Saturday 28 March 2009 - Penduline Tit & Snowy Owl Dip - Part II - 28/03/2009

Saturday 28th March 2009

With the Cornish SNOWY OWL being reported again on and off all week, Jules Allen managed to twist my arm for yet another trip down to the South West.  Could it be second time lucky?  Could it fekkkk!

Paignton, Devon

Concerned that we might waste an entire day in Cornwall we decided to go for the consolation bird first - a male PENDULINE TIT in Paignton.  We arrived on site at Youngs Waterpark only to find a derelict water shute and an old go-cart track but no sign of any hot, Tit action.... though I'm sure there might have been a lot during the summer season when it was actually open!  The reason being was that the bird was not actually here contrary to the many pager messages.  It was frequenting the smallest nature reserve ever, over the road at Goodrington Park.... or was it?  Initially there was no sign of the bird in gale force conditions.  A friendly local advised that it seemed to go to roost nearby in the Clennon Valley and reappeared at this site towards late morning or early afternoon.  We decided to return a bit later.

During a brief rain shower we headed around to Broadsands just a mile or two away.  It wasn't long before we picked up our first Cirl Bunting in the fields adjacent to the second car park.  After a while we'd had at least 2 different male birds and a single female in the area.  They are indeed stunning little birds and well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.  There were plenty of Common Chiffchaffs in song and a single Common Raven 'cronked' overhead.  On the sea there was no sign of the 2 Black-necked Grebes that were reported but I did have my first Barn Swallow of the year fly in off the sea.

At 10.15am we headed back towards Goodrington Park and as we pulled into the car park a message came through to say the bird was still present, what luck!  We hurried along the boardwalk and as we approached I could hear the distinctive call of a PENDULINE TIT.  Eventually I located the handsome, little fellow low down in the depths of the reedmace where it sat preening for a while.  It eventually popped up to feed where it showed exceptionally well just a few yards away.  It also gave quick bursts of song every now and again.  Superb stuff!

PENDULINE TIT (singing male) - Goodrington Park, Paignton, Devon - March 2009

Photos by Adam Archer

Yeah I realise they are pretty terrible pictures but with the bird swaying 'to and fro' like... wait for it... a pendulum.... then it's always going to be a struggle digiscoping.  For pictures that are miles better please see 'A Tale of Two Halves' by Jase Atkinson - he's a 'bitter blue' but the little Manc' takes the odd decent picture you know.

Zennor, Cornwall

Whilst at Broadsands I called Rare Bird Alert to ask if they'd put out a 'no news either way' message regarding the SNOWY OWL.  They duly did, God bless 'em but unfortunately it didn't prompt anyone who happened to be down in Zennor to have the decency to phone in the negative news.  Despite the lack of info Jules said he had a 'good feeling' and so we made our way down the soul destroying A30 for the second time in two weeks.  We arrived on site at around 2.00pm to find a gentleman sitting under a rock scanning the windswept moorland.  He'd been there since 6.00am on and off but hadn't seen the bird..... "SO WHY DIDN'T YOU PUT THE FEKKIN' NEWS OUT YOU NUMPTY!?!" I bellowed (under my breath).  I walked off and started scanning myself hoping that this fellow was visually impaired, unfortunately he wasn't.  I did pick up a male Ring Ouzel fall from the sky, circle around briefly and plunge into the bracken which was a nice new Cornish tick.  Jules and I then hiked up and down the moor for miles with just the odd Common Stonechat and Common Raven for company.  We were pissed off with our lack of luck to say the least, infact I'm sure that if Mr Allen and I fell into a big barrel of boobs we'd come up sucking each others thumbs!

Zennor Quoit, Zennor, Cornwall - March 2009

Photo by Adam Archer 

Yes I even dipped Sperris Quoit.... which I thought this was (see above).  It may look like a huge pile of concrete but this is infact Zennor Quoit, a prehistoric burial chamber dating back to the Neolithic period and is therefore around 11,000 years old!  Seeing and being able to touch something like this is a huge thrill for me..... but obviously not as much a thrill as seeing a SNOWY OWL.  This structure would have once held the body of a very important member of a tribe along with a few personal belongings to see him or her through the 'after life'.  It may then have been covered with soil in order to partially seal it with a small entrance to the tomb.  Unfortunately the quoit has been robbed for building materials over the centuries but it is still a remarkable piece of ancient architecture with the main capstone thought to weigh in excess of ten tonnes.  Just how did those chaps lift something of this size into place?  It's pretty amazing indeed.