Category: Birds

  • Swift

    Swift

    Those screaming cries, that wheeling flight – the sound and sight of summer. Photo: © Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Nightjar

    Nightjar

    Summer visitors to the UK, the churring call of the male nightjar is an iconic sound of warm heathland evenings. Photo: © Natural England/Allan Drewitt

  • Blackcap

    Blackcap

    We are more used to seeing Blackcaps in the summer months, but increasing numbers now overwinter in the UK. Photo: Ron Knight (via Wikimedia Commons)

  • Mistle Thrush

    Mistle Thrush

    This Mistle Thrush found itself some tasty rowan berries near Gweek. Photo: © Richard Birchett

  • Carrion Crow

    Carrion Crow

    Carrion Crows can be seen throughout the year. All too often maligned in popular culture, these are amazing and intelligent birds. Photo: © Natural England/Julian Dowse

  • Hobby

    Hobby

    Hobbies fly with such agility and speed, they can even snatch swallows and swifts on the wing. Photo: Lilly M, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Ring Ouzel

    Ring Ouzel

    This member of the thrush family is easily mistaken at a distance for its cousin, the Blackbird, but a closer look gives the game away. A passage migrant across The Lizard, you may be fortunate and spot one in spring or autumn. Photo: © Natural England/Peter Roworth

  • Merlin

    Merlin

    The Merlin is our smallest bird of prey, but it makes up for its size with lots of grit and steely determination. Photo: © Richard Birchett

  • Nuthatch

    Nuthatch

    Nuthatches fiercely defend their nesting sites. A bird of broadleaf woodlands, it is also a frequent visitor to garden birdfeeders. Photo: © Richard Birchett

  • Pallas’s Warbler

    Pallas’s Warbler

    This autumn and winter visitor to The Lizard was hanging out at Coverack’s sewage works in early 2019. Photo: Dougy Wright

  • Glossy Ibis

    Glossy Ibis

    This beautiful wader used to be considered a vagrant, but is becoming a more common, if still occasional, migratory visitor. Croft Pascoe Pool, on Goonhilly Downs is a good place to spot one. Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Barn Owl

    Barn Owl

    Also known as the Ghost Owl, this nocturnal bird of prey can sometimes be seen hunting during the day. An early evening or dusk walk through the National Trust’s Penrose estate or Windmill Farm may well be accompanied by a Barn Owl’s screeching, or perhaps even a glimpse of its ghostly flight. Photo: © Richard Birchett

  • Firecrest

    Firecrest

    A flash of fiery bronze – watch out for flocks of beautiful Firecrests in the spring.Photo: © Richard Birchett

  • Woodchat Shrike

    Woodchat Shrike

    The Woodchat Shrike is a lovely species from further south that is an occasional vagrant to our shores. Photo: Dougy Wright

  • Teal

    Teal

    In the colder months, watch out for overwintering Teal on pools and marshes around The Lizard. Windmill Farm is a good place to look. Photo: Dougy Wright

  • Sandwich Tern

    Sandwich Tern

    Lizard Point is a great place for spotting migrant birds, such as Sandwich Terns, as they head to their breeding grounds. Photo: © Natural England/Allan Drewitt