The Cornwall Blog

We are coming into Autumn, a season I truly love, and in which Cornwall shines - woodland walks to stunning sunsets, everything is aglow. From October through to December is also the best time to catch starling murmurations, the name given to the strange phenomena of flocks of starlings creating undulating shapes as they move through the sky. There is another reason why birds are on my mind, I have been working on our latest poster calendar at work as a graphic designer which has a bit of an ornithological theme. I have always found these strange clouds of black somewhat fascinating, experts are still not sure why the birds chose to do this. Is it to exchange information, to keep warm, to ward off predators - or perhaps just for the shear joy of it! Starlings are actually on the British birds at risk list, with numbers 80% down on what we had in the 1970s. In Cornwall though, we did see an increase last year, with areas such as Marazion Marsh seeing thousands of the birds returning. 

We've taken quite a battering in Cornwall with storm Eunice, and storm Franklin may well bring more damage. Thankfully I've only had sleepless nights and flickering lights but many around me have lost power and lost tiles. My mum's greenhouse, plastic, twisted into quite an impressive modern sculpture. Thankfully no one I knew has been hurt. I can't say I ventured out myself to get any photos but I have sought out some who have. With waves dwarfing defences and monolith trees crashing leaving chaos in their wake, there has been no shortage of drama.  Here are a few pictures that capture the storm perfectly.  Tom Cox caught on camