Walmsley Sanctuary Access – May 2022 (UPDATE)

***UPDATE – Swift work by Council contractors has seen the bridge now opened to traffic and pedestrains again, so access to the reserve is now possible.*** The bridge at…

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CBWPS Membership Secretary Role

Sadly Carol Hughes, Cornwall Birds Membership Secretary, has decided to step down as Membership Secretary for personal reasons. Carol has in three years vastly improved a system that was…

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Military Exercise Cancelled at Colliford Reservoir

Swift action by Cornwall Birds and the South West Lakes Trust has led to the Ministry of Defense deferring a proposed full blown military exercises at Colliford Lake on…

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Can you help the West Country’s Cirl Buntings this spring?

The RSPB are appealing for volunteers to help carry out this year’s Cirl Bunting Survey across Devon and Cornwall between April-August Last year volunteers recorded Cirl Buntings in almost…

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January 2021 News

Honorary Treasurer Position Update: Following the Chairmans appeal for a new Treasurer, and the publicity on the website and social media we are pleased to say that we had…

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December 2020 News

  Honorary Treasurer Position: Would you like an exciting role within Cornwall Birds (CBWPS)? We are looking for someone with financial experience, who is confident and forward-thinking to help…

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November 2020 News

Mermaid Wildlife Pelagic: Penzance, Wednesday 2nd December, 1pm – 4pm, £25 adults, £15 children. Phone to book, 07901 731201. List of links from main Recent Sightings page sidebar for…

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October 2020 News

Cornwall Birds Student Award 2020/21: This year we will again be offering an award to the student judged to have produced the best ornithological dissertation based on research conducted…

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September 2020 News

Walks and Events: Regrettably due to rising cases and the latest Covid-19 restrictions on meeting in public and group sizes the walks and events program has had to be…

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August 2020 News

Walks and Events program: We’re pleased to be able to say that the board has decided that this can now been resumed (24th August 2020). If you are able…

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July 2020 News

Steve Madge: It is with great sadness that we have to inform our members that our society president for many years, Steve Madge, passed away yesterday after a long…

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May 2020 News

West Penwith Virtual Garden Bioblitz today: The Penwith Landscape Partnership is organising a ‘virtual garden BioBlitz’ across West Penwith, from St Ives to Marazion westwards. This is running from…

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April 2020 News

Nocmigging Article by Tony Blunden: Relevant in these current times, a useful introduction to the practice of recording birds calling at night, migrants, regulars and some unexpected local birds….

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March 2020 News

Save Our Swifts Update: Please note that there is a degree of uncertainty on what we will be able to achieve with the project this year. It is possible…

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February 2020 News

Cornwall County List 2020: As we come up to the end of February the county list currently stands at around 185, after a relatively quiet month birding-wise, and plenty…

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January 2020 News

Cornwall County List 2020: The number of species seen in the County so far this year now stands at over 180, with a good number of county and national…

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December 2019 News

Bird recording volunteers:  The National Trust in West Cornwall are looking for bird enthusiasts to help carry out bird surveys at some of our countryside sites, to measure the…

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December 2019 News

Paddyfield Pipit colour A4 prints by renowned wildlife artist Martin Elliott, from a limited-edition of 30, signed and numbered at £20 each (plus £5 p&p). People can contact Martin…

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November 2019 News

St Agnes Marine Conservation Group talk: Thurs 28th, 7:30pm. Alice Trevail and Beth Clarke from Exeter Uni talk to us about their fascinating research into the lives of our…

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October 2019 News

Lower Tamar Lake feeders: due to problems with cats it is requested that photographers/birders do not put up bird feeders in the car park area itself. See Here for the bird…

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June 2019 News

Updating Membership Records: Could all members please ensure that the email addresses as held by the membership secretary are correct, especially if you have changed your email address in…

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May 2019 News

Middle Amble Marsh Update May 2019: An update on access issues to this joint CBWPS/CWT reserve can be found on the website HERE Cornish Choughs: The Society is now…

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April 2019 News

CCAF: Recruitment of new members to the Cornwall Countryside Access Forum (CCAF) is currently underway. This aims to represent all interested parties in the County in areas such as…

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March 2019 News

BTO Rookery Survey: The BTO in Cornwall are running a local Rookery Survey and are looking for counters. If you are interested in counting a Rookery or have records…

