Some Birds from Cornwall

Neither my Lumix camera nor my Samsung phone are suitable for proper bird photography, but I did take a few pictures during our Cornish holiday, some of which I reproduce here.

The Wood Pigeons behaved much as they do in our garden.

Luckily we don't have Herring Gulls in Timperley. I fear they would be more of a nuisance than our resident - comparatively shy - Black-headed Gulls.

Not a bird, but a good spot - this little chap looked from a distance like a lump of sheep's poo.

As I sat on a bench at Lanhydrock, this couple nearly got tangled in my boot laces.

On the coast path, this Tiger Moth was very reluctant to move.

Leaving Boscastle, we couldn't help but notice a Herring Gull trying simultaneously to snooze and to balance on the top of a telegraph pole.

On the coast path, this Whitethroat seemed quite curious.

The Chiff-chaffs were more visually elusive, though we hardly ever seemed to be outside the zone of their constant chatter as we progressed along the cliff tops.

As we approached Tintagel, this Herring Gull had a more sensible resting place than the one photographed in Boscastle!

In addition to these, we saw the usual common garden birds, and an assortment of gulls that we find hard to identify. In addition to numerous Kestrels and Buzzards, we spotted a pair of Peregrines near Trebarwith Strand - sadly too high above us for a worthwhile snapshot.

No Choughs were seen. I think they live further along the coast towards Lands End.

Coleton Fishacre - some flowers

It doesn't seem like nearly two weeks ago, but here we are on 4 June, enjoying lunch with Helen and Paul on the lawn at Coleton Fishacre.

The flowers, some of which are pictured - mainly by Sue - below, were in fine fettle.

Saturday 12 June 2021 - Tyntesfield

We broke today's journey to Birmingham with a visit to Tyntesfield, near Bristol, until 2002 the country residence of the Gibb family, who made their fortune by importing guana from South America in the 19th century and selling it as fertiliser. 

Inside the house there's much of interest, including this roll top desk that's a bit fancier than the one I have passed on to Mike.

The dining room was all laid out  but the two footmen who serve the food must have been on a day off.

The chapel, a feature window from which is also shown, was a key element of the place. Inside there is seating for about seventy. All family and staff were expected to attend. Today it's used mainly for memorial services.

We took a stroll through the woodland, some of which is ancient compared to the 19th century house. 

More pictures will follow in due course.

Friday 11 June 2021 - Boscastle and Tintagel

Sue and I drove to Boscastle and parked near the doctors' surgery. We then ambled down to the harbour via the site of the twelfth century Bottreaux Castle that gave the town its name, and set off on the coast path. It was overcast with low cloud; trying to rain. Failing.

Sue continued in her bid to be granted a diploma in horse whispering.

We admired the views whilst chatting to a girl we'd seen yesterday on the coast path. 

Various birds posed for us. I'll try to post photos and clarify identities when I get home. Easier to identify is the coastguard station on the headland by Boscastle. They were scanning the sea for signs of the Russian submarines that are spying on the G7 summit being held today in St Ives.

There are many rocks strewn around the landscape of this coast. This may be Grower Rock, with Meachard in the distance.

Elevenses were taken early today. On a bench with a fine view.

At this point a lady backpacker (B&B rather than wild camping) appeared. We stayed near her all the way to Tintagel, catching up at one point when she became terrified by a few cows. Our resident cow whisperer soon sorted them out and eased the rigour of our erstwhile companion.

We left the coast path by Bossiney, on the outskirts of Tintagel, and soon found ourselves amongst crowds of folk on a path to a waterfall in St Nectan's Glen. We chose not to spend £5.95 each on viewing the waterfall, which judging by the low level of the 'river' may have been less than spectacular. We'll never know!

Anyway, we found a fine, brand new, picnic table for lunch, featuring last night's left over sausages and, at last, some very tasty crisps.

After that, a good path led up the valley and on to Treweens Farm, but the section from there to the Minster Church was largely through fields of crops where no effort had been made to maintain the stiles, which were horribly overgrown, or to acknowledge the existence of the field paths.

(Sue was on the phone to her mum, not the footpath preservation society.)

Once we reached the church, an ancient place of great interest that I may relate to you later, the paths through the National Trust woodland were excellent.

We took a path that crossed the river by way of a footbridge before Newmills. Hard to believe that this was the conduit of serious flooding just a few years ago.

Stepping stones soon led us back across the river and on along the path up Jordan Valley as far as a path to the main road and our car.

Here's our route - 21km in less than six hours.

Thursday 10 June 2021 - Jacket's Point to Trebarwith Strand

Much to our surprise, we woke after 8:30. Luckily we had offered no lifts, and had planned a walk from home.

Setting off after 10 in low cloud, we made our way past the church at Lanteglos. 

Our route headed directly west, aiming for the coast at Jacket's Point. The long wet grass failed to penetrate our boots - gaiters were very helpful today.

Various stiles and gates were encountered, some of which (not those shown below) were in need of urgent maintenance.

By the time the coast appeared, after a break for elevenses in a field of sheep, and beyond Tregaron, it was shrouded in mist, beyond a haze of willowherb.

The coast path was busy with people, whereas during the 2.5 hours and 8.5km taken to reach it, we had seen nobody apart from a workman who had sent us in a wrong direction.

Flowers abound on the coast. I paused on the steep climb to Tregardock Cliff to take the next picture.

We could have reduced the climbing by taking a higher level path from Tregragon that's not marked on our map. Once on the cliff top, we could admire the view back towards Port Isaac.

As we continued along the high path, Gull Rock, which is roughly level with Trebarwith Strand, came slowly into focus beyond many clumps of ox-eye daisies.

We lunched on a bench overlooking Tregardock Beach, and before descending to the Strand we stopped for a lengthy chat with some backpackers who are wild camping a section of the SWCP. 

A pair of peregrines was very active in the air above us.

After the steep descent, we stopped for a cream tea in the Port William pub. Not the best choice, but the cheapest cream tea ever as they recognised the defects in their service (eg they failed to see through our invisibility cloaks, no tea was provided with the scones until we asked for it) and provided a full refund without us asking for one.

After that we headed inland again, on mostly good paths to Rockhead, then quiet lanes before the final field path to Juliots Well. 

Here's our route - a good 22+km in about 7.5 hours including some lengthy stops.

The rest of the group are leaving tomorrow, so we visited the big house (Polmear Barn) and enjoyed the evening with our friends before saying our farewells and leaving them to pack in preparation for an early start.