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Pagham Birder: The Blog

A regular account of the birds seen mainly on and around Pagham Spit, the Lagoon and the North Wall plus other birding exploits from time to time.
Any news of interest regarding the ongoing erosion problems on Pagham Beach will, from now on, be shown on my other blog together with general beach photos.. Click on the link... Pagham Beach Blog on this page.

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Cornwall (non birding ) holiday

 In past years we normally have an Autumn week in North Cornwall but this year, due to a number of circumstances, it was agreed to have a 10 day holiday in June.

This proved to be a beach holiday in Porthcothan, a small bay west of Padstow . The weather was amazing with almost unbroken sunshine; very different to the type of weather we usually experience in October!

Birding was not in the plan so it was a matter of enjoying the sand,sea and sunshine and a good dose of Cornish Pasties and Cream teas!

A walk to Park Head  which is on the coast path to Bedruthan Steps produced a few species and I did 'happen' to have my camera with me!

First up was this Rock Pipit on a grassy cliff top.







Stonechats were common  and a couple of youngsters posed beautifully.


Sea birds were few and far between but this Oystercatcher had a nest on an inaccessible islet and appeared to have a single chick with very little between it a a 100' cliff!



The only other bird seen was this feral Rock Dove (type)
It did make a pretty picture in that setting!



On one evening we headed to Constantine Bay a little further east from Porthcothan and to my surprise there was a flock of about 80 waders feeding along the rocky tideline viewed from a  well used high level pathway. Of course, no camera not even binoculars! I could make out Dunlin but there were other species with them.

Next evening armed with suitable equipment we returned and fortunately the birds were there too.

Unfortunately a dog was there also but with patience I was able to make my way to the rocks and the dog eventually disappeared and I was able to get a few shots of this very confiding flock consisting mainly of Dunlin and Sanderlings. both species in varying summer/winter plumage.



















This was the highlight of the holiday (birdwise)!


This was a Jackdaw on Treyarnon Bay waiting for holiday maker titbits.



A walk along the Camel estuary at Padstow was very disappointing  with only this Grey Heron and a few distant Little Egrets....Oh yes, I did hear a Curlew! 


....but we did enjoy the long sunny days, the Cornish Pasties and the Cream Teas!!

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