British Birding Association UK400 Club

Phil (Woollen)

 

As far as I know, the money collected went direct to the owner of the field - after all, he very kindly allowed birders to park there, and saved many a long and arduous walk either from Porthgwarra car park or Land's End. In fact, with over 900 birders converging on the site in just three days, it is lucky that he did have the foresight to allow the use of his field in this way, as it would have been chaos otherwise. It is his prerogative what he does with any money raised, as it is with the private owner of the Porthgwarra car park, which costs up to £5.00 per day.

 

By the way, the farmer at Ardensawah Farm is not to be confused with the farmer at Roskestal Farm just 800 yards further down the lane. The latter does not like birders at all and is very abusive towards them if they park anywhere near his land.

 

Lastly, it must be remembered that it is not a given right to wander all and sundry over farmland and around farm buildings in West Cornwall. A further example of kindness was given by the owners of Trevilley Farm where John Swann, Chris Heard, I and Cornish locals were given permission to search for the Red-eyed Vireo in their private gardens. Sadly, this permission was later abused and some people took it upon themselves to wander literally right over plants and walls in the garden, and also abuse and frighten the farmer's cats. This is just not on. Please ask for access first and respect the privacy of the owners and do not damage or interfere with gardens and their implements.

 

I wardened the car park on the second day mainly to direct those to the Alder Flycatcher site which was fairly complicated to find. It was also to ensure that traffic did not build up on what is a very dangerous and narrow Cornish lane. I also felt it was the least I could do to thank the farmer for the use of his land, particularly as Kester Wilson (the Flycatcher finder) checks this site virtually daily in migration times and is very likely to find another 'mega' in this same area in the future. It generally takes over an hour to walk down from Land's End, or 45 minutes to walk from Porthgwarra - this could be the difference between seeing or not seeing a bird - so I for one was incumbent on making the best impression possible so that he would be happy to do the same again - albeit for a charge of just £2 per car.