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Description
Porthgwarra has a bit of everything, habitat wise and a full day here can turn up a surprising amount of birds.
The car park has a small wooded copse to its north and this is often a good place to start your day. Britains first horárik čierny was found here years ago and more recent rarirites include drozd malý! During Autumn migration the wood is good for muchárik čiernohlavý and muchár sivý, kolibiarik žltkastotemenný, králik ohnivohlavý and possibly something rarer such as muchárik malý or kolibiarik sivozelený.
From here walk up the valley and after the wooden five bar gate take the path to the left and down into the wooded valley known as 60 Foot Cover. On a calm sunny morning take time here to stand/sit and observe the copse. A kukavka dažďová was found by a visiting birder in October 2014. This area is also good for warblers which can include penica čiernohlavá, penica obyčajná, penica popolavá, kolibiarik spevavý, kolibiarik čipčavý and penica slávikovitá.
Go back out of the valley and take the footpath right again onto the moorland. Just before the wall that cuts across the moor is the 'Dried up Pool'. Despite its name its not always dried up, but this is a good place to look for krutohlav hnedý in the Autumn. The moor is a good spot for kulík zlatý in the winter and Pipits and Buntings during the Autumn. ostrohárka severská is a regular Autumn migrant here and skaliarik sivý and pŕhľaviar červenkastý can be found amongst the heather. pŕhľaviar čiernohlavý are very common too. Keep a look out for birds of prey. sokol sťahovavý, kaňa sivá, kaňa močiarna, sokol lastovičiar, sokol kobec, sokol myšiar (pustovka), plamienka driemavá and myšiarka močiarna have all been seen here.
A walk further towards Lands' End will find you at Trevean Pool. The pool itself is pretty much inaccesible but the surounding woodland is great for spring and autumn scarce migrants and overshoots like sedmihlások hájový, sedmohlások štebotavý, strakoš obyčajný and strakoš červenohlavý, penica fúzatá, dudok chochlatý and lastovička červenochrbtá. Keep a listen out for flyover kanárik poľný in Spring too! Anything can turn up here.
Resident birds include čavka červenozobá, krkavec čierny, škovránok poľný, ľabtuška lúčna, oriešok obyčajný, vrchárka modrá, červienka obyčajná and ľabtuška skalná.
From July through to late September, Porthgwarra becomes one of the UK's top seawatching hotspots. Some of the country's rarest seabirds have been seen from the cliffs at Gwennap Head including albatros čiernobrvý, tajfúnnik kapverdský, tajfúnnik admirálsky (yet to be accepted) and búrkozvest pestronohý. When conditions are right (South-westerly gales are best!) there can be thousands of víchrovník plavý, víchrovník atlantický, víchrovník tmavý, víchrovník baleársky and víchrovník malý with a supporting cast of víchrovníček morský fulmar ľadový, sula biela, pomorník príživný, pomorník malý, pomorník veľký, pomorník stredný, čajka vidlochvostá, lyskonoh ploskozobý, víchrovnícek severský and all manor of divers, ducks, auks, terns, gulls and waders flying past!
Details
Access
From the A30 near Land's End take the B3315 to Polgigga, just after the duck pond take the road signposted to Porthgwarra. This is a very narrow road and can be busy during the summer and weekends. Get there early to avoid the crowds! There is a pay and display car park, toilets and a nice cafe that does great coffee, cakes and pasties!