A tour of Windmill Farm, Poltesco Serpentine Works and Valley, Brays Cot Pool and Croft Pascoe Pool on the Lizard, Drift Reservior and Mounts Bay, Cornwall, Britain.

A morning with Dougy Wright on his patch and other spots on the Lizard before looking for Egrets at Drift.

Trip to Uk, Day Twenty Seven.

 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).

Steve and I headed South down on to the Lizard and out to Windmill Farm where the Warden and friend of Steve's was waiting to give us a guided tour of the reserve, I know Dougy but only via Twitter so it was great to meet up face to face and get to know him a little better.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) male.

We did quite a nice walk around a rather wet reserve and saw some good species including Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum), Redwing (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Dunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis), Bullfinch (Camachuelo Común / Pyrrhula pyrrhula), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Pied Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla yarrellii) and some Raptors including Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus) and best of all a flash through by a Merlin (Esmerejón / Falco columbarius). 

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria).

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) female.

The time went very quickly but I learnt a great deal about the reserve from Dougy and hope to return again when its little bit dryer, once we were back at the car park Dougy went off to meet his wife and Steve and I had a look at the info room before finishing the visit with a very smart Peacock (Aglais io) butterfly in the car park.

Rock Pipit (Bisbita Costero / Anthus petrosus).

Our next stop was at the very picturesque Poltesco valley and old Serpentine Works, We parked and walk through some buildings and along a track through some very mice woodlands down to a small Headland, on the way we had a female / immature male Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) around the buldlings and by a wall well a Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), more Common Darters, Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea),Robin and on the headland several Rock Pipits (Bisbita Costero / Anthus petrosus).

Atlantic Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus).

Atlantic Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus).

Down in the Cove we found a few Serpentine pebbles as well as an Atlantic Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) out to sea with a Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo) and a nice male Common Darter warming up on one of the Serpentine works walls.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) male.

We walked back up the other side of the valley after crossing a very swollen River and returned to the car, once there we headed to a small reserve called Brays Cot Pool were apart from lots of Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus), Cornish Heath (Erica vagans) and some Bullfinches in the willows opposite it was quiet but I am sure it would be well worth a look at a different time of year.

The Swollen river which is probably just a stream most of the time.

Looking back to the Serpentine works.

Back along the track.

Just down the road we stopped again at Croft Pascoe Pool, it was quiet but pleased to see the place after so many year before we had a drive over to Drift Reservoir where we walked down on to the dam hoping to see the reported Great Egret (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba) and Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cullinegro / Podiceps nigricollis), we sanned the lake and margins and found the Grebe but there was no sign of the Egret unfortunately, Howevere we did find Great Crested (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus) and Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Tufted Duck (Porrón Monudo / Aythya fuligula), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) and Herring Gull (Gaviota Argéntea Europea / Larus argentatus).

Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus).

Cornish Heath (Erica vagans).

Our final stop of the day was at Marazion Marsh and Mounts bay where we walked the length of the reserve seeing Grey Heron, Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita) and Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus).

St Michaels Mount.

We walked back to the car on the coastal side but there were too many people for there to be anything on the beach but still nice to look out to the Mount.