Coombe Valley, Cornwall

My dads photo

On the 13th of February, my family and I headed down to Cornwall for our holiday. We were going to be staying in a cottage in Coombe Valley until Friday. We went on many a walks, which gave us the opportunity to see lots of wildlife and spectacular views.

Another of my dads photos

The first morning we took a walk around the local area, which is mostly ancient woodland, it was brimming with nature! During this walk I thought I'd fully try out my Opticron Natura BGA ED binoculars. I'd normally go for a magnification of 8x42, however this time I thought I would try 10x42, and I have to say I love the magnification because it provides closer views. We saw plenty of Blue Tits, Chaffinches, Robins, Goldfinches, Blackbirds, Ravens overhead, Mistle Thrushes and a Goldcrest and Marsh Tit! It was a beautiful, bright, sunny morning, almost like a warm spring day!

My dads photo again!

My mums photo this time!

Longer walks later that day and later that week to several different bays and King Arthur's Castle in Tintagel also gave me plenty of opportunity to try out the binoculars for the whole day, luckily they are a nice weight yet still are very robust. We saw lots of the usual (Blackbird, Mistle Thrush etc.) but we also got great views of a Kestrel hunting over the castle ruins and lots of Fulmars! My binoculars provided a great, clear view of the Kestrel, so it was lovely to see. The Fulmars were sat on cliff edges, mostly in pairs, perhaps thinking about the breeding season?

And again..my dads photograph!

We took a coastal walk, which caused us to cross paths with several Stonechats; the Stonechats we came across were often sat on coastal scrub scanning for food. We also saw many Buzzards, often perched on posts all over, appearing very authoritative. On the last day I got a fantastic view of a Grey Wagtail on the thatched roof of our cottage, wagging its very long tail constantly, allowing us to see the yellow on it - this gave me a very big smile!