RSPB Ryan's Field and Hayle Estuary

Every time we're down in Cornwall Jayne and I like to pay a visit to  the RSPB reserve at Hayle Estuary and nearby Ryan's Field. We popped down on Monday for about an hour to see what was about.

First stop was the enormous, open-fronted hide on Ryan's Field.

Ryan's Field

The first bird we spotted was a juvenile Moorhen, followed closely by 3 Common Sandpipers that were feeding on the mud. Scanning over the site we soon picked up a few Mediterranean Gulls, including a juvenile bird, a Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, Herring Gulls and 2 Curlews. Just before we left, everything panicked and disappeared, as a female Sparrowhawk flew through and landed about 20m away.

Sparrowhawk

From there, we walked the 300m or so to the Hayle Estuary. On the way we spotted this day-flying moth, most likely a Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth. It could be the less common 5-spot Burnet Moth, but I can't be sure, so I'll stick with the commoner species..

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth

When we got to the estuary we scanned the mud flats and picked up dozens of Herring Gulls, a few more distant Mediterranean Gulls, a single Whimbrel (thanks Jayne) and 5 Black Swans.

Black Swan

Ringed Black-headed Gull and Ring-necked Parakeets

I've just been in London for a few days, and whilst there, I managed to "tick" 3 new species, get some new photos and spot a darvic-ringed Black-headed Gull.

First the gull. The bird in question was spotted on the banks of The Serpentine in Hyde Park, feeding with an estimated 100 - 200 other Black-headed Gulls, a couple of Herring Gulls, a dozen or so Common Gulls and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Black-headed Gull -28P1

As you can see, it was wearing a darvic ring, 28P1, and, after a little bit of research, I managed to find out that it had been ringed in June 2015, by Reading and Berkshire Ringing Group, as a pullus at Hosehill Lake LNR, in Berkshire, 63km away. The bird had been seen there again until July 2015, and was then reported in Kensington Gardens on 8th October 2015, before moving to Hyde Park, on 6th December 2015, where it has been reported 3 times over the winter period, my record being the latest one so far.

As well as the gulls, I also managed to spot 3 new species for the year; Ring-necked Parakeet, Egyptian Goose and Cetti's Warbler. The geese were all over the park, as were the parakeets, and we were very lucky to have a couple of birds fly into a bush by the bridge, allowing me to get some nice close up photos.

Ring-necked Parakeet

Whilst watching the parakeets, we heard Cetti's Warbler calling from a small reedbed by the bridge, the same reedbed we heard them calling from in October 2015.

One final bird of note was a Black Swan that was also on The Serpentine. Not a bird to count, as it's not a British species, but interesting to see, none the less.

Black Swan

Year List update:

115 - Ring-necked Parakeet
116 - Egyptian Goose
117 - Cetti's Warbler