No 48 - Summer 2013 CONTENTS Chairman’s Chat p3 The PIB scandal p4 Bird report p6 Day for Nature p9 Reserves report p10 My Local Patch p12 Wildlife cruise p14 Mull p15 Bird Atlas p16 My Garden p17 Field Meetings p18 Stoat at Walmsley by Bob Mitchell The 2013 AGM will be held at the Lanhy- drock War Memorial Hall in Bodmin on Friday 20 th Sept starting at 6.30pm. There will be an evening meeting shortly after- wards with the very popular Adrian Langdon (pictured) giving an illustrated talk on ‘Birds of the World’. The eve- ning is free and open to all but please bring money as we are holding a raffle to raise funds for conservation. CBWPS 2013 AGM and evening meeting New bird hide at Trewithen Gardens A smart new bird hide, made in just a week by estate carpenter Kevan Stephens, has been opened at Trewithen Gardens near Probus. The gardens are rich in birdlife - a survey in 2006/7 recorded 57 species there - and it is hoped the new hide will encourage birdwatchers to visit the gardens. Blackcap, Tawny Owl and many woodland species are to be found there, as well as Moorhens, Coots and Little Grebes breeding on the pond. Trewithen has pioneered other wild- life initiatives including the reintroduction of red squirrels. For details of visiting times at Trewithen Gardens see its website www.trewithengardens.co.uk. The CBWPS and RSPB Group are pleased to announce that Andrew Cooper has agreed to speak at a meeting for us at 7.30pm on 18th October at Chacewater Village Hall. Andrew is one of Britain’s most distinguished and influential documentary television producers. As a broadcaster, presenter, writer and international award-winning wildlife film-maker, he is a familiar face on BBC TV through his documentaries and live reports on wildlife and environ- mental issues. As a television producer with the prestigious BBC Natural History Unit he has travelled widely over the last 30 years, visiting more than 45 different countries. He is the author of several best selling BBC books and his wildlife documentaries rank among the most popular in Britain. No need to book but admission £5 to cover costs. Start time 7.30pm. Photo by Bernie Pettersen Andrew Cooper to speak at CBWPS/RSPB meeting Kestrel in characteristic hunting mode. Photographed by Adrian Langdon. See this issue for more of Adrian’s magnificent bird photographs. Following the success of last year’s event, a second ‘Cornwall Day for Nature’ will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August. All are welcome - adults and chil- dren - and there is no charge for entry. Sponsored by the South West Lakes Trust, the event will be held once again at Stithians Lake. There will be a host of fun and interesting activities including bird ring- ing, small mammal trapping and butterfly walks. A wide range of optical equipment will be available for trying out and buying, and many more stalls will make this a really good day out for all the family and anyone with an interest in Cornwall’s wildlife. See page 9 for details. ‘Cornwall Day for Nature’
Transcript
No 48 - Summer 2013
CONTENTS Chairman’s Chat p3 The PIB scandal p4 Bird report p6 Day for Nature p9 Reserves report p10 My Local Patch p12 Wildlife cruise p14 Mull p15 Bird Atlas p16 My Garden p17 Field Meetings p18 Stoat at Walmsley
by Bob Mitchell
The 2013 AGM will be held at the Lanhy-drock War Memorial Hall in Bodmin on Friday 20th Sept starting at 6.30pm. There will be an evening meeting shortly after-wards with the very popular Adrian Langdon (pictured) giving an illustrated talk on ‘Birds of the World’. The eve-ning is free and open to all but please bring money as we are holding a raffle to raise funds for conservation.
CBWPS 2013 AGM and evening meeting
New bird hide at Trewithen Gardens
A smart new bird hide, made in just a week by estate carpenter Kevan Stephens, has been opened at Trewithen Gardens near Probus. The gardens are rich in birdlife - a survey in 2006/7 recorded 57 species there - and it is hoped the new hide will encourage birdwatchers to visit the gardens. Blackcap, Tawny Owl and many woodland species are to be found there, as well as Moorhens, Coots and Little Grebes breeding on the pond. Trewithen has pioneered other wild-life initiatives including the reintroduction of red squirrels. For details of visiting times at Trewithen Gardens see its website www.trewithengardens.co.uk.
The CBWPS and RSPB Group are pleased to announce that Andrew Cooper has agreed to speak at a meeting for us at 7.30pm on 18th October at Chacewater Village Hall. Andrew is one of Britain’s most distinguished and influential documentary television producers. As a broadcaster, presenter, writer and international award-winning wildlife film-maker, he is a familiar face on BBC TV through his documentaries and live reports on wildlife and environ-mental issues. As a television producer with the prestigious BBC Natural History Unit he has travelled widely over the last 30 years, visiting more than 45 different countries. He is the author of several best selling BBC books and his wildlife documentaries rank among the most popular in Britain. No need to book but admission £5 to cover costs. Start time 7.30pm.
Photo by Bernie Pettersen
Andrew Cooper to speak at CBWPS/RSPB meeting
Kestrel in characteristic hunting mode. Photographed by Adrian Langdon. See this issue for more of Adrian’s magnificent bird photographs.
Cornwall Day for Nature Following the success of last year’s event, a second ‘Cornwall Day for Nature’ will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August. All are welcome - adults and chil-dren - and there is no charge for entry. Sponsored by the South West Lakes Trust, the event will be held once again at Stithians Lake. There will be a host of fun and interesting activities including bird ring-ing, small mammal trapping and butterfly walks. A wide range of optical equipment will be available for trying out and buying, and many more stalls will make this a really good day out for all the family and anyone with an interest in Cornwall’s wildlife. See page 9 for details.
‘Cornwall Day for Nature’
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Registered Charity No 255899
The CBWPS was founded in 1931 to encourage the study and pres-ervation of birds in Cornwall. The Society has over 1000 members in total. It owns 4 reserves and manages jointly several others. The Society organises weekly bird watching field trips (some jointly with the RSPB local members group). Palores (its colour newsletter for members) is published quarterly.
2013 Subscriptions: Adult £17 Family £21 Senior Citizen £14 Senior Family £16 Subscriptions are due by 31st January. Cheques made out to ‘CBWPS’ please. Please pay by Gift Aid if you can - it saves the Soci-ety £1500 a year. For all payments, membership applications and enquiries please contact: Angela Tonry, Membership Secretary, 20 The Copse, Boscoppa, St Austell PL25 3EU Email: membership @cbwps.org.uk
The Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society
Palores is published in January, April, July & October. Design and typesetting by the Editor. To advertise contact the editor. Full page ad £100. Half page £50. Small ads and notices free to members. Printed by R. Booth Ltd, Penryn. Distribution by Envelope Supplies.
CBWPS Directors and Officers
President: Steve Madge Seawinds, Lower Trerive, Downderry, Torpoint,
PL11 3LZ (01503 250432)
Chairman: Mark Grantham 17 Croft Parc, The Lizard, Helston, TR12 7PN
C ornwall’s birdwatchers do occasionally stray across the Tamar in pursuit of birds and other diversions. On page 15, Simon Taylor talks about his wonder-
ful experiences on Mull in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. I too was lucky enough to spend a chilly but bright week in spring in that part of the world - Islay, another Hebridean island - a 20 minute glide south of Mull for a Sea Eagle. I clocked up a species tally of 90, including Chough and Corncrake but sadly not Sea Eagle. The highlight for me was a series of close encounters with Hen Harriers, male and female, that cruised past our rented house almost daily. Cornwall is a fabulous place to live and watch birds, but it must be said, for sheer unspoilt
wildness, the Scottish islands really do have it all. Having said that, read and enjoy John Hawes’ account of birds seen in his garden in Cornwall for over 40 years - what a contribution our gardens make to the welfare of birds. If you weren’t able to make the China Clay field meeting in April, have a look at page 12 where Sid Cole talks about his many years exploring this desolate area, and where you’ll find a very respectable list of birds seen on the day of the meeting. Sadly, page 4 does not make
for happy reading. The fouling of seabirds in the southwest, attributed to the dump-ing of a noxious substance called PIB, is an affront to anyone who values birdlife and clean seas. We must hope that this lethal practice is banned as soon as possible in order to avert another calamity like this at the start of the breeding season. Finally, it is nearly AGM time again. Do please come if you can, it’s a most enjoyable evening. Details on the back page. Simon Marquis
Palores – July 2013
Registered Charity No 1144724
Gull Rock seabird colony at close quarters - see page 12 (photo Simon Marquis)
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Chairman’s Chat
I know I always seem to start Chairman’s Chat with a weather summary, but it’s been yet
another incredibly poor spring: wet, windy and pretty miserable. Or was that just at The Lizard? Only now are we seeing the impact this has had on our bird populations and in the last week I’ve been tipping dead broods of Blue Tits out of nest boxes, watching empty reedbed mist nets at Gun-walloe and my Kittiwakes at Rinsey have barely started laying.
