Cornwall 2012 Day 4

The noble intention of finding your own birds is all very well, but sometimes you've just got to get down to some dirty whore twitching. So that's what we did today. Early portents weren't good though, and although we decided to go to the Lizard on spec, we both had the hump, because the weather was damp, and drizzly. Again. However, Church Cove seemed to be the recipient of the sole sunny window of the morning, t-shirts being the order of the day. Anyhoo, luckily the Paddyfield Warbler was showing exceptionally well in the pathside bracken. A distinctive little Acro, I don't think even I could mistake it for a Reed Warbler, with it's eyestripe and beaky profile. We also saw a rather chipper Lee Evans, who spent about about 10mins on the warbler before zipping off to Pendeen. A vocal YBW in the churchyard was rather elusive, and I initially thought I could claim a find, but I subsequently discovered it had been present the previous day. Somewhat incredulously, I was half-tempted to stay at Church Cove than go pipit chasing. The presence of a sun hole in the middle of endless mizzle was just too tempting to ignore. So warm.... So after a tortuously slow drive we did arrive at Pendeen, to be greeted by the view of birders wandering aimlessly around some damp fields. We gave it a go anyway. The reward was another tart's tick - hurrah! Two prolonged flight views of the bird, as it called continuously, was all we were permitted. Then we left. It was never going to be seen on the deck, and two dozen birders shuffling around trying to pin it down was enough to persuade us to leave. And I also had to show Lee how to work his phone. 2 Whinchats and a Manx Shearwater were the only other birds of note. We finished up at Porthgwarra with a spot of seawatching. Literally. Very little was moving - 2 Arctic Skuas were the best we could do. Better was a Firecrest in the car park. Every time I see one of these beauts I struggle to think of a better looking British bird. I even managed to take some proper bird photos, not of the Firecrest alas, but of a Robin. Not hard though, when the bird is a mere 4ft away. I'll upload the pics when I get home.