Visit West Cornwall

For those exploring the shoreline, the varied coastline provides ideal habitats in rock pools for the Cornish Suckerfish, blennies and gobies. Snorkelling and diving provide an opportunity to enjoy the colourful wallpaper created by the abundant sea life characteristic of the exposed west coast of Great Britain. Sea fans, anemones, seaweeds, encrusting algae and species of fish including various wrasse and sea bass are found on various habitats from rocky reefs to exposed sands and gravels. Sheltered waters support eelgrass beds where species such as the slug-like sea hare hide away. In winter, these areas are also host to important populations of great northern and black-throated divers, Slavonian grebes and large numbers of auks, which all find shelter in our bays during stormy weather.

Together, the coastal and inland heaths of West Cornwall form the second largest block of this habitat in Cornwall. They give the landscape a characteristic wild and rugged look. Set alight with the purple of heather and yellow of gorse during July and August they are home to some very special wildlife. Stonechats are never far away, and skylark, meadow pipit and whitethroat are a feature of many. Specialities such as the grasshopper warbler and the nocturnal nightjar breed in low numbers and so are best looked for on organised walks. Butterflies include both pearl-bordered and dark green fritillaries as well as silver-studded blues. Plants create fine displays with thrift and spring and autumn squill along the coast. Look out for the abundant lichen growth on rocks and trees, a real feature of our coastline thanks to the clean fresh air.

Perhaps the most striking of all, the Cornish Chough has now returned after a 50-year absence and since 2001 has bred successfully every year on the Lizard. Thanks to special protection 24 hours/day by the RSPB and the National Trust, this species is increasing and is now regularly seen around the Land’s End peninsula. Hopes are high it may re-colonise here too if the habitat can be returned to its former glory – so look out for this enigmatic species, Cornwall’s emblem, along the cliffs and slopes where grazing animals have been re-introduced for this purpose.

In winter, the heaths can seem desolate but winter thrushes appear, and peregrine, merlin, hen harrier, short-eared and barn owls hunt the moors. As the most south-westerly point in the UK migrants can turn up from all points of the compass and regularly do so. Over 250 migrant birds have been recorded in West Cornwall and birdwatchers visit here from all over Britain to come and see them.

The RSPB Hayle Estuary and RSPB Marazion Marsh reserves are the two major wetland sites in West Cornwall, which support most of the area’s saltmarsh and mudflats, as well as the largest reedbed in Cornwall. Best time to explore these is during the winter when cold weather ‘up country’ forces birds south and west to our milder climes. In very cold winters over 18,000 wildfowl, waders and gulls descend on the Hayle reserve whilst at Marazion the globally rare bittern is now an annual visitor. A shy, secretive bird with plumage to match the reedbed in which it lives, your best chance of seeing a bittern is at dawn or dusk. In 1997 there were only 11 pairs in the whole of Great Britain but the RSPB’s concentrated efforts across the country at its main wetland sites are improving the fortunes of this species. Although they have never bred in Cornwall, up to three regularly occur in winter at Marazion so it may only be a matter of time…

Although our beaches may be busy with people in summer, a variety of wading birds use them in winter when flocks of sanderling running like little white clockwork toys appear to chase the waves up and down the shoreline. Well-camouflaged turnstone hide away in the seaweed whilst black and white oystercatchers give themselves up with their piping “kleep” calls as you wander across the rocky shores.

Our network of streams and rivers are home to dippers and grey wagtails all year whilst kingfishers may be seen either here or around the sheltered bays during the winter. In recent years, there have been more sightings of otters reported but you would still need to be very lucky to see one.

Woodlands are a somewhat fragmented habitat in West Cornwall. Most of the coastal valleys from Penzance to St Ives contain woodland of sorts. Although generally small, some of the species they contain certainly aren’t and the introduced Monterey pine is one such example. This native from California grows well on our poorer coastal soils where damp but mild conditions allow it to reach over 100 feet during its lifetime. Such aliens, however, are poor for our native wildlife and the diversity they support cannot compare with our native wet woodlands and parklands. Here, bluebells and primroses carpet the woodland floors in spring, a time of year when bird song too can be intense.

The remaining mixed farmland with its characteristic ‘Cornish hedges’, a mixture of stone and earth, support declining farmland birds such as yellowhammer, reed bunting and skylark along with a number of rare plants associated with arable or cultivated land. These include species such as weaselsnout and western ramping fumitory, while insects can include the impressive hornet robberfly where cattle graze.

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