Off to Cornwall again then…

So, my next role brings me back to Cornwall, just two weeks after I was last here.  I call by the Marazion office again, but this time to meet up with the RSPB’s Claire Mucklow and the Cornish chough project.  I get a little bit of time to look around the Eastern part of the reserve, and see the usual array of passerines.  It still makes me smile hearing how loud the Cetti’s warblers are.

Once our hire van has turned up we head out to a place called Botallack, where I’ll be staying.  The Botallack Vean is a National trust property – they are also involved in the project – as is a lot of the land on Cornwalls South Westerly tip.  Nic, the project co-ordinator and I, go out to see if we can see one of our chough pairs, and they duly oblige with a fly-by as we are out walking.  Good start.

Day 2, and I’m shown another pair, who are apparently young but enthusiastic, and then an assortment of other choughs, including a couple of males who seem to be quite close.  So close in fact, that they seem to be ignoring the attention seeking actions of a local female.  They become known as the ‘boys’.  They like flying along cliffs in formation, especially with ravens and occasionally kestrels.

There is also one unringed chough about, which we are really hoping will hang around.  All the locally born choughs were ringed in the nest, hence we know what sex they are.  As with any small colony, it would be great to get some new blood involved to prevent the potential for issues arising from a small gene pool.

At the end of my second day, the sun is going down over the sea, the pipits are flying around me as I sit on my rocky outcrop, watching 4 choughs.  It’s a lovely evening, hello Cornwall, hello choughs.