harbour they flew down to the stoney beach.As their name implies they began turning over stones searching for insects and small crustaceans.An idyllic scene if ever there was one.
  Turnstones foraging among the stones.

  Overlooking this scene was the village pub, The Ship Inn where we decided to have our tea and wait for a friend who just happened to be staying in Penzance for an Orca survey.There was a fantastic atmosphere in the pub and the food arrived piping hot even though we had only ordered chips and prehistoric sized onion rings each.

  Onion rings were a little larger than we were used too ;)

  It was brilliant and a bit surreal to catch up with Jo many miles from where either of us live and whom we last saw as part of the #Sodden10000 marching with Chris Packham through London on the #PeoplesWalkforWildlife.

  Majella with Jo at The Ship Inn

  Jo then headed back to Penzance as we went back and relaxed at Seacrest, feeling priviliged to be spending time in such an amazing place.I went to bed in hope of awaking early to witness the Sunrise and follow up on one of Tiggy's Wildlife tips.

  The next morning despite having to fight to get out of the ridiculously comfy bed, I was drawn to the orange hue hugging the bedroom curtain edges.I opened them to reveal the most glorious Sunrise.

  Tiggy had mentioned that if I got up and surveyed the bay around this time there would be a good chance of seeing the locals.She was spot on as I counted first, 3, then up to 8 Dolphins swimming further into Mounts Bay with the Cornish Sunrise as a backdrop.What an amazing sight to wake up to.

  Dolphins in Mounts Bay

  We took Alexia's advice on places to visit and chose to spend the day exploring the West Penwith coastline starting at Cape Cornwall.It was great to see so many Buzzards and Kestrels over the fields as we headed towards St. Just.

  Common Buzzard

  Once out of the car at Cape Cornwall I could immediately see more Gulls, Cormorants and Gannets on the Atlantic Ocean and Oystercatchers and Rock Pipits on the boulder strewn shoreline.The fields and cottage gardens were teeming with bird life.Dozens of Meadow Pipits, Great tits, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens and Goldfinches were seen.Then  flash of a different colour as a male Stonechat landed on a nearby stone wall.

  Cape Cornwall

  Meadow Pipit

Male Stonechat

  A walk up to the point brought more male and female Stonechats into our view as well as the sighting of a lone Chiffchaff, slumming it with the Pipit population.

  Chiffchaff

  Female Stonechat

  Male Stonechat

  We scanned the area for Corvids and for one in particular.At first we saw only Crows and Jackdaws and then we spotted them.A pair of our most spectacular Corvids, Choughs.Our first ever Cornish Choughs too.Two of the unmistakable red billed birds wheeled out from cliff face and the disappeared too quickly behind a rocky outcrop.A brief but wonderful glimpse.We could've stayed and watched the birds and Ocean for hours but wanted to explore so much so set off to our next stop.

  Only a few miles South along the coastline we pulled into Sennen Cove.We stopped at a beachside cafe for coffee and cake and then headed down on to the sand.It was a busy beach with Dogs having the time of their lives running in all directions and a surf school having a lesson in the shallows.

  Sennen Cove

  The large boulders sheltering rock pools held more interest for us so we headed to part of the beach.We kept an eye on the advancing Ocean but had time to explore the nearest rock pools before the tide crept too close.Tiny fish fry and crustaceans darted to shelter among the seaweed and countless Beadlet Anemones graced nearly every other rock.Majella spotted a different anemone which turned out to be the larger Strawberry Beadlet Anemone.
  Majella exploring the rock pools

  Beadlet Anemone

  Strawberry Beadlet Anemone

  There also looked to be a bait ball in the water as Gulls and Cormorants converged to take advantage.

  Leaving Sennen Cove the plan was to visit Nanjizal Beach but after realising it may be too much of a walk for me, we headed down an adjacent road which took us towards Porthgwarra.We only drove part of the way and turned at a farm we reached but as luck would have it I noticed a flock of Starlings along a telephone wire and that one of them was a different colour.It was a Rosy Starling, well worth taking a wrong turn for.

  Moving further around the coast I got to play Poldark as we visited Portcurno Beach where scenes from the tv series were filmed.It was a stunningly beautiful cove with the beach descending sharply into the Atlantic creating awesome waves that really showed the power of the Ocean.I watched, photographed and filmed as the waves crashed on to the pristine sand.

  Porthcurno Beach.

  Waves crashing on to the beach.

  As I was filming waves in one direction, I was unaware of another powerful wave hitting the beach behind me and racing up the sand to where I stood.It covered over my boots and soaked me to my knees.My unintentional paddling did mean we had to abandon our idea of walking up the cliff steps to Minack Theatre.

https://www.minack.com/

  I did however despite the wet shoes, socks and trousers to convince Majella to stop at Drift reservoir on the way back to Newlyn as I'd heard there may be birds there.We had sightings of a Buzzard, Little Egrets, Cormorants, Pied Wagtails and even a Drake Muscovy Duck.A group of birders travelling to Scilly arrived and not long after we were all enjoying views of a Pectoral Sandpiper.

  Common Buzzard

  Cormorant

  Shopping was done in Newlyn so we could have a nice cooked meal of Vegetarian sausages and vegetables along with the bottle of bubbly generously left for us by Alexia at Seacrest.Afterwards I set up both the trail camera and Moth trap in the garden but you'll have to read Part 2 for the results and for our exploration of the Lizard Peninsula.

  Seacrest in Mousehole.

  I hope you've enjoyed the trip so far, thank you for reading and see you in Marazion for the next part.