Another trip to Porthgwarra

A year ago I made a mad dash to Porthgwarra one Wednesday evening. I stayed overnight at Bodmin and arrived at Porthgwarra at 7.45 the next day to be told the Hermit Thrush had just flown up the valley! Three hours later it returned for about  30 seconds and I got a couple of decent photos.

Anyway a year later and BOOM! a Yellow Billed Cuckoo turns up in the same place! Now for the dilemma, will it survive the night and still be there in the morning? So its 2.00 in the afternoon and takes 6 hours from Nottingham to Porthgwarra in Cornwall and the bird hasn't been seen for two hours! So what do I do? Yep I grab my camera and toothbrush and head south. I arrived at Bodmin at midnight and arrived at the stated location at 6.30 the following morning not knowing if the cuckoo is dead or alive or even still there! At least I hoped I was at the right place as it was dark and sat nav took me to a car park with about 10 cars in it with their headlights on!

So off we set up the track in the rain and fog to a dried up pool about half a mile away. Finally at 9 the Yellow Billed Cuckoo showed itself tucked away in a bush. It was quite mobile and gave brief good views all morning despite the rain and fog. Happy with that I went for a Cornish pasty and coffee near the car park before returning up the valley. The cuckoo had relocated to a bush and was sat there about 10 meters away from my lens! As the afternoon progressed the weather improved and the bird became more mobile before perching on a dead tree right in front of me before flying quite a distance away!

Click click I had my photos, only one problem it was 6 and I had to get home to Nottingham. The journey back took 10 hours thanks to the A30 being closed! But did I care?