ARGAL RESERVOIR (Nr FALMOUTH)

Walked around Argal Reservoir this afternoon which is near the seaside town of Falmouth.  The water level is very low at present.  The hide at the southern end of the reservoir showed no birds at all.  One Grey Heron and a couple of Little Egrets seen on both west and east banks.  Half way along the west bank a Sandwich Tern was seen resting on a line of rocks.  Took photographs but weather was very overcast and misty so not expecting any great images once processed.  If I have an image worth using I will update this entry.  Here it is.  Although it's not very clear the bill is black with a pale yellow tip.


 



Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)


 

HAYLE ESTUARY (RSPB)


Little Egret feeding on shrimp (Egretta garzetta)


 


I visited the RSPB Nature Reserve at Hayle this morning at 7am, just before dawn.  The above photo was taken at Copperhouse Pool near the open-air swimming pool.
 
Approximately 30–40 other bird watchers were out and about by 8am as the Common and Spotted Sandpiper were still in the area.  I saw the Spotted Sandpiper about 9 days ago and have not managed to catch-up with it again since.  This morning, however, I did find the Common Sandpiper again.  The photo below shows the Common Sandpiper feeding.


(image is a little poor as I couldn’t get any closer from where I was positioned.)


 



Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)


 


Other birds seen were Oystercatchers, Grey Heron and Redshanks.
Returned home at 10am.