This time last year the colony had numerous eggs and chicks, some well on the way to fledging. This is all the more worrying given the recent predictions of climate patterns in the near future and it looks like the situation for our birds is unlikely to improve any time soon. But this just makes it even more important that we all pull together and make sure that not only are such changes well-monitored and documented, but also by spreading the news far and wide. Part of this is the presence of the Society at country-side events around the county, and we do try to make sure we show our faces and answer questions at these. The upcoming Cornwall Day for Nature at Stithians is a great example of this and I look forward to seeing as many of you there as can make it. With the AGM coming up in the autumn as well, this is a great opportunity for us (the Board) to let you know what we’ve been doing through the year, but also for you (the members) to tell us what you’d like to see us doing in the future. We’re also open to ideas, criticism and offers of help, so again I hope we’ll see a lot of familiar and not so familiar faces there. As if the weather wasn’t enough to contend with, some of our seabirds have suffered a major pollution incident and I hope the PIB article on p4 doesn’t make for too distressing reading. But
having spent most of my birding career in Nottinghamshire and Norfolk, it’s perhaps not clear where my love of seabirds came from. But the combination of an interest in nest recording while being the world’s worst nest-finder means that big birds, sitting on open cliff ledges, advertising their presence by sound and smell, tick all my boxes! Cornwall has such a wealth of seabirds, many of them little known, that this is something I’m very keen to promote. The newly-formed West Cornwall Ringing Group is now running col-our-ringing studies on Kittiwakes at Rinsey Cliff, Cormorants on Mullion Island and urban gulls in Falmouth, so do keep an eye out for these birds on your travels. I’m also keen to make the effort in the future to get out to some of our more isolated islands and prove once and for all the presence/absence of breeding species such as Puffin, Storm Petrel and Manx Shearwater. Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions on this would be gratefully received! Lastly, just adding to Bruce’s Atlas update later in this issue, I’d like to say that I think it’s great to see this superb piece of work on the verge of publication. Such a comprehensive bench-mark survey is vital if we are to understand what is happening to our bird populations and it’s good that this information will be open to all to access for free. Once published, we can then think how we might be able to best use the Atlas data and I hope to re-ceive suggestions from members as to how. If you’re just inter-ested in good birding then make your way to:
Richest winter square - SW53A (Marazion) with 131 species, closely followed by SW53N (Hayle) with 128 species and SW97H (Porthilly) with 113 species.
Richest summer square - Marazion again, with 136 spe-cies, followed by SW32M (Land’s End) and SW97X (Chapel Amble), both with 124 species.
Most breeding species - Marazion once more, with 62 species, followed by SW42B (Penberth) with 58 species and SX05I (Penwithick) with 56 species.
Mark Grantham
Fulmars by Adrian Langdon
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T he start of 2013 saw distressing news coming from Dorset of large numbers (500+) of dead and dying seabirds washing up
along the coast, many covered in an incredibly sticky substance. This prompted a multi-agency response, with live birds being taken into care by RSPCA and data collected by RSPB on the numbers of birds affected. Scientists at Plymouth University were able to identify the substance as polyisobutene (PIB for short), used as a fuel additive and in the production of products including chewing gum and clingfilm. Under certain conditions it is currently legal to discharge PIB into the sea, but when mixed with water it can emulsify and become a big threat to marine life. The Dorset incident passed and we thought we’d seen the back of PIB, but less than two months later birds once again started washing up on beaches, this time in Devon and east Corn-wall. The substance appeared to be the same, but as time passed it was apparent that the numbers of birds affected was much higher. Over the course of a week over 3,500 birds, mostly Guille-mots, were picked up, many completely covered in sticky PIB. Days of hard work and endless phone calls between RSPB, RSPCA, BTO, Cornwall Wildlife Trust (and their excellent Ma-rine Strandings Network), National Trust and Corey Environ-mental meant that we were able to get a true measure of the scale of the incident. With my BTO hat on, we managed to run quick post-mortems on 300 birds rescued from two skips at Corey Envi-ronmental’s base in Liskeard before going to landfill, primarily to look at their demographics (what they were, how old they were and where they might have come from). Looking at a combination of plumage features, measure-ments and internal examination, it looks like around half of the Guillemots found were adults and of a size suggesting a southerly origin in the breeding range. Unfortunately we don’t have a ringed population in the southwest, so we’ll never know how many of our own breeding birds might have been affected, but 11 ringed birds were found from as far afield as Highland and Isle of May. Many of these were wandering sub-adults, but birds ringed in 1995 and 1996 were also found. Working with Falmouth Marine School and Exeter University (Cornwall Campus), we have a further 120 birds in freezers to allow more detailed post-mortems to be conducted, so watch this space. Lobbying work is now also well under way to see PIB reclassified to ban discharges close to land, but isn’t dis-charging far out at sea just a case of ‘out of sight out of mind’? The total numbers of birds affected by PIB in Devon/Cornwall is shown below, but these are of course minimum fig-ures, as many birds that died will have drifted out to sea or washed up in inaccessible areas. In addition to the species below, ones and twos were also found of Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Common Tern, Kittiwake, Little Auk and Mallard. Guillemot 3,000 Rzorbill 76 Gannet 52 Gulls 33 Fulmar 12 Puffin 9 Shag/Cornorant 11 Oystercatcher 4 Manx Shearwater 8 Unknown 430 TOTAL 3,648
The disgrace that is PIB Mark Grantham reports on the tragic loss of seabirds in the south west linked with the discharge of PIB...
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The BTO which promotes a Garden Birdwatch survey, admirably highlighted by Simon Taylor in our Spring edition, was given due prominence as much of the handout material was pro-vided by them, and standing proudly in front of a large CBWPS poster, Tony explained what the Society does and what it provides to members in the hope some in the audience would pick up one of our membership flyers!
Show - and Tell I f you were at the Royal Cornwall Show on Friday 7th June, you
might have spotted Tony Bertenshaw, our previous Hon. Secre-tary (pictured), tucked away in a corner of the Horticultural Tent. Tony had been asked (or was it coerced?) to give a talk to ‘gardeners’ on garden birds. With 23 million gardens in Britain covering 1 million acres he stressed the importance of gardens for birds, and his message was what can we do to ensure we have a healthy population of birds in our gardens? Naturally, food figured prominently and the importance of certain trees and plants were highlighted – trees and plants which attract insects and provide seeds and berries/fruits. And the audi-ence was reminded that in a survey of Royal Horticultural Society members, 50% of them provided food for birds. Tony gave advice on what sorts of feeders and feed are appropriate for the variety of common birds encountered in gar-dens, and people were encouraged to put up nest boxes, leave holes in walls and a bit of rough for ground nesters - perhaps anathema to the horticulturalist with a pristine garden. Tony also gave tips on identification of garden birds and recommended a number of sources such as books and websites to aid recognition of birds and their songs.
Photographed by Adrian Langdon. Kittiwake panorama at Marble Cliffs, Porthmissen Bridge near Trevone; estimated 320 nests.
A nother season of Evening Meetings is now at the planning stage. We are going slightly back in time now with our meet-
ings, 30-40 years to be precise. Some will remember that evening meetings in the 70’s and 80’s were joint meetings with the RSPB Local Group, many held at Probus Demonstration Gardens, so with this in mind it gives us great pleasure to announce that future meetings will now be an official joint venture. The venue remains the same though – Chacewater Village Hall. We are also looking at using Bodmin as a venue, however this will be determined by the attendance of the Evening Meeting at the AGM which is mentioned elsewhere in this magazine. The most pleasing thing to come out of the last meeting was to dis-cover the level of support that the CBWPS and RSPB Local Group have at these indoor meetings with most people not only being members of one of the societies but indeed both. The audience for the last meeting of the season was enter-tained by the well-known naturalist David Chapman who guided
us through the many varied aspects of wildlife that can be found in Cornwall throughout the seasons. Listening to David you begin to get an idea of the amazing biodiversity we have here in Cornwall, something perhaps not appreciated or understood by many of us. Who would have thought that plants more at home in the Arctic can be found on the Lizard peninsular? Whilst the idea of being a professional wildlife photogra-pher sounds appealing, when you gain an insight into their real world it begs the question whether it is better to do it as a hobby or your main source of income. David had some great stories, kept the audience laughing, and as for those tank tops – I’m just glad they didn’t find their way into the raffle as I had bought some tickets! A programme of events for the new season will appear in the Field Meetings section and we are very pleased to announce that the first meeting will be The CBWPS AGM in Bodmin, fol-lowed by a meeting at Chacewater on Friday October 18th featur-ing BBC television producer and presenter Andrew Cooper with another Chacewater meeting on November 29th as the RSPB hold their AGM. More details will be announced later. Simon Taylor
Evening Meetings
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NB These are all unchecked and unauthenticated records. Publication here
does not constitute acceptance. If you were lucky enough to see or find any
of these birds please submit a description to the county recorder, email to
Lesser Scaup Like the Ring-necked Duck this record also probably refers
to another repeat winter visitor, albeit that this winter it has switched its
allegiance from Dozmary Pool to the nearby Siblyback Reservoir being
recorded there up until 22nd April. It did have a short sojourn to Dozmary
Pool being seen there on 15th April.
Velvet Scoter Very few records this winter, just one individual seen at
Porthpean, 2nd and 10th March.
Grey Partridge A rare breeding resident with introductions for shooting.
Two were seen at St. Minver, 30th May.
Pacific Diver This northern Pacific species was recorded in Hayle and
Mounts Bay for a couple of winters, and then absent through 2011-12 and
again absent through 2012-13 winter but re-appeared in Mounts Bay on
17th March to be reported distantly on only a couple of occasions, 24th and
25th March and 1st April.
Storm Petrel This diminutive pelagic bird is generally only seen from the
shore when storm driven. One was recorded from both The Lizard and
Porthgwarra/Gwennap Head on 13th May, being seen from Sandy Cove,
Newlyn the following day, 14th May.
Squacco Heron One reported in a private garden at Lanreath, 8th May.