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February 2019 News

CWT Breney Common Nature Reserve – Work Party: Sunday 17th February, 10am – 3pm. A day of Practical Conservation Work: come along and help remove some of the Gorse, Willow…

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January 2019 News

New items will be added to the top of the monthly news page as they come in. Last update:16/01/19 CBWPS Cornwall Birds ‘Pic of the Year’ Results are now in,…

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December 2018 News

Kuzma Minin Update:  The Kuzma Minin has now been moved to a buoy within the Carrick Roads for further inspections and to organise salvage operations. There have been no…

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November 2018 News

November 2018 Amur Falcon prints: Martin Elliot has produced an atmospheric picture of the falcon. It is available as a limited edition, signed archival giclée print. The size is…

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October 2018 News

2017 records requiring further information: There are a number of county and BBRC rares still requiring description or submission to the county recorder. Without the birds being submitted they will…

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September 2018 News

Two free films about birds by artist Andy Holden will be screened at CAST, 3 Penrose Road, Helston TR13 8TP from Sunday 2nd until Sunday 23rd September. Andy Holden is…

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August 2018 News

**Trindade Petrel** – New species for Cornwall, UK and Europe. First hand observer accounts of the 29th July Porthgwarra bird by Reuben Veal and Martin Elliot, along with sketches by…

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July 2018 News

“Hungary for Birds” at this year’s AGM? Don’t miss this year’s Cornwall Birds Annual General Meeting, which will be held at Lanhydrock Memorial Hall on Wednesday 15th August. The…

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June 2018 News

For Sale: Bird Watching Magazines Nov 1989 – May 2008.  In Bespoke Binders from 1990 – 2007.  Offers. Buyer collects from Hayle. Please contact Ann at anngillo@yahoo.co.uk Seabirds Count’ survey…

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May 2018 News

Personal Privacy Data Regulations – in line with new laws brought into effect midnight May 24th 2018. “The personal data of Society members is held on the CBWPS Database…

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April 2018 News

Guidelines for submissions of bird news: We welcome submission of all bird news from anyone, CBWPS member or not. To make it easier to collate submissions we would ask you…

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January 2018 News

Palores deadline: The deadline for article submissions for the next Palores magazine is midnight Saturday 6th January. Reserve reports, articles, news and snippets – send them in! January 1st…

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December 2017 News

Palores Magazine: The next edition of Palores will be out in the New Year. If you have any contributions, news or ideas for articles please contact the Palores Editor…

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November 2017 News

BTO Blackcap colour-ringed survey: The winter Blackcap project is studying migration and movements of our wintering Blackcaps. Please look out for colour-ringed Blackcaps in Cornwall this winter, especially in the Falmouth/Penryn…

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October 2017 News

Summer seawatching in Cornwall – Where to go, When to go, and an Introduction to the Basics – article Here Seawatching – Summer 2017 – Dave Flumm looks at the extraordinary Great Shearwater…

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September 2017 News

Summer seawatching in Cornwall – Where to go, When to go, and an Introduction to the Basics – article Here Seawatching – Summer 2017 – Dave Flumm looks at the extraordinary Great Shearwater…

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August 2017 News

Save Europe’s Vultures from Poisoning with Veterinary Diclofenac Cait Hutchings Young Scientist of the Year 2017 Seawatching in Cornwall – Part 1) Late Summer Bird Dialect Names Survey…

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July 2017 News

*Seabirds Count – survey 2017* A census of breeding seabirds has been organised in the UK and Ireland approximately every 15 years since 1969-70. Together with the JNCC and partners…

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March 2017 News Page

Cornwall Cattle Egret Survey Sunday 19th March – The results are in and the article including the results of this survey on the Cattle Egret influx 2016/2017 can be…

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Save Europe’s Vultures from Poisoning with Veterinary Diclofenac

From Mark Avery’s blog we encourage you to read the below and sign the petition.  https://markavery.info/2017/ 09/01/guest-blog- international-vulture- awareness-day-ian-parsons/ Dear Swift Friends, You may be aware of the sad…

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Cait Hutchings

Cait Hutchings Funeral Arrangements It is with great sadness that we learn of the sudden passing of Cait Hutchings, former CBWPS Board Member, a popular figure and well-known to…

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Young Scientist of the Year 2017

