RSPB Ryan's Field and Hayle Estuary

Every time we're down in Cornwall Jayne and I like to pay a visit to  the RSPB reserve at Hayle Estuary and nearby Ryan's Field. We popped down on Monday for about an hour to see what was about.

First stop was the enormous, open-fronted hide on Ryan's Field.

Ryan's Field

The first bird we spotted was a juvenile Moorhen, followed closely by 3 Common Sandpipers that were feeding on the mud. Scanning over the site we soon picked up a few Mediterranean Gulls, including a juvenile bird, a Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, Herring Gulls and 2 Curlews. Just before we left, everything panicked and disappeared, as a female Sparrowhawk flew through and landed about 20m away.

Sparrowhawk

From there, we walked the 300m or so to the Hayle Estuary. On the way we spotted this day-flying moth, most likely a Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth. It could be the less common 5-spot Burnet Moth, but I can't be sure, so I'll stick with the commoner species..

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth

When we got to the estuary we scanned the mud flats and picked up dozens of Herring Gulls, a few more distant Mediterranean Gulls, a single Whimbrel (thanks Jayne) and 5 Black Swans.

Black Swan