Purple Heron One elusive individual spent a couple of weeks at the Mara-
zion Marsh RSPB Reserve from 19th May until the end of this period. It
had appeared to fly off on a couple of occasions and was seen briefly flying
over St. Erth on one occasion, 26th May, but then returned.
White Stork What was probably just the one bird was seen in flight
around the county, Falmouth and Roseland, 14th April; over St. Ives, 15th
April and over Kit Hill and Portscatho on 16th April.
Spoonbill After several winters with good numbers in the Tamar estuary
area this period didn’t produce many records. An adult at Walmsley at the
beginning of March was joined by a first winter on the 25th March where
they both stayed until the 3rd April.
Honey Buzzard One individual was recorded on passage at Porteras Cove,
26th May.
Black Kite Two reports on 1st April from St Agnes and Gwithian Towans
probably refers to the same individual drifting down the coast. Another
report came a month later from Trispen, 1st May and then Crousa Downs,
The Lizard, 2nd May.
Red Kite There were many records across the county of this species whose
UK population is rapidly increasing and its range expanding. How long
will it be before we have our first Cornish breeding record? The most
notable day in this period was the 1st May when records came in far and
wide, Plain an Gwarry (4 individuals), St. Just (1), Polgigga (3-4), Trispen
(2), Lands End (2), St. Levan (3), St. Blazey (1), St. Gothian Sands (1),
Penzance (5), Newtown (1) and St. Ives (2). Many of these sightings will
clearly refer to the same groups ranging across Cornwall.
Marsh Harrier Several records with probably only one long-staying bird,
and that at Windmill Farm. 28th -29th April, Marazion Marsh RSPB Re-
serve; 2nd May Crousa Downs, The Lizard; 18th May Skewjack; 18th May
and then 25th -31st May a male at Windmill Farm; 26th May, male at
Gwenter.
Hen Harrier A late record of this regular overwintering species was of a
female over The Lizard 20th April.
Goshawk One was reported soaring high over Bude Marsh, 1st May,
represents the only record in this quarter.
Osprey This is another raptor that is doing well nationally and the number
of Spring sightings of birds on passage is similarly increasing. There were
many records across the county with a prolonged passage. The first record
By Tony Mills
bird report
March-May 2013
7
being at Walmsley on 16th March and the latest on the Lower Tamar Lake,
18th May
Hobby The first record of this passage bird was on 30th April at Penlee
Point.
Crane This species doesn’t get recorded every year in the county but with
a re-introduced breeding population in Somerset records may become more
frequent. Three individuals were seen in flight over Ruan Lanihorne on
24th April.
American Golden Plover A probable bird of this species was seen on
Rosenannon Downs on the 2nd March.
Pectoral Sandpiper An unusual Spring record of an individual at Colli-
ford Lake, 4th - 7th May.
Spotted Sandpiper As with the above North American wader this is an
unusual and welcome Spring migrant showing as it did spotting on the
breast and belly making this bird clearly identifiable amongst the Common
Sandpipers also at the site.. This individual was on the Camel Estuary 10th
- 14th May.
Wood Sandpiper Just a couple of records of this elegant but subtle little
wader, all from Walmsley, 25th April and 12-14th May.
Lesser Yellowlegs Another North American vagrant appeared in Spring
giving the chance to see an adult in summer plumage, Marazion Marsh
RSPB Reserve, 2nd and 3rd May.
Pomarine Skua Individuals were noted on several dates from 16th April
with notable records on the 12th May of The Lizard (3) and Porthgwarra/
Gwennap Head (5)
Arctic Skua Surprisingly fewer records of this species than the previous
bird with just 7 individuals being seen on six different days during the
quarter.
Great Skua Recorded on 10 different days with the highest count being 10
birds at Trevedran, 24th April.
Sabine’s Gull Two individuals of this elegant northern gull were seen on
a stormy 18th April at Falmouth and Pendeen during a large passage of
gull, auks and shearwaters.
Bonaparte’s Gull Two records of this small North American gull, an adult
at Siblyback Reservoir on the 15th and 16th May and an immature at
Stithians Reservoir on the 17th May.
Little Gull Just four records, 3rd April, Falmouth and the Camel estuary;
4th April Siblyback Reservoir; 20th April Maer Lake.
Franklin’s Gull A possible was reported from Siblyback Reservoir on 3rd
March.
Ring-billed Gull Another single report of a North American gull, an adult
was seen at Hannafore Point, 3rd March.
Yellow-legged Gull This difficult species is probably under-recorded. A
2W bird was on the Hayle Estuary 5th and 10th March; it, or another
roosted on St. Clements Isle, Mousehole, 11th March, and a 3rd cal yr. bird
was photographed in Falmouth on the 8th May.
Iceland Gull Many records of individuals across the county but there was
only one location where an individual seemed to take up temporary resi-
dence, that was the Helford River.
Kumlein’s Gull A possible adult was seen at the roost on St. Clement’s
Isle, Mousehole on 15th March, with it, or another reported as a sub-adult
in Newlyn on 17th March.
Glaucous Gull Just three records which may refer to the same bird, 1W
reported on Marazion beach, 2nd and 7th March and Hayle Estuary on the
29th March.
Roseate Tern Migrants birds were recorded at Tregirls beach, Camel
Estuary (2 individuals) and Mounts Bay (1) on 10th May; Padstow (2) and
Mounts Bay (1), 11th May; Par beach (1) 12th May; and Mounts Bay (2)
14th May.
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Little Auk Two past Crantock on the 24th March.
Nightjar The first returning bird was recorded at Lanivet on the 26th May.
Swift First records of the year were recorded from several sites on the
same day, 17th April.
Alpine Swift Alpine Swift is usually an early overshooting species, often
being recorded before Common Swifts arrive, however this year one was
reported briefly at Ruan Lanihorne on the 20th May.
Hoopoe This usually early migrant didn’t put in an appearance until the
9th April at The Lizard, followed by a report at Lamorna (15th April) and
then a long-staying bird at Church Cove, 24th - 30th April. This may have
been the earlier Lizard bird relocating, of course. Others were seen at Hel-
ford village (29th April) and Chilverton Cross on the 4th May.
Woodchat Shrike This species bucked the trend of this Spring with sev-
eral records, the first being a male at Kenidjack, 15th April, but it didn’t
stay. Whereas close by at the Cot Valley a female appeared on the 20th
April and stayed until the 29th; another male at Trevilley Farm, Lands End,
28th April - 2nd May; another female at Newlyn, 6th - 9th May; and yet
another at Gwenter 7th - 11th May.
Red-rumped Swallow An individual was sighted flying over Porthgwarra
on the 20th April and was relocated on the 21st April in Kenidjack valley
and then the Cot Valley.
Siberian Chiffchaff Again this winter saw many individuals over-
wintering, usually at sewerage farms. Long stayers were at Gwithian, Brew
and Kenidjack Sewerage farms. The last recorded sighting was 26th April
at Kenidjack.
Iberian Chiffchaff Following last year’s record of a long-staying singing
bird in west Cornwall then this bird near Kynance Cove (20th April) might
have been expected to linger longer. But it is thought to have been seen the
following day but then not again, although there was another reported from
St. Loy, 16th May.
Waxwing A report of 4 birds at Swanpool constitutes quite a late record
and the only record in this quarter.
Spotted Flycatcher First record of the year came from Porthgwarra, 18th
May.
Siberian Stonechat A bird, possibly of this species, was reported from
Porthgwarra on the 23rd April.
Yellow Wagtail (Blue-headed Wagtail) Birds of this sub-species (ssp
flava) normally breed in central Europe. One individual was at Marazion
Marsh RSPB Reserve 22nd -23rd April and another at Lands End 27th
April to 1st May when it was joined by a second individual.
Scandinavian Rock Pipit A bird with the appearance of the Scandinavian
subspecies (ssp littoralis) was reported from Chyandour, Penzance on 5th
March with another possible sighting on the 25th March on Marazion
beach.
Large Pipit species One unidentified large pipit was seen and photo-
graphed on Rosenannon Downs on the 31st May
Brambling Recorded at several locations throughout the Spring, but a
notable garden record of 2 -3 individuals in a Truro garden throughout
March until 10th April.
Serin One reported briefly at Porthgwarra on 24th March.
Snow Bunting Small numbers (max 4) were reported on Treen Common
with the flock of Lapland and Reed Buntings until the 13th March. Another
was recorded at Rame, 12th - 16th April.
Lapland Bunting Two large flocks were regularly seen, the larger at
Rosenannon Downs (max 84 birds) persisted until the 20th March; a
smaller flock (max 17) was on Treen Common until the 26th March. Seven
were reported on Trevose Head on the 7th April.
Photos: Sedge Warbler, Common Scoter and Lesser Yellowlegs - Steve Rogers; Osprey - Dave Thomas; Spotted Sandpiper - M. Spicer
Corncrakes galore!
M y wife is an old girl of Newquay Grammar School and at a school
reunion was given a booklet on the history of the school from 1910-1960 written by C.W. Greenwood. The following is a short extract, which I thought evoked an experience none of us will ever have. Those who know Newquay will recognise the area described as being very different now. The outlook from the Edgcumbe Avenue School in 1910 was very different. There were no houses opposite nor did any exist in Ula-lia Road and there was an uninterrupted view across to St Columb Minor, with only an occasional cottage on the landscape. Even the field up the road contained pigs and poultry. Across the road from the school were corn fields. A Miss Marion Chugg wrote: ‘These were most exciting because they contained not only corn but Corn-crakes. Who can recall, I wonder, the noise those Corncrakes made? There were occasions when it was so persistent that the high windows on the east side of the (school) Hall had to be shut during assembly so that we could hear what was being said’. Difficult to imagine now isn’t it, as Newquay’s new 24/7 world is played out on the site of those fields? Having lived in Ulalia Road myself it certainly made me reflect again on what we have done to our county.
