Redgate Smithy B&B
~ Birdwatching ~

We have a lovely bird watching garden!

Sitting in the Conservatory looking out, or sitting out in the garden on one of the patio at Redgate Smithy, the birds can always be seen visiting and feeding, or wheeling and soaring overhead.

We even had a fine handsome example perched on a fence post at the top of the garden one morning. I'm not sure who was the more surprised, him or me, when I walked around the corner and saw him, then just stood stock still, eyes boggled, while we both looked at each other for a few seconds, before the buzzard just simply turned and lifted off with a couple of flaps of his big wings, and then glided gracefully across the field and up and over the opposite hedge. Amazing.

Draynes Wood and Golitha Falls are home to the three woodpeckers - the Great Spotted Woodpecker, the Lesser Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, as well as Buzzards, Sparrowhawks and Kingfishers. Also to be seen are Tawny Owls, Jays, Grey Wagtails, Dippers, Redstarts, Wood Warblers, Song and Mistle Thrushes, Pied Flycatchers, Marsh Tits, Treecreepers and Nuthatches. The several mine shafts and adits are also home to many bats, including the Lesser Horseshoe Bat.

Golitha Falls was featured in Bird Watching Magazine "Go Birding" in March 2002.

Siblyback Lake is another excellent birdwatching site, and has its own hide at the secluded northern end of the lake. The lake plays host to many birds, with Buzzards and Ravens frequently seen overhead, together with Peregrines and Ospreys. Kingfishers are resident. Other key birds include roosting wildfowl and gulls; Wagtails, Plovers, Dunlin, Sandpipers, Curlew, Wimbrel, Pipits, Stonechat, Wheatear, Redstart, Flycatchers, Goldfinches, Linnets and many others.

Siblyback Lake was featured in Bird Watching Magazine "Go Birding" in July 2005.

"Bodmin Moor is the most south westerly upland area in Britain, and numerous bird species have made this wild place their home... as well as being important for birds in Spring and Summer, Bodmin Moor also supports important numbers of birds in Autumn and Winter" (taken from "The Birds of Bodmin Moor - the results of a survey by the RSPB in 1999"). Among the key birds to be seen are Snipe, Wheatear, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Lapwing, Curlew, Sedge Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Stonechat, Redstart, Golden Plover and Meadow Pipit.

For more information on the Moor itself, see our Bodmin Moor page.

The estuary of the River Camel on the North Coast (near Padstow) is also very popular, and is a bird watching paradise. Following the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow, there are wonderful views across the open estuary of creeks, sandbanks and rocky shores. Wintering wildfowl include Wigeon, Long Tailed Duck and Goldeneye. Divers, Grebe, and many other waders can also be seen. In Spring and Autumn, there are many migrants to the estuary, while during the Summer there are Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant, Oystercatchers, and Gulls.

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust has more than 50 nature reserves around Cornwall, and most are open access at all times. The reserves are small and large, and cover various areas of woodland, wetland, grassland and heathland. Many of the reserves are excellent places for birdwatching.

Trust reserves that are accessible in our area include:

Cabilla and redrice Woods - Ancient woodland, river and wetland; 190 acres. Off the A38 in the Glyn Valley, turning to Cardinham (next to White Lodge). Possibly the finest ancient woodland in Cornwall. Birds include the Pied Flycatcher during the summer. The site also contains the remains of an old mine, and the old mine adit is home to many bats.

Helman Tor and Redmoor - Heathland, grassland, wetland, woodland and open water; 536 acres. Two and a half miles south of Bodmin, with several access points, including at Tredinnickpits, Breney Common and Helman Tor itself. There are many bird types typical to these types of environment, and there are also the remains of a neolithic hill settlement on Helman Tor.

Loveny/Colliford Reservoir - Reservoir with moorland; 316 acres. Access to the reserve is available from Deweymeads car park, just south of the A30. The reserve is an important site for birds, including the Lapwing and Golden Plover. Colliford Lake itself was constructed in 1981, and was flooded in 1984. Tracks can be followed all around it.

St.George's (Looe) Island - Cliffs, maritime grassland, scrub, woodland, sand/shingle; 22 acres. It is possible to get a boat to the island from East Looe, from Easter to September, and possibly at other times - check with Cornwall Wildlife Trust. A haven for wildlife, the island has the second largest colony of great black-backed gulls in Cornwall. Remains of a Benedictine chapel built in 1139.

Tamar Estuary - Tidal mudflats and saltmarsh; 998 acres Just over a mile north of Saltash, the foreshore can be reached from Cargreen village, Landulph, lanes from the A388, or Moditonham Quay. Among the many birds to be seen here are resident Shelduck, Kingfishers, and a large wintering population of Avocet.

For more information on these reserves, visit the Cornwall Wildlife Trust website.
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