Garden Listing: With a second lockdown upon us we are again running a garden listing league. Use the same email address as last time ([email protected]) and we will update the table with your sightings and highlights. Whilst not as strict as last time (and already a week in) there is still plenty of opportunity to enjoy your garden birds, despite the weather and darker evenings! See the page >here< for more details. Good luck and enjoy the challenge.

Godrevy Head: 1 Snow Bunting, 1 Wheatear, 6 Purple Sandpiper. 8 Ringed Plover, 16 Turnstone, 18 Oystercatcher. (DK Parker) Also reported, 1 Wheatear. Lots of Mediterranean gulls flying into bay. (T Polglase)

St Gothian Sands LNR: 10 Coot, 16 Tufted Duck, 28 Teal, 8 Little Grebe, 9 Med Gull. (DK Parker) 7 Pink-footed Goose flew around the pools then headed out to sea heading towards Godrevy Head. (T Polglase)

Hayle Estuary RSPB: Aberrant (showing a grey head and underparts) Lesser Black-backed Gull returning for it’s 6th winter, 3w Yellow-legged Gull and 7 Pink-footed Geese. (M Ahmad)

St Ives, Porthminster Beach (14:00-14:40): 1st winter Iceland Gull, 19 Black-headed Gull, c100 Herring Gull, 8 Great Black-backed Gull, 4 Turnstone, 2 Rock Pipit, 10 Gannet, 1 Song Thrush (P Nason)

Longrock Pool: 4w Yellow-legged Gull. (M Ahmad)

Porthgwarra: 1 Hen Harrier (ring-tail), 1 Firecrest, 2 Goldcrest, 4 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare, 50 Chaffinch, 2 Chiffchaff. (N R Rogers)

Pendeen: 1w Little Gull at 13:45. (P Combridge)

Carvannel Downs: 2 Chough, 2 Raven, 300 Jackdaw, 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, 4 Stonechat, 1 Skylark, 10 Meadow Pipit, 20 Goldfinch, 15 Fulmar, 10 Gannet, 20 Auk sp. (S Van Hear)

Drift Reservoir: 8 Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret, 4 Teal, Tufted Duck, 45 Canada Geese, Peregrine, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, 3 Med Gull, Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, Siskin. (D Flumm)

Sancreed: Water Rail, 16 Lapwing, Peregrine, 2 Skylark, Fieldfare, 3 Redwing, 5 Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, 50 Linnet. 2,850 Jackdaw flew west to roost at dusk 15:00-16:45 hrs. (D Flumm)

Towan Head, Newquay: 1 f Merlin, 8 f Common Scoter, 6 Purple Sandpiper. (N Long) 17 Oystercatcher, 33 Turnstone, 30+ female Common Scoter. (S Rowe)

Gannel Estuary: 4 (3ad & 1 2nd W) Mediterranean Gull, 3 Dunlin, 4 Redshank, 30+ Curlew, 21 Wigeon. (M Lammas)

St Agnes Head: 1 scoter sp. (presumably common, but bright colour at base of bill visible at distance). (A le Masurier)

Swanpool to Maenporth: 4 Firecrest, Water Rail, 5 Medeterannean Gull, 2 Raven, Great Northern Diver, 4 Ringed Plover, 20 Skylark. (M Broadbent, O King)

Restronguet Weir: 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Red-breasted Merganser (drake). (J St Ledger)

Helford: 2 Great Northern Diver, feeding on incoming tide. 1 Kestrel (over). (J St Ledger)

Calenick Creek: 5 Greenshank, 1 Lapwing, 8 Oystercatcher, 12 Shelduck, 62 Curlew, 64 Wigeon, 248 Canada Goose, 29 Wood Pigeon, 2 Jay, 2 Mute Swan, 1 Little Egret, 51 Redshank. (R Netherton)

St Martin in Meneage: 74 Curlew on mud flats at low tide off Bishops Quay. (S Chandler)

Siblyback Reservoir: 1 Great Northern Diver at southern end (P Kemp)

Loe Pool: Many Great Crested Grebe (largest group 6 lots of singles and pairs), 7 Pochard, 16 Shoveler, Jay. (R Fox)

Helston Boating Lake: 1 Greylag Goose, 56 Canada Geese, 20 Tufted Duck, 11 Moorhen, 10 Coot, 1 Ferruginous Duck, 111 Black-headed Gull, 25 Herring Gull including ringed immature W-546 (white on blue). (G Adams)

Hayle Kimbro: 1 Whinchat (G Adams)

Penrose, Helston: 6 Cattle Egrets, flock of 20+ Long-tailed Tits, Fire Crest, 2 Jays and Great Spotted Woodpecker. (A Witheywood)

Tywarnhayle Mine: 1 Sparrowhawk, 5 Buzzard, 1 Woodpigeon, 13 Jackdaw, 5 Blue Tit, 2 Chiffchaff. (RB & PC Girling)

Padstow: 1 Great Northern Diver, 61 Mediterranean Gull, 165 Common Gull. (B Bosisto)

Tresillian to St Clement: 1 Russian White Fronted Gosse, 526 Canada Geese (plus 1 hybrid), 1 Mediterranean Gull (adult), 1 Firecrest, 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, 9 Greenshank, 63 Redshank, 65 Curlew, 1 Peregrine, 1 Raven, 1 Kingfisher, 4 Redwing, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 20 Shelduck. (A Nicholson)

Polbathic Creek: Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail at garden pond. (A Blonden)

Camel Estuary: 36 Ringed Plover in winter wheat field, c150 Lapwing, c 60 Redshank, c600 Canada Geese, 1 Peregrine on Lapwing kill, c1000 Golden Plover, 12 Shoveler, 3 Gadwall, 1 Sparrowhawk. (A Langdon)

Lockdown Diary 2: Little did any of us think back in the spring that we’d be confined to barracks again in the autumn. It doesn’t seem fair in lots of ways but that’s our reality at least until December, and we have to live with it.
Watching birds was a tonic back then and is again now. Having failed to see a Treecreeper in my garden in Lockdown 1, the other day one flew down on to a rotting beech trunk right in front of me. Redwings are suddenly in evidence feasting on the fallen apples and the berries that festoon the hawthorn. The bird feeders seem to need topping up almost every day, but then they are visited by all the common tits, Goldfinch and Chaffinch, Dunnock, House Sparrow and Nuthatch. My big thrill this morning came when I was gazing out of the window at the Red-legged Partridges on the lawn, lucky escapees from the local shoot, when a tiny bird landed on the window frame not two feet from my face. I froze so as not to scare it away, and it skipped about, pecking at the glass, and wondering why it could see another Firecrest dancing around in front of it. What a magical little bird.
(S Marquis)

plr/dkp/sgr