By Phil McVey
WeBS training anyone? Simon Taylor, the WeBS Local Organiser for Cornwall is gauging interest for a possible WeBS Training course on the Hayle Estuary on Saturday 7th December. The day will be run by the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) with a representative from Head Office in Thetford leading the course. It is hoped to provide a free course subject to finding funding, otherwise a small charge may apply. The course will be aimed at experienced WeBS counters and also new counters and those wishing to become a counter. Ideally I need to know numbers by October. Numbers and funding will dictate whether the course goes ahead. If you are able to iden-tify common water birds but are unsure whether you are suitable or confident enough to become a counter then why not come along? WeBS currently has 3,000 volunteers across the country collecting and providing vital data for conservation from small ponds to the biggest estuaries so if you think you may be interested please contact me at [email protected].
Garganey at Helston by Steve Rogers
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‘Cornwall Day for Nature’ 3rd/4th August 2013
(Stithians Lake) Building on the success of last year's event ‘Cornwall Day for Nature’ on 3rd and 4th August promises even more opportunities to enjoy nature first hand. The event is sponsored by South West Lakes Trust and will be held at Stithians Reservoir. On Saturday 3rd August the event will start with an evening focused on Moths and Bats, where you can find out about nature in Cornwall at night with local specialists running moth traps and taking a bat walk (subject to weather). Overnight on-site camping is available. Sunday 4th August will start with an early morning ‘Dawn Chorus’ walk to a bird ringing site and a small mammal trapping demonstration, which will be followed by a range of walks during the day. Conservation Groups will exhibit and publicise their conservation work and activities providing a great opportu-nity to find out more and get involved. Exhibitors will include Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society (CBWPS), South West Lakes Trust, The National Trust, Natural England, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), British Trust for Orni-thology (BTO), Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT), Cornwall Bat Group, Cornwall Mammal Group, Butterfly Conservation and an introduction to the Robin Song Project, a South West Children’s Hospice Project to bring wildlife into the lives of children.
Fun for all ages! The National Trust, RSPB, Natural England and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Fox Club will be offering nature themed fun for children of all ages. The National Trust will have their arts and crafts marquee, together with demonstrations of green woodworking and bush craft. Come and talk to their Rang-ers about the ongoing work for wildlife on the spectacular Lizard coastline, where Choughs and rare plants abound. Try out and buy the latest optical equipment for all price ranges! Trade exhibits will feature South West Optics, Leica, Swarovski, Nikon, Zeiss and Opticron. Local wildlife artist, Griff, founder of the Robin Song Project for the South West Children’s Hospice, will be dis-playing his work in the marquee. South West Lakes will be offering kayaking and boat trips and taster sessions on the climbing wall (a small fee will apply to these activities to cover costs). Refreshments will be available at the popular Watersports Cafe within the complex to eat and drink inside or on the lakeside. It will be a free event but we do hope to raise some funds for a new proposed viewing screen at College Reservoir and on going conservation work at Stithians Reservoir.
Sat 3rd August 21.00-22.30 Mothtrap / Bat evening walk and trap session Camping available for overnight stays (please pre-book with SWLT Stithians) Sun 4th (all subject to weather) 06.00 Ringing Demo by BTO / CBWPS and throughout the day 07.00 Small Mammal Trapping session by Cornwall Mammal Group 08.30 Cafe opens for breakfast 10.00 Stalls open 10.00 Bird ringing by CBWPS 11.00 Moth Traps check what’s been caught overnight 12.00 Birds walk by CBWPS 13.00 Butterfly/birds walk by CBWPS / BC 14.00 TBA 16.00 End of programme
Other activities Optics demo by SW Optics et al Kids / nature activities (NT /RSPB/ NE/CWT) Climbing wall, kayaking, freshwater / pond life ( SWLT), Raffle (All) Archery Stalls in Hall Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society BTO Butterfly Conservation Cornwall Wildlife Trust Robin Song CWT - Bat and Mammal Small Marquees National Trust / NE - kids’ activities South West Lakes Trust RSPB Marquee South West Optics - Leica - Swarovski Nikon - Zeiss - Opticron - Griff Art
Programme
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W ith unfavourable winds holding up migration for
our returning breeding birds the reserve was very quiet until pretty much the end of April. Sand Martin were the first back in the second week of March with the first Swallows arriving a month later. In be-tween, a couple of days of south-erlies saw a small fall of Chiff-chaff which almost straight away starting singing on their territo-
ries. With a return to easterlies and colder temperatures the reserve fell quiet again with many Chiffchaffs being observed feeding over the water in a desperate struggle to survive. The last weekend of April saw things really kicking off with a fresh arrival of Sedge Warbler and the first Whitethroat, Swift, House Martin and
A s usual, wildfowl numbers reduced dramatically with the
onset of spring, with Mute Swans down to just 2, Mallard from 51 to 23 (the 4 Call Ducks had reduced to 3 on 13th April) and Tufted Duck from 6 to 1. Surprisingly, no Gold-eneye were recorded and the last Wigeon was on 9th March, Shoveler on 25th March and Teal on 5th April. Canada Geese bucked the trend increasing to an impressive 114 with at least 3 goslings; a single
Greylag and up to 4 hybrids were also present throughout. Cormo-rants peaked at just 4, and 2 of the 3 Great Crested Grebes have paired up. It looks promising that they may attempt to breed. Apart from the ever present Buzzards the only other raptor reported was a Sparrowhawk. With the water levels still up to the dam, waders were poorly represented although a Green Sandpiper over-wintering in the new scrape remained into early April. Apart from this there were peaks of 89 Whimbrel, 3 Curlew, 3 Common Sandpiper and
2 Dunlin, plus a few Snipe. Gull numbers also reduced rapidly with only Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls remaining into April. A juvenile Iceland was reported on 1st March and an adult Mediterranean Gull on 5th March. Migrants started to make an appearance on 22nd March with 4 Sand Martins, 6 Chiffchaffs and a Firecrest. Willow War-blers followed on 5th April but the first Swallows were reported on the late date of 13th April when 20 were present. The first House Martins were on 21st April and Whitethroat, Blackcap, Sedge and Reed Warblers were first reported on 25th April. As usual Swifts were the last migrants to appear, with 20 on 11th May. By and large, all summer visitors arrived at least a week later than usual. The only unusual visitors during the period were a Water Pipit on the scrape on 8th March and a Lesser Red-poll on 26th May. Maintenance has been centred on the new sluice installed by SWLT contractors and this now seems to be working well. More willow saplings have also been planted along the approach meadow to the extended scrape, to try to screen visitors from the reserve, and the summer season means regular cutting back of the vegetation along the paths and in front of the hide.
By Dave Parker
Drift
B reeding at the reserve is in full swing despite some un-
welcome incursions from local and visiting holidaymakers’ dogs! We still have at least 5 Gadwall on
site and I’m hoping that we may still see a brood of their ducklings in due course. As always Canada Geese seem to do well and they have now left the sanctuary and taken their broods to the estuary. Shelduck have also raised at least one brood and I know of another brood on the eastern side of Wadebridge. No doubt there will be more as summer progresses. Sedge Warblers are more prolific than the Reed Warblers at Walmsley although there do appear to be a few pairs of Reed Warblers in the new Middle Amble section of the valley that hosts more reed beds. We have just had the new land topped to allow us to get it grazed and to see the layout of the new purchase so that we can get some idea of how we can allow access and where we can site hides and scrapes in the future.
Walmsley
By Adrian Langdon
Topping the juncus at Middle Amble reserve
Cuckoo. Garden Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler have also since arrived. On the water (at the time of writing) breeding has been observed for Great Crested Grebe x 3 eggs (one pair, a sec-ond pair are building), Coot x 6 pairs producing a known total of 25 eggs from which at least 7 hatched from 3 pairs, 2 nests pre-dated. Moorhen x 4 pairs produced a known total of 18 eggs from which at least 5 hatched from one pair with a clutch of 7 still being incubated and 2 nests predated. Little Grebe x 2 pairs produced a known total of 5 eggs with both nests being predated, Mallard x 3 pairs, broods of 12, 10 and 8 ducklings observed. As with all nidifugous species success of all the clutch hatching and of the brood from hatching to fledg-ing can be tricky to prove, chicks leaving the nest within 48 hrs but taking up to 6 weeks to fledge. It was particularly pleasing for me to find a Coot nest on the Southern Cut Off at the point of which the eggs were hatching with 2 chicks on the water having just emerged into their big new world.
