Friday - 5th of September, 2008
This was the day we headed off to the Lizard. Weather was absolutely horrible the whole way down, localised flooding everywhere, torrential downpours, and roads closed. So needless to say we didn't really stop along the way. When we made it to the place we were staying, Parkdean Holidays - Sea Acres, the weather had not improved. So we stuck around the caravan while our son ran up and down the enclosed decking around the caravan. I recommend this park to anyone who wants fantastic views, doesn't mind a quiet site, and beach & coastal walk within walking distance. Here's the view from the coastal walk just beyond the very small 9 hole golf course, looking down at Kennack Sands.
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Saturday - 6th of September, 2008
Saturday was a bit of a bonus, as the weather forecast for the day was not promising. But we spent all morning and the beginning of the afternoon out and about, only managing to get rained on once towards the end.
We started our day at Lizard Point, where we took the walk from the National Trust's car park down to the point itself. Really were some spectacular views overall, and were even lucky enough to see a few seals in the cove before they swam off. The large rocks jutting out of the ocean were covered in seagulls of various types, cormorants and oystercatchers. Here's a few images of the area, and one example of how many cormorants were covering the rocks.
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| Lizard Point | Lizard Point |
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| Cormorant Rock | Lizard Point |
We also saw various types of wildflowers, such as Wild Radish, Sea Aster, Purple Dewplant, etc. Many of these were new to me, but here's a few examples of what we saw.
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| Sea Campion | Common Toadflax |
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| Purple Dewplant | Sea Aster |
We finished the day at Mullion Cove, this is when the weather caught up with us. Lovely little cove, with some great waves and the geology is amazing along the cliffs. But unfortunately no new wildlife photos to show from this place.
Sunday - 7th of September, 2008
A glorious day in Cornwall, the sun was shining, the wind was calm, and the temperatures warm. We took full advantage of the weather we SHOULD have been having all summer, and headed off to visit various places along the cornish coastline.
We started out at Polperro Beach. This was mainly for our 2 year old to enjoy, what child can ignore a sandy beach? But this beach was different than others I'd seen, absolutely covered in polished pebbles! I'm not sure whether these are imported or naturally created, but in either case, a lovely sight. The waves were noisy and impressive along this beach. No new sightings to be added from this location however.
Next stop was the RSPB's Marazion Marsh. We didn't get to spend nearly as much time as we would've liked here, but did find quite a few things while visiting here. There were certainly birds of all types around, including the various types of tits, wheatears, heron, little egret, etc. What caught my attention certainly was the large variety of wildflowers. I captured many new types of flowers here, but I'll show a few examples here.
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| Corn Mint | Skullcap |
There were also several insects of note, including various types of bees, wasps, dragonflies, butterflies, and many other things. I only captured a few photos of these, but will only show the one here.
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| White-tailed Bee |
And our final stop was the RSPB's Hayle Estuary. We didn't get to walk along the part furthest away from town, but we did manage to walk along the bit in the town. Walking along the road where the various garden displays are, we still saw a great variety of wildlife. Mark improved on our Curlew photo this time around - just proves the larger lens makes the difference! And we also saw a new bird (for us) which was the Knot. It was some distance away but still pretty visible even through binoculars. We did get a photo of him despite the poor lighting and distance.
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| Curlew | Knot |
There were a few flowers as well, in addition to the thousands of garden flowers lining the road. One was obviously an escapee from those gardens, Sweet Alison, but there were many other genuine wild ones. These included Sea Aster, White Campion, Purple Toadflax, Bristly Oxtongue, various types of vetch, thistle, and a bit of woody nightshade as well. Here's a few photos:
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| Sweet Alison | White Campion |
Last there were a few insects along the way. The gardens were full of various types of spiders and bees, most notably were the red-tailed bees, garden spiders, large white butterflies, and an alarming number of large white caterpillars absolutely destroying some plants.
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| Large White Caterpillar |
Monday - 8th of September, 2008
And this was our final day in Cornwall. We headed back home in the afternoon on this day, which still remained dry. We only made one stop along the way - to the Cider Farm in Truro. Definitely a spot to stop if your kids love to see a few animals, or if you've got a taste for various types of cider and/or jam! Lots of things to buy there, and free to enter the farm - as is the cider tasting! Unfortunately we got there when the animals wanted to nap, so no new photos from this place.
-Jen-
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