Cornwall birdrace January 2026

 

Lesser Yellowlegs

This was the first Naturetrek Great British Bird Race, with tours taking place across eight counties in Britain. Our Cornwall group was based at the Marazion Hotel in Marazion, near Penzance — a charming traditional hotel with excellent rooms, a welcoming lounge, and first-class food.

The winter weather in Cornwall was challenging, with recent storms bringing heavy rain, flooding, and strong winds. Despite this, the group embraced the competitive spirit of the Bird Race, enjoying spectacular coastal, estuarine, and woodland habitats. Highlights included North American Lesser Scaup, Lesser Yellowlegs, Avocet, Spoonbill, Ring-necked Duck, Bonaparte’s Gull, and excellent sightings of seals and other wildlife. By the end of the tour, the group recorded a total of 94 species.

We had been allotted 48 hours to see how many bird species we could see, from 2pm on the Wednesday until 2pm on the Friday. It was a fun event although we all got immersed in the competition despite knowing we would be competing with the county of Norfolk, with its many reserves!

Here are a few of the sights and species we saw on our travels around Cornwall......

 St.Michael's Mount Marazion. 

Black-tailed Godwit

Greenshank

Redshank 

Gwithian

Godrevy island and lighthouse 

Ring-necked Duck (female)

Lesser Scaup (female)

Lesser Scaup (drake)

Bonaparte's Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Team Cornwall 

Team Cornwall at Walmsley

 

 

 

Grey seals, courtship and mating. Cornwall, November 2025

 Having spent 2 and a half hours counting, photographing and generally monitoring the Grey seals we were just finishing recording all the data for the Seal Research Trust when I noticed a boat offshore with people looking our way in a manner that made me think ..."something's up"!

A quick dash to the cliff overlook and I saw what they were peering at... there was a pair of seals showing really well and in courtship mode.

Fortunately for me and my camera the light was behind me and the seals were looking amazing. 

I was in a field above the cliffs at quite a distance from them and I was using a Nikon mirrorless camera on silent shutter with a 500mm lens and well aware not to disturb them. 

A few times one of them would glance my way but they were more interested in each other.

They stayed in the same area from 15:39 hrs when I first saw them until 16:20 hrs when another courting pair swam amongst them and the males checked each other out.

I took many photos so here is a small section of them.... still lots!