Stithians By Simon Taylor
reserves report April-June 2013
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I really love contrasts in life, so I thoroughly enjoyed see-ing three late Wigeon at Maer on April 5th in the morning, and then finding two Ring Ouzels at Morwenstow in the afternoon. A juve-nile Spoonbill was at Maer on the 6th. Twenty White Wagtails were reported on the 13th April. Whimbrel numbers were good, but as I have said before, early mornings are the best time at Maer for this species. Black-tailed Godwit came through in reasonable num-bers, but I only recorded two Bar-tails this spring. On the morning of the 13th May, there were two Sanderling present, one of which was in stunning summer plumage. A retired couple new to bird watching reported a Ruddy Shelduck present on the 19th March 2013. If anyone else recorded this bird I would be grateful if you could give me a ring or email me. Having just spent a week near Salgados in Portugal, an area alive with birds, I find returning to Britain, as usual, disap-pointingly barren of birds. I am not talking rarities, I loved seeing the sheer numbers of House Sparrows in Portugal and I am glad that they still nest in my roof and will not now be increasing the rent! We have booked the contractor to undertake the annual maintenance work, and the sluice replacement programme during early August. This may change to September if we have another washout summer; either way we are not anticipating the work causing undue disturbance.
A disappointing spring in terms of weather, espe-
cially temperature, reflected for me also in the number of birds seen in North Cornwall. Maer in particular is never at its best with the wind predominantly in the north. It seems like a distant dream back to the springs when we used to experience long periods of a warm wind blowing from the south and south east quarter with the exciting bird migration
that this used to produce for North Cornwall. Distant reveries stir of sitting on the cliff at Efford, watch-ing flocks of Terns moving north with two Black Terns mixed in with Common and Sandwich. Summerleaze Beach on early morn-ings before the majority of dog walkers appeared, alive with sum-mer-plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit and Sanderling. As I get older every spring becomes more precious and looked forward to with great anticipation. The reality has not matched the dream for some years now, with the wind seemingly locked in the north for long periods. Undoubtedly the weather is going through a period of change and we could all spend a lot of time debating the reason and causes, but we will leave that for another time and place.
Maer Lake By Graham Sutton
T he March highlight was for me the stonking Water
Pipit that was found on the 30th and hung around until the 7th
April. Another exciting sight was on the 28th when I witnessed a pair of Hen Harriers together but I never saw the female again. Male Hen Harriers were seen the 3rd of April and the 31st May. The lingering Short-eared Owl was seen regularly until the 24th April. Our semi-resident Marsh Harrier makes frequent ap-pearances at the Farm and is still around as I write (mid June). A single Merlin was reported on the 28th March. A Little Ringed Plover (see photo) was found on the Big Pond on the 5th April and partnered up with the Water Pipit and a Redshank – which was nice and annoying at the same time since both the Pipit and the Redshank were extremely camera shy! It was difficult to get near the birds thus only record shots could be taken. The cold spell in April and May denied the Farm its usual rarer migrants such as Hoopoe and Golden Oriole and also contrib-uted to late arrivals, in good numbers, of many of our common migrants. Firsts of the following species were as follows: Willow Warbler 5th April, Wheatear 5th April, White Wagtail and Swallow 10th April, Sand Martin 18th April, Cuckoo 19th April, Grasshopper Warbler 23rd April. Andy found a Lesser Whitethroat on the 25th April and there has been a singing male around the farm on and off ever since. I did have at least 2, probably 3 singing Lesser Whitethroats on the 2nd June. A Tree Pipit was found on the 30th April. Early May saw us holding good numbers of Whimbrel for a 3 week period with a maximum count of 34 on the 5th May. Only 1 Hobby has been reported this year which is disappointing (3rd May). I had seen a couple of male Reed Buntings throughout the Spring and it was pleasing to see a female carrying food into a nest site on the 11th May. Other May birds were a wandering Green-shank and one or possibly 2 Garden Warblers. I took a friend of mine down to the Farm on the evening of the 30th May and whilst walking on the Scrape boardwalk I saw (through the scrub) a ring-tail harrier flash across the Scrape. Obviously I ran down the boardwalk toward a good viewpoint only to see its rump disappear over a far hedgerow – gutted as I suspect I missed out on one of our rarer Harriers. Amusingly when I turned round to see my mate he was picking himself up, out of the scrub – in my rush (as you
birders will understand) I knocked him off the boardwalk! Later in the evening we saw a Black-tailed Godwit (in summer plumage, see photo) and 3 Dunlin. The Red Kite migration saw only one bird reported – on the 4th June. Away from birds, the Farm is still producing a fine cross section of Flora and Fauna. Adder and Slow Worm numbers are excellent; we have a family of Foxes (3 cubs); I have captured some footage of a young Roe Deer and a buck has been seen around; the Water Shrew is about now and again (under tin in the car park); Dragonflies are aplenty! Marsh Fritts were reported on the 21st June; Green Winged Orchids bloomed again in April; 3 Lobed Crowfoot is doing well; Pigmy Rush is there now and Yel-low Centaury should be there any day. I am holding a Dragonfly walk on the Sunday the 28th July (10am) – all are welcome.
Windmill Farm By Dougy Wright
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I t will be evident from my records that the majority of my bird watching activities are carried out close to my home in the
china clay district of St. Austell. In the past it has evidently been a much neglected area as far as bird watching is concerned yet the variety of habitats, both natural and artificially created, provide ideal conditions for many common and not so common birds. The locality with which I am primarily concerned is the Blackpool Quarry tip (picture above) or sand burrow. Starting near the village of High Street, it stretches northwards for about one mile. The southern end is the oldest section of the tip, rising to a height of 80 feet. The sand has been washed away by the rain ex-posing many large boulders which give it a rather rugged appear-ance. The vegetation is well established although sparse, consist-ing mainly of tree lupins and gorse. The surrounding area is densely clothed with gorse, goat willow and the remnants of haw-thorn hedges. During the summer months several pairs of Willow War-blers nest there, along with single pairs of Chiffchaffs and Com-mon Whitethroats. A Grasshopper Warbler was also heard singing on several occasions but was not proven to have bred. Late in the summer Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers on migration take ref-uge in the goat willows and on fine days can be seen hawking for insects around the large clumps of ivy flowers which attract an abundance of insect life. Most of the tit family are also represented here and in par-ticular Long-tailed Tits are very numerous, forming 50% of any flocks. In company with the tit parties there are usually several Goldcrests, Robins and Wrens. Hedge Accentors are very common throughout the year, and in the autumn large flocks of Redwings descend on the hedgerows to take advantage of the plentiful supply of berries. There are surprisingly few Blackbirds here in the sum-mer months and the Chaffinch is another bird more commonly seen in the autumn, when small parties of 5 or 6 birds can be ob-served throughout October and November. During a spell of misty autumn weather two Black Red-starts took up residence in the shelter of a deep gully which runs across the end of the sand tip. They became a daily feature there for almost three weeks. The remainder of the burrow is fine sand and for the most part has been sown with grass. Surrounding the tip in this area are the remains of downland pastures, enclosed by stone hedges, which are designated to be the future dumping grounds. In the meantime this downland, free from cattle and human interference, provides nesting facilities for numerous pairs of Meadow Pipits
Sid Cole’s local patch, despite appearances, was surprisingly good for birdwatching back in 1975 when this piece was written, and it remains so today…
and Stonechats. Cuckoos are also very common with the Meadow Pipits providing a plentiful supply of foster parents. During the current season a pair of Wheatears built their nest under a granite slab, 15 feet up a stony ridge and raised four young. Earlier in the year four Snow Buntings that had probably overwintered but had gone unnoticed spent at least five weeks about the tip feeding amongst the newly sown grass. Six or more pairs of Yellowhammers nested successfully in nearby hedgerows and at the end of the breeding season flocks of twenty or so Lin-nets were frequently seen feeding on the grassy slopes of the tip. The Meadow Pipits which are so numerous during the summer suddenly disappear from their breeding grounds in early Septem-ber. The numbers then build up again and by the end of September flocks of twenty to twenty five birds are not unusual during the daytime but at dusk sixty or seventy are sometimes seen at fa-voured roosting sites. It is possible the local population migrate and are replaced by migrants from elsewhere. The area is also a favourite hunting ground for birds of prey. Kestrels are present at almost any time of day and occasion-ally a Sparrowhawk can be seen racing along the length of the tip ready to pounce on one of the many small birds feeding there. Buzzards are also regular visitors, attracted no doubt by the large colony of rabbits living on the side of the tip. Up to half a dozen Carrion Crows find a living around the burrows and to see a pair of these intelligent birds set about steal-ing the Buzzard's prey makes for very amusing bird watching. Jackdaws and Magpies also find the area to their liking. The Magpies building their bulky domed nests in the small hawthorn trees, the Jackdaws preferring the chimneys of local cottages. A pair of Ravens nest in nearby Blackpool Pit and the family party can frequently be seen flying overhead. Considerable interest was shown when a Great grey Shrike overwintered at the Goverseth china clay refining plant a short distance away. It became a familiar sight perched on the power lines and even those with little knowledge of bird life soon came to recognise it. With the sudden changes that take place in a clay mining area bird populations are affected with equal rapidity. Vast areas of downland are either dug up or used as a tip for waste materials. The associated clay drying and refining plants and the many other engineering and storage complexes which are necessary for the extraction of china clay take up valuable land and spoil an other-wise picturesque landscape. However on balance the bird popula-tion fares remarkably well and I feel sure that there would be no-where near the variety of birdlife in the area if the various mining activities had not taken place. Within a very short distance of my home there are several disused and overgrown quarries which are a haven for large numbers of small woodland birds. Many are water filled and provide suitable homes for Moorhens and Dabchicks and feeding grounds for migrating waterfowl and waders. The old decaying engine houses often completely covered with ivy offer
Birds in the China Clay Country
My Local Patch
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safe nesting to a variety of birds including Robins, Swallows, Jackdaws and no doubt Barn Owls. As yet these areas are still to be fully explored and the bird populations recorded, an occupation which for me will provide hours of pleasure.