Dear CBWPS members Ed Thurlow and I won the “GSK UK Young Scientist of the Year Award 2017” at the BigBang Fair in March with a project investigating garden…

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Seawatching in Cornwall – Part 1) Late Summer

Seawatching in Cornwall – Part 1) Late Summer Where to go When to go Seawatching – the basics It is at this time of year that many birdwatchers around…

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Bird Dialect Names Survey

Please allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kerstin Richter; I am a PhD student of the University of Regensburg in Bavaria. My dissertation project in English linguistics focuses…

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Kestrel nestbox scheme

Kestrel nestbox scheme: West Cornwall Ringing Group is interested in starting a new nestbox scheme for Kestrels and are appealing for any sites that may be suitable for siting a…

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Bird books for sale

Bird books for sale – A member has advised us that c100 bird books will be selling at the Truro Auction Centre on Friday 17 March. Example: 4 boxes…

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RSPB Heron Watch

Title:    RSPB Heron Watch Date:   Wednesday 1 March 2017 Description:  Join the RSPB Warden for a lovely morning of Grey Heron spotting. Herons are gearing up for the nesting…

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Kestrel nestbox scheme

West Cornwall Ringing Group is interested in starting a new nestbox scheme for Kestrels and are appealing for any sites that may be suitable for siting a box. Farm…

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CBWPS on Twitter

Just in case you hadn’t noticed … cbwps now has an active twitter account! Accessible from the main sidebars on the website homepage and other pages, or by searching…

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Vote for Cirl Buntings in Cornwall!

… From the RSPB Cirl Bunting Project team – Recent publicity about the Cirl Bunting project in Devon and Cornwall has resulted in cirls being nominated as Wildlife Success…

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Cornwall Willow Tit Survey

The CBWPS will be carrying out a survey of previously known sites of this much declined and vulnerable species over the next two winters to establish its population size, with…

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Cornwall Seabirds Conference 2017

Joint CBWPS/BTO/UniveristyofExeter Conference Following on from the hugely successfully 2013 Cornwall Seabirds Conference, announcing the joint CBWPS/BTO/UoE Conference “Above and beyond the Cornish coast“ at UoE, Penryn on Saturday 25 February 2017….

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Spanish Nature Photographer illustrated talks.

Spanish Nature Photographer illustrated talks. Jose B. Ruiz is one of Spain’s most world renowned nature photographers and has received a number of international awards, including the BBC’s Wildlife…

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Butterfly Conservation

An Invitation to CBWPS members from Cornwall Butterfly Conservation Many active birders have a keen interest in butterflies and moths. Cornwall Butterfly Conservation invites you to its AGM and…

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Stephen Moss at Falmouth Poly

Stephen Moss is coming to Falmouth Poly There are very few people from the world of television who are regarded as ‘real’ birders. Two stand out. Bill Oddie is…

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ACT NOW TO DEFEND NATURE

ACT NOW TO DEFEND NATURE You may have seen recent publicity about the review of and potential threat to the EU Birds and Habitats Directives arising  from a review…

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Balearic Shearwater Survey

Balearic Shearwater synchronised survey  –  seawatchers needed on 18 Aug 2015 A coordinated MARINElife/RSPB regional Balearic shearwater survey, at sea and from land is taking place between Portland and…

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Bioblitz at Bell Lake Marsh

24hr BioBlitz at Bell Lake Marsh From 12.00 noon Saturday 28th June to 12.00 noon Sunday 29th June 2014 This event will cover Bell Lake Marsh & Bell Lake, two important, adjoining wildlife…

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Day Trip to Lundy

Day Trip to LUNDY   Sunday 18th May 2014 On M.V. OLDENBURG Boarding at Bideford from 8.00am    Sailing from Bideford at 8.30am  Returning to Bideford c 8.30pm Bar and buffet available on…

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Schedule 1 Nesting Birds

This is a  reminder for birders to report any suspicious behaviour around our  schedule 1 species in Cornwall. There are national surveys this year for Peregrine and chough, and…

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Seabird Deaths

A further note from Vic Simpson (of the Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre, Truro) who thanks all those who responded to the original message.   He would now prefer NOT…

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Proposed Wind Turbine at Stithians Reservoir

30/09/2013 You may have seen notices in the hides at Stithians about a proposed wind turbine at Lower Lancarrow farm, VERY near the Golden Lion cut-off. I went to…

