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.
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.