On a bright, spring Saturday morning a small group gathered to look for birds in and around Carclaze Pit. Led by Sid Cole (see below with green backpack), in around three hours we had seen 36 different species, including Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Raven nesting, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Jay, Mag-pie, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Common Teal, Mallard, Gold-eneye, Common Sandpiper, Canada Goose, Herring Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Swallow, Sand Martin, Buzzard, Kestrel, Wren, Meadow Pipit, and Wheatear.
Field Meeting at Great Carclaze Pit 20th April 2013: Leader Sid Cole
Photographs in this column are of the field meeting at Great Carclaze Pit on 20th April by Simon Marquis
From top left: Stonechat, Goldcrest, Wheatear, Black Redstart, Whitethroat, Raven, Wren, Long-tailed Tit. The picture opposite is of Blackpool Pit. All these photographs courtesy of Nigel Climpson
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I was beginning to wonder whether I’d joined a cross channel ferry to France rather than a wildlife cruise. We were so far out from Falmouth, you could
look back and see pretty well the whole length of Cornwall’s south coast. But there was method in Captain Keith’s madness… From miles back he had spotted, far out to sea, a great gathering of feed-ing Gannets, tiny white specks plummeting into the sea, indicating the almost certain presence of dolphins and perhaps other cetaceans. When eventually we caught up with the feeding Gannets, Keith’s in-stincts proved spectacularly correct. Pods of common dolphins came scything through the sea, sending up flashes of white spray as they broke the surface, occasionally flying clear of it altogether. Minutes later, we were completely surrounded by dolphins, ducking and diving all around us. There seemed to be a herd about a mile long as the boat slowly slid into its midst. However many times you witness the sight of dolphins in the wild, it remains completely thrilling. The effortless power and the total mastery of their environment make you gasp in admiration and awe. The trip I joined on the longest day of the year was mercifully bright and blue meaning that the clutch of photography students on board from Falmouth university were able to snap away to their hearts’ content. The attendant Gannets also provided great photo opportunities, absurdly handsome as they are. The return to Falmouth took in Gull Rock just off Nare Head on the Roseland. Close to, this shapely crag looks like some half-submerged sea mon-ster, but its flanks are now home to growing numbers of Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Cormorants, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. The islet is also populated by a handful of Rock Pipits. The boat was able to back slowly towards the rock affording terrific, close-up views of the terraces of Guillemots and with it a good, strong whiff of seabird colony. I have saved the best till last. From Falmouth Docks, the Free Spirit, AK’s comfortable, warm and well-equipped sports cruiser with eight guests and
porth is an almost sheer cliff, the home of Peregrines. As we cut engines and approached the cliff wall through calm, deep-green waters, there seemed to be no-one at home, but then an adult bird appeared top-right on the cliff. Then, top-left, the adult female revealed herself. Finally, that plaintive, wild cry that can only be a Peregrine, directed our searching gaze to two well-grown chicks perched halfway down the cliff amongst the thrift. When the mother could take no more of the incessant calling, she swopped down to a food cache and hauled out what looked like the carcass of a wader. She carried it to the impatient chicks and proceeded to offer them delicate morsels of the flesh. A wonderful close-up view of Peregrine family life - and from a stunning angle on the water. AK Wildlife Cruises has been going for about 18 months, run by Keith Leeves and his partner Amanda. They run a friendly and efficient operation, and operate pretty well daily out of Falmouth year round. I joined a three hour after-noon trip, but the time flies by and I found myself wanting more when we crept back into port alongside a couple of vast grey Royal Navy ships. Another time I will try the four hour or perhaps even the full day (seven hour) excursions. Keith has many years experience of leading wildlife sea trips, and is expert in tracking down and talking about the abundant wildlife on offer. He is keen to make links with wildlife and conservation organisations in Cornwall, and while this is clearly very sensible marketing on his part, his collaborative outlook is both refreshing and inclusive. I thoroughly enjoyed my excursion with AK Wildlife Cruises, and I’m sure CBWPS members will too. The field meetings section of Palores has a growing number of bird and wildlife sea safaris and trips. AK is a worthy and enjoyable addition to them. Check them out on their excellent website (and on their Facebook page) at www.cornwallwhaleanddolphinwatching.co.uk. And remember they operate during the winter months too. If the weather is too hos-tile to venture out on to the open sea, the massive system of the Fal, Truro and Helford rivers makes for a tantalising alternative itinerary.
Simon Marquis samples a wildlife spectacular off the south coast of Cornwall courtesy of AK Wildlife Cruises
From the top: Richard, Amanda and Captain Keith of AK Wildlife Cruises; Storm Petrel; Bridled Guillemot at Gull Rock; Gannet; Manx Shearwater Photos by Simon White, Richard Hollis, Simon Marquis
Dolphins & Peregrines with AK Wildlife Cruises
two crew on board, set off westward once clear of the Carrick Roads. At Maen-
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the two leaders. There are also boat trips to other islands including Treshnish, the home of thousands of breeding seabirds. The wild-life is only one piece of the jigsaw though. The people of Mull make the island special; they are courteous, polite and helpful. The islanders are very tolerant of tourists and the tourists that we spoke to were either first timers like ourselves or had been going every year for many years. The tourists also appeared to show respect to the island and its people, and it has to be remembered that the islanders have daily lives to go about much the same as us when we are at home. Repeat business is key to success and Mull has nailed it. There is a code of conduct for driving as most of the roads are single track and we only witnessed two occasions where it wasn’t observed although I think one was a genuine misunder-standing. The islanders have embraced wildlife, not resented it as with all too many other parts of the UK. Tobermory is well worth a visit with some great shops, the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, RNLI and a great fishing tackle shop with a small library selling many guide books covering walks and the wildlife. And of course – Tobermory Otter and Tobermory Cat. See if you can see them. Wherever we went places were devoid of fast food wrappers and general rubbish on the streets. Campers were leaving their areas litter free, we found it all very clean and tidy. Away from wildlife and shopping there are many other things to do. We took the ferry to Iona for a guided walk around the Abbey where St Columba arrived from Ireland in AD 563 and founded the island’s first monastery. What better than a guided tour whilst listening to and then obtaining fantastic views of Corn-crake in the field behind? We went pony trekking at Killiechronan, my first ever time on a horse. Liz did a fantastic job as host and it turned out to be a great experience. Riding horseback across a beach whilst watching a Sea Eagle was delightful. There are cas-tles to visit, ruined and occupied. We visited Duart Castle which is the home of Sir Lachlan Maclean the present Clan Chief. Some of the artefacts include items from three warships sent there by Oliver Cromwell to take the castle with 1000 men from the New Model Army on board. Stunning views can be had from the castle’s ram-parts and once again the chance to see eagles. So to answer my original question, Mull is a haven for wildlife and all its claims are more than justified. For those with a passion for British wildlife put Mull on your ‘ten things to do be-fore you die’ list. We saw 81 species of birds in what was a casual, relaxing holiday although some birds are perhaps a little too cas-ual: there can’t be too many places where I have to brake and stop the car while an Oystercatcher walks, yes walks, across the road 15ft in front of me! There are many things that we didn’t get the time to see or do so we have already booked for two weeks next year and I can’t wait. I would like to thank the people of Mull for making such a beautiful place even better.
T he Isle of Mull, one of the Inner Hebrides, has become fa-mous for big claims of seeing good wildlife including Sea
Eagles, Golden Eagles and otter amongst many other species. So, are these claims substantiated or a load of hot air? My wife Tracey and I booked the holiday back in June 2012. We drove up to Oban on a Friday, stayed overnight, and took the second ferry over in the morning. The ferry was packed with cars including three coaches. I thought I was entering tourist hell. When we came off the ferry I was amazed to find the island is actually around 50 miles long. We drove to Tobermory to get our self-catering supplies and were very pleasantly surprised to see all the tourists had - well - disappeared. Tobermory was quiet, peace-ful, no rush, clean and tidy. We then headed for our cottage situ-ated on the shores of Loch na Keal. We set off on foot an hour later to explore the loch. Greeted with astounding scenery we had viewed our first Sea Ea-gle within minutes. The bird was flying across the loch being mobbed by a Buzzard giving a perspective of the substantial dif-ference in size. Within the next 48 hours we had viewed Golden Eagle also and continued to see both species almost daily. This is not the end of the raptor interest though as Hen Harrier, Merlin, Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl, Peregrine and Sparrowhawk can all be found on the island. The loch also provided cracking views of otter, summer plumaged Great Northern and Black-throated Di-vers, Mergansers, Goosanders and Terns. Two species of deer can be seen on Mull as can mountain goat, mountain hare but there are no squirrels or foxes on the island. Unfortunately, mink have made it there though. For those who may wish to have some company or a bit of help there are many guided tours to undertake. We took part in a joint RSPB and Forestry Commission walk to a Sea Eagle hide: well worth it, excellent walk, plenty of local knowledge from
Simon Taylor revels in the spectacular wildlife (and much more) on the lovely isle of Mull...