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A Day for Nature 3rd/4th August

Cornwall Day for Nature 3rd and 4th August 2013 Building on the success of last year’s event, ‘Cornwall Day for Nature’ on 3rd and 4th August promises even more…

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Osprey movements

Some recent correspondence about a ringed Osprey in Cornwall. I photographed the Osprey seen on April 2nd over the River Camel. I sent the photo to Roy Dennis in…

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Offshore Bird Watching from Penzance

This summer there will be regular pelagic trips heading out from Penzance onboard Mermaid II. The aim is to get offshore and head west, chumming a few miles south…

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Goldcrest song

Can you hear Goldcrest song? I am following up Richard Porter’s comments in British Birds 105(3):152 and gathering data on the age-related loss in the ability to hear Goldcrest…

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Birds in Cornwall Update

We thought members might be interested to know how we’re progressing with various overdue publications, so will post occasional updates on the website. Currently, I (Chairman) am editing BiC…

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Chris Oliver 1933-2012

To the CBWPS Membership I’m writing to inform you of the death of my father, Chris Oliver at the age of 79. I’m uncertain whether or not he is…

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Are You an Artist?

Artists Still Wanted Your help is wanted. The Society has two teams of people working very hard to clear the backlog in the production of our annual report Birds…

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BTO Winter Thrush Survey

Core areas that still need your help. Gweek, Connor Downs, St Columb Major, Newquay, Polperro, Wadebridge, Four around Colliford Reservoir towards Liskeard, Tintagel. The BTO would like people across the…

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Helicopter Disturbance

A message from the RSPB Your help please. The RSPB are seeking to address the issue of helicopter disturbance at Hayle Estuary and Marazion Marsh Nature Reserves. If you…

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Missing Pictures on the Recent Sightings Page

A small number of visitors to the site have experienced intermittent missing pictures on the Recent Sightings page. I am sorry for this but it is due to circumstances…

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Holiday Competition

07/07/2012 Lower Lakes in Somerset is offering a competition for a free bird watching holiday. You can see the details with the following link.  http://bit.ly/free-bird-watching-holiday This competition has not…

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Access to Walmsley

20/04/2012 The stile on the footpath to the hides at Walmsley Sanctuary has been replaced with a gate by the County Council after representations from the CBWPS. This should…

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A New Logo for the Society

07/05/2011 This is our new logo. It is – we hope you will agree – a modern, fresh, clean look for the Society. It shows our iconic and unmistakeable…

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Loveny Reserve

26/02/2011 As you all know Loveny Reserve is a CBWPS managed part of Colliford Lake, and is the at the northern end of the eastern finger of the reservoir….

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Wanderings of a Greylag Goose

The wanderings of a Greylag Goose The bird was trapped and had a collar fitted  in Sweden 5/6/2000 and it then wandered locally in Sweden until it was seen…

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St George’s Island gull ringing update

Update on Gull ringing project on St George’s Island Nature Reserve, Looe Oct. 2010 With over 70 breeding pairs of Great Black-backed Gulls, The Cornwall Wildlife Trusts reserve at…

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Gull ringing project on St George’s Island, Looe

Gull ringing project on St George’s Island, Looe. This year saw the start of a Great Black-backed Gull ringing project in Cornwall. Following a proposal by Pete Kent (Cornwall…

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Major national success for Cornish artist

Major National Success for Cornish Wildlife Artist Three Choughs – Lizard Point                                                               Daniel Cole This painting won the 2009 RSPB award at the SWLA (Society of Wildlife Artists) exhibition…

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Members Area Password

20/07/09 If you want the password to the members area please mail webmaster@cbwps.org.uk  giving your full name. Your name will be checked against the members list and the password…

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Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit

  Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit…. Colin Selway recorded a colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit at Walmsley Sanctuary on 3rd September 2008.   He was able to trace it to an Icelandic ringing project…

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Colour-ringed Greenshank and Common Gull

Colour-ringed Greenshank and Common Gull…. This Greenshank was colour-ringed as a juvenile on the Ythan Estuary in North-eastern Scotland in August 2006.  It has been seen several times in…

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Dutch Spoonbills flying the flag

 Dutch Spoonbills flying the flag In early November 2007, 7 Spoonbills were reported from Wacker Quay, near Torpoint on the River Lynher, a tributary of the River Tamar in…

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