Young birder Ettie stars as 21 species spotted at Towan Head

Cloud and a stiff wind off the Atlantic did nothing to put off the small group who gathered on the cliffs above Newquay one recent morning. Five nature and wildlife enthusiasts spent the outing scanning the sea and sky at Towan Head, and by the time they were done they had logged twenty-one species of bird between them.

📷Jackdaw

A group brought together by Connect with Nature

The birdwatch was organised by Rowena Castillo-Nicholls, founder and chair of Connect with Nature, RSPB Kernow Group Leader and Publicity Officer of Cornwall Birds. Rob Nicholls acted as fieldtrip leader, guiding the group around the headland and helping put names to the birds moving along the coast.

Towan Head juts out at the western edge of Newquay, a spot where the land runs out and the watching gets good. Grey skies and gusts can make for tricky conditions, but they can also bring birds in closer to the cliffs, and the group made the most of the morning.

📷Juvenile Starling

Twenty-one species and one to watch

Among the five was Ettie, a young budding ornithologist who proved to have a sharp eye. She was quick at spotting and identifying birds, picking out species and calling them as the group worked its way through the tally.

The final count came to twenty-one species, a solid return for a cloudy, windy session on an exposed Cornish headland.

📷Great Black-backed Gull

Coffee, tea and a good chat

The outing wound down the way the best ones do, over coffee, tea and biscuits, with the group swapping notes on what they had seen. For anyone in Cornwall who fancies doing the same, Connect with Nature, the RSPB Kernow Group and Cornwall Birds all run outings and welcome newcomers, and Ettie is proof that you are never too young to start.

📷Group photo: Rowena Castillo-Nicholls, Rob Nicholls, Sarah Conibear, Rebecca Neal, and Ettie Neal.

📷Herring Gull