The author scans for Black-throated Diver... Loch na Keal (above); Duart Castle (top) photos: Simon Taylor
Magical Mull
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L ong standing members will recall that the Society undertook a summer and winter bird atlas in the first years of the
‘noughties’. Ably managed by Paul McCartney, the project gath-ered thousands of records that were inputted, checked and verified, all by Paul himself on behalf of the CBWPS. In 2010 several meetings took place to decide how to pro-ceed with the data analysis and whether it should be published as an Atlas or incorporated into a Cornish Avifauna, but there the project stumbled. It remained on the back burner until the latter part of last year when the board agreed to take it forward and in-vestigate on-line publishing. Mark Grantham began the number crunching and I took on the role of guiding the project to comple-tion. It was agreed to employ Chris Dee who runs Garganey Consulting to produce the website. I’ve known Chris for many years from our days with the Rye Meads Ringing Group and Herts Bird Club. He had amply proved himself with the Kent and Hert-fordshire on-line Bird Atlases and recently won a BTO Award for his work. The initial website design was soon in place and it was agreed to link in to the current CBWPS site. Mark and Chris worked together to produce the first draft maps that were discussed at the society board meeting in March. The development has since steadily progressed and we will soon be in a position to ‘go live’. The site shows tetrad maps for relative abundance for all species recorded in the summer and winter periods. It also has frequency maps showing the county ‘hotspots’ - tetrads where most species were found. The grid squares are linked to the OS map so it is easy to locate the area. However, rare species are pro-tected by only mapping at the 10km level. Another useful addition are hover-over keys to highlight areas of woodland, rivers and urbanisation. This enables habitat associations to be identified for certain species like Dipper and Tawny Owl. It is also possible to look at all the species found in any particular tetrad and their rela-tive abundance. What are still missing are the species accounts to go with interpreting the maps and put the species in context. This is a much longer process and will be ongoing for some time depending on the number of writers willing to assist. However, we think it better to get the site up and running. As it stands the maps will be a valuable insight into the distribution and abundance of the county’s bird populations and a useful tool for conservationists and planners alike. It will also be a fitting acknowledgement of the many hours of voluntary fieldwork, data inputting, checking and analysis that goes into a project of this nature. It is hoped that we will trial the Atlas through a ‘hidden’ area on the web for a couple of months before going to a full pub-lic version in the autumn. However, included here are couple of ‘screen shots’ to give a flavour of what to expect. Watch the CBWPS website for more information and when the site goes live.
The maps to the right are examples of what the Atlas will contain. Top is the map for Yellowhammer during the sum-mer. It is fascinating to compare with the winter one imme-diately below it. The species represented in the bottom map has been blanked out. Just for fun (no prizes, but the answer is on page 19), see if you can identify which bird it is. NB - it is a summer map.
Bruce Taggart provides a timely update on progress with this definitive and exciting project...
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Winter
Summer
Cornwall Bird Atlas
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I n the Spring 2013 edition of Palores, after praising the range of articles, our chairman observed that ‘they are mostly written by
Board members’. He then suggested that some of the ‘other ranks’ might have something interesting to say... Well, I am very much a run of the mill member of the society, a long time observer of birds but bird-watching has never been a major pastime. What might be of interest to other members is that I have lived in the same house in Cornwall for more than forty years and I have some observations as to the birds which have been faithful regulars, those that used to visit and no longer do, and some that I have seen in recent years which are new to our patch. First, where do I live? It is in the country, a wooded area nor far from the Helford River and a mile outside a village. The house is a granite Cornish cottage with several additions. The gar-den is quite large with some mature trees, lots of bushes, a vegeta-ble patch, lawns and rough uncultivated areas. There is a small pond and the land is bordered by two streams which meet under a granite bridge that carries the road to Falmouth. We have a couple of bird feeding stations where we provide peanuts, niger seed, fat balls and mixed seeds. Sometimes we add kitchen scraps. We have five nesting boxes. Our viewing is good because our dining room has large windows and is raised above most of the garden. Not surprisingly, woodland birds predominate – Jays, Nut-hatches, Greater-spotted Woodpeckers, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits and portly pigeons. The commonest visitor must be the Chaffinch followed by the Blackbird. Provided there are niger seeds on the menu we are rarely without quarrelling Goldfinches. Jackdaws drop in from time to time. Buzzards and Herring Gulls are regularly overhead but rarely land. Occasionally we see a Bull-finch, a Song Thrush on the grass, a Wren on the edge of the ve-randah. Very occasionally a Sparrowhawk hurtles through to grab a bird from the feeding station. A stately Heron lands in early spring and stalks towards the pond and about this time we delight in the powerful song of the Mistle Thrush. Also in spring we are made happy by the arrival of the first Chiffchaffs and by the melo-dious song of Blackcaps from deep in bushes. At night, especially in winter, we listen to Tawny Owls. All these are our enduring guests. What have we lost from our early years? Certainly, the Starlings no longer visit us. We haven’t seen a Goldcrest or a Treecreeper for many years. The high up screaming of Swifts in summer is a memory. We see far fewer Dunnocks, skulking in the bushes. Greenfinches were once common but now very rare. Once
and once only a pair of Spotted Flycatch-ers raised a brood in our garden. In cold winters we used to see Peewits and even Woodcock on the lawn and in the ditches. Last winter was cold but there were none. Dippers were regulars on our streams but there have been no sightings for two or three years. Coal Tits have dis-appeared quite recently and I fear that the recent long and cold winter has decimated our Wren population. We have had Moor-hens and Mallard on the pond and rarely a Kingfisher, but the last of these visits must have ceased a decade ago. But all is not negative. There are certainly more wood-peckers about, both the Greater-spotted and the Green. This year we have received a pair of dainty Collared Doves and both Grey and Pied Wagtails. I lamented the lack of Dunnocks yet I have seen one today. I am not a skilled enough bird watcher to spot the rareties but I expect they pass through. Two years ago we were considering replacing our old garage and that was when a pair of Swallows moved in and raised two broods. The old garage will remain until it falls down. Last year they returned, late on 1st May and raised one brood only, perhaps put off by the poor weather. Will they return in 2013? We live in hope. That is the story of a one hundred percent, run of the mill and proud member of the Cornwall Bird Watching and Preserva-tion Society. I wonder how typical it is?
One man’s bird reserve
Proud CBWPS member John Hawes has
observed the birds in his Cornish garden
for over 40 years
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F or the Summer and early Autumn programme of walks and field meetings, this year, there is a strong focus on pelagic and
sea watching trips across the county including boat trips organised by CWT Restormal and Penwith groups, Pelagic trips from Pen-zance with Paul Semmens and The Scillonian crossing to the Isles of Scilly with RSPB experts aboard. There are also walks and field meets to cover our usual locations, and a range of habitats. How-ever as some of our regular leaders are no longer able to lead walks, I would welcome a phone call from anyone interested in leading a walk or field meeting for the next season. (Tel: Gordon 01209 718144 evenings). Wednesday 3rd July 9pm Leader: Roger Hooper Tel: 01209 820612 Croft Pascoe. Nightjars. An evening walk around the area looking for Nightjars and other nocturnal species. Bring torch, insect repel-lent and stout footwear. Meet in the lay-by adjacent to the wood-land gate. Map ref: SW 730 194 Tuesday 9th July 6:45pm Dave Thomas & Chris Lowe (01637 850930 mob: 07860927833) [email protected] Newquay, evening boat trip/sea safari. A slow ride around Newquay headlands then out to sea to look for Kittiwakes, Ful-mars, Gannets, Cormorants, Terns, seals, possibly dolphins and basking sharks. Bring warm and waterproof clothing, a warm drink, binoculars and a camera. Meet Newquay harbour car park. Look for the boat Atlantic Diver Map ref: SW808 619. Cost £20 per adult and £15 for child up to 12 years. Booking is essential. Wednesday 10th July 6pm leader: Gordon Mills (01209 718144 evenings) Hells Mouth. An evening walks to see breeding birds on the north cliffs. Meet in the car park at Hells Mouth café. Map ref: SW504 428 Wednesday 17th July 9pm leader: Roger Hooper (01209 820612) Croft Pascoe. Nightjars. An evening walk around the area look-ing for Nightjars and other nocturnal species. Bring torch, insect repellent and stout footwear. Meet in the lay-by adjacent to the woodland gate. Map ref: SWSW 730 194
Sunday 21st July. 9am Leader: Viv Stratton (01736 796487) Hayle Estuary. A morning walk around the area look for gulls waders and migrant birds. Meet at Ryan’s field car park Map ref: SW549 362 Wednesday 24th July 6 pm leader: Gordon Mills (01209 718144 evenings) St. Gothian Sands, Godrevy. An evening walk around the area looking for resident birds, butterflies and wild flowers. Meet in first NT car park. Map ref: SW584 422 Friday 26th July 6:45 pm start. Dave Thomas & Chris Lowe (01637 850930 mob: 07860927833) [email protected] Newquay, evening boat trip/sea safari. A slow ride around Newquay headlands then out to sea to look for Kittiwakes, Ful-mars, Gannets, Cormorants, Terns, seals, possibly dolphins and basking sharks. Bring warm and waterproof clothing, a warm drink, binoculars and a camera. Meet Newquay harbour car park. Look for the Boat Atlantic Diver Map ref: SW808 619. Cost £20 per adult and £15 for child up to 12 years. Booking is essential. Saturday 27th July @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm 8 hours Organiser Paul Semmens (07901731201) Penzance Pelagic This summer there will be regular pelagic trips heading out from Penzance on board Mermaid II. The aim is to get offshore and head west, chumming a few miles south of Lamorna and Porthgwarra before heading out towards the Wolf Rock light-house. Target species are Wilson’s Petrel, Great and Pomarine Skuas, Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters as well as a good variety of marine mega-fauna such as Harbour Porpoises, Common Dol-phins, Minke Whales, Basking Sharks and Ocean Sunfish. Other species likely to be seen are Storm Petrels, Manx Shearwaters and Gannets and possibly at this time of year Great and Cory’s Shear-wate r s For de ta i l s o f the boa t check ou t www.cornwallboattrips.co.uk/b…ance-cornwall/. The trips will leave at 9am, returning at 5pm and cost £70 for 8 hours at sea. Numbers are limited so book early by calling 07901731201. Sunday 28th July 1000 - 1300 Leader: Dougy Wright (07886310509) Windmill Farm. Dragonflies and Butterflies at Windmill Farm. A walk around the reserve. Bring lunch if you wish. Footwear: wel-lingtons essential. Meet in Windmill Farm Nature Reserve car park. Map Ref: SW694 193 Website: http://www.cbwps.org.uk/Windmill%20Farm.htm#map Saturday 3rd August 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. 8 Hours Organiser Paul Semmens 07901731201) Penzance Pelagic for details see 27th July above Saturday 3rd - Sunday 4h August A Day for Nature Stithians Reservoir - see main event article on page xxx for details. Saturday 10th August 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. 8 Hours Organiser Paul Semmens (07901731201) Penzance Pelagic for details see 27th July above Saturday 7th September 10:00 - 13:00 Dave Thomas (01637 850930) Autumn wildlife walk at Breney Common Nature Reserve A gentle walk around Breney Common with wildlife expert Dave Thomas to look for birds, dragonflies, butterflies, wild flowers and reptiles. Ideal for beginners.
