22nd January 2017 (Cornwall)

Lewis and I headed down to Cornwall today. My main aim was to finally see the pacific diver (I dipped twice last winter), though I hadn't seen an eastern black redstart previously so was keen to get this as well.

Arrived at Jubilee Pool in Penzance at 9am. A few scans of Mounts Bay produced a flock of Common Scoters and 3 Velvet Scoters, my first in several years. We also had 2 Purple Sandpipers and some Turnstones on the rocks nearby.

Velvet Scoters - Penzance

Eventually, I located a few divers on the far east side of the Bay. Most of the birds seemed to be Great Northern Divers, though the group's attention was drawn to a black-throated type that lacked the white flank patches. It was too distant to get a firm ID however, and we lost the bird as the sea became more choppy, so me and Lewis decided to move on.

Next stop was Mousehole where the EASTERN BLACK REDSTART was showing on arrival. May not be a species life tick, but what a stunning bird! A grey wagtail was the only other species of note here.

EASTERN BLACK REDSTART - Mousehole

Drove over to Polgigga for the little and lapland buntings, but on arrival we realised what a long walk it would be to Nanjizal (looking on google maps, I think we may have been in the wrong place) and we weren't really sure of the bird's exact location, so we got back in the car and moved on.

A stop off at Hayle produced the male Green-Winged Teal (my first for a couple years), a Spoonbill, 4 Goosanders, some Med Gulls and a good variety of waders and wildfowl.

Green-Winged Teal - Hayle

Spoonbill - Hayle

Last stop of the day was Perranuthnoe to look for the hud whimbrel, however a scan of Boat Cove produced nothing. I remembered that the Diver flock we had been watching from Penzance was over in this direction, so after a couple of scans I picked up a few Great Northern Divers closer in than I was expecting. Shortly after, I found a black-throated type. No white flank patch. And a pretty obvious chin strap! Surely that must be the pacific diver? Thankfully it was accompanied by a Black-Throated Diver, and when the two were side by side it was obvious just how short-bodied and dumpy this bird was, and once I had a line-up of all 3 species together, it was clear that this was indeed the PACIFIC DIVER!!! Finally, after 3 attempts I've managed to nail this bird with decent scope views and side-by-side comparisons!

While we were watching the diver, Lewis picked up a whimbrel flying into the Bay. Looking at the contrast of the head markings, I was pretty sure this was the HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL, but without seeing the rump followed by some confusion with a curlew flying out of the bay, we lost the bird for a while. Thankfully it resurfaced and gave us some flight views to confirm it's identity.

 PACIFIC DIVER - Perranuthnoe

The light was awlful for photographing the divers, but still a great improvement on the shots from Penzance.

HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL - Perranuthnoe

2 Megas within the space of minutes, without even having to move all against the beautiful backdrop of Mount's Bay! A fantastic way to end the day and one of my favourite birding experiences to date!