field meetings
July-October 2013
Great Spotted Woodpecker by Adrian Langdon
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Camel Trail Nature Walks. Start again in September. Duration approx 4 hours. The walks, which cover Flora and Fauna as well as birds, take place every Wednesday through September and Oc-tober 2012 Walks start at 10.00am and will be led by Bernard Ide, Paul Whittick and Jack Humphrey. Meet outside Countrywise, Eddystone Road, Wadebridge. Phone Countrywise on 01208 812423 to check that walk is on. Map ref: SW989 725 27th July to 8th November Leader: Rory Goodall Call for more information on cost. (01736) 811200. 07971 540280 Atlantic Adventure Ocean wildlife safaris south coast between The Lizard and Land's End. Organised by Elemental Tours, a Ma-rine Boat trip. Exciting 2 and 3 hour R.I.B. trips with expert educa-tional commentary. Sightings of cetaceans, seals, sharks, sunfish and seabirds are all possible. 2 hour trips usually in the morning. Suitable for children over 5 years. 3 hour afternoon trips suitable for children over 10 years. Meet at The Old Engine Shed, end of Albert pier, Penzance harbour, TR18 2LL. Booking is essential. Bring warm clothes, it’s always colder at sea! Binoculars, cameras. 10% of fares donated when mentioning Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Grid Reference SW 477 303. Friday 5 July to Friday 1 November. Scillonian Friday (day-return) cruises to the Isles of Scilly. Memorable wildlife spotting en-route to St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. A friendly knowledgeable RSPB guide will be on board. You may expect to see Gulls, more exotic seabirds, migrant birds hitching a lift. Gannets and Guillemots should be easily seen. In the deeper water look for Manx shearwaters and razorbills. Basking sharks and dolphins should be among the ocean-dwelling mammals seen. Fridays only (usually 9.15 am Penzance departure) Price: £35 standard price, £30 discount price for RSPB members if member-ship number quoted at the time of booking. Booking essential Scillonian day-return departure/sailing information: * Normally departs Penzance at 9.15 am. NB some variations due to tide: 6 Sept 9 am Penzance departure. 20 Sept, 8.15 am Pen-zance departure * Sailing takes just over 2.5 hours one way * The day-return trip back normally departs St Mary's quay at 4.30pm Sunday 14th July - Sunday 13th October. Second Sunday of each month 10am - 1pm Contact Jenny Parker 01736 360624 or email [email protected]. RSPB Beach cleans. Meet: Copperhouse Pool, Hayle Estuary. Lasts about 3hrs with a tea break. All are welcome to join these work parties. We alternate the beach cleans between Copperhouse Pool and Carnsew Pool. Bring suitable outdoor clothing and foot-wear. Hot drink and biscuits provided by RSPB. Cost free. Book-ing essential. Beach clean - RSPB Hayle Estuary nature reserve
Please note: walk leaders have given their telephone numbers with each walk. However, before contacting them, would you please
check RSPB (www.rspb.org.uk/groups/cornwall) and CBWPS (www.cbwps.org.uk) websites and those of other organisations for the latest information. Every effort will be made to keep the web-sites updated with cancellations, changes in venue or route or any access problems. Please remember for all field meetings to bring stout footwear and appropriate clothing for the likely conditions plus food and drink as necessary!
(Answer to the question on p. 14: Cuckoo)
Sunday September 8th 9:30 am leader: Gordon Mills (01209 718144 evenings) Drift Reservoir. A circular walk around the reservoir looking for resident birds, late summer and early autumn migrants. This walk can be longer than usual so bring a snack and drink. Meet at Drift Dam car park Map ref: SW438 288 Sunday 15th September 9 am leader: Steve Rowe (01637 875788) Porth Joke. A morning walk around the area looking for migrant and resident birds. Turn off A305 Newquay to Crantock road; take 1st left between Crantock and West Pentire past Treago Farm and meet in NT car park map ref: SW776 599 Friday 20th Sept CBWPS AGM and Evening Meeting The CBWPS AGM for 2013 is being held at the Lanhydrock War Memorial Hall in Bodmin starting at 6.30pm. There will also be an evening meeting shortly afterwards featuring the very popular Adrian Langdon who will be presenting an illustrated talk on “Birds of the World”. Adrian will be showing us his very best images. This evening is a free evening and open to all however still bring your money as we are holding a raffle to raise funds for conservation. Sunday 22nd September Leader: Viv Stratton (01736 796487) Marazion beach and reserve A morning walk looking for Gulls, Waders and migrant birds. Meet at Folly Field car park first on right by phone box. Approaching from long rock map ref: SW511 309 Sunday 29th September. 9am Leader: Colin Moore
(01736 788787) Nanquidno Valley. A morning walk looking for resident and mi-grant birds. Actual walk may vary according to local information. Meet in the large lay-by on the east side of the B3306 opposite Lands End aerodrome. Map ref: SW377 292 Sunday 6th October 1000 - 1300 Leader: Dougy Wright (07886310509) Windmill Farm. Autumn Migration. A walk around the reserve to observe resident and migrant species. Bring lunch if you wish. Footwear: wellingtons essential. Meet in Windmill Farm Nature Reserve car park. Map Ref: SW694 193. Website: http://www.cbwps.org.uk/Windmill%20Farm.htm#map Friday 18th October 7.30pm Evening Meeting at Chacewater Village Hall CBWPS/RSPB The CBWPS and RSPB Group are pleased to announce that An-drew Cooper has agreed to present a meeting for us. Andrew is one of Britain’s most distinguished and influential documentary television producers. As a broadcaster, presenter, writer and inter-national award winning wildlife film-maker, he is a familiar face on BBC TV through his documentaries and live reports on wildlife and environment issues. As a television producer with the prestig-ious BBC Natural History Unit he has travelled widely over the last thirty years, visiting more than 45 different countries. He is the author of several best selling BBC books and his wildlife docu-mentaries rank among the most popular in Britain. No need to book but admission £5 to cover costs. Start time 7.30pm. Pentire and Rumps nature walks. Duration approx 4 hours. The walks take place every Wednesday during July and August, cover Flora and Fauna as well as birds. Walks start at 10.00am and will be led by Bernard Ide, Paul Whittick and Jack Humphrey. Meet at Pentire Farm. Map ref: SW936803. Phone Countrywise on 01208 812423 to check that walk is on. Map ref: SW989 725
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NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2013
Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society Notice is hereby given that the second Annual General Meeting of the company limited by guarantee will be held at Lanhydrock War Memorial Hall in Bodmin on Friday 20th September 2013 at 6.30pm. Notice of any proposals for consideration at the Annual General Meeting should be given in writing at least 7 days before the meeting to the Honorary Secretary of the Society, Cait Hutchings of Treyarnon, 24 Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 8NT. Agenda
1. Apologies 2. Confirmation of the Annual General Meeting minutes from 29th September 2012 and matters arising 3. The Chairman’s report 4. The Treasurer’s report 5. Election of Trustee Directors
Under 1.1c of the Articles of Association it is no longer a requirement for Trustee Directors to retire each year. However nominations can be put forward by using the nomination form for election of Trustee Directors in accordance with the Society's Articles of Association. I nominate ...................................................................................... (who has agreed to serve if elected) of (address) .................................................................................................................................................. for the post of * ....................................................................................................................................... *please state which Trustee Director role, or it will be taken as a nomination for a general role. Proposed by (name and address) ............................................................................................................. Seconded by (name and address) ............................................................................................................ Nominations must be in writing and reach the Honorary Secretary of the Society, Cait Hutchings of Treyarnon, 24 Kernick Road, Penryn, TR10 8NT or by email: [email protected] no later than 22nd August 2013. You do not need to use this form to make nominations, but make sure you include all the information requested in it in your letter or email. 24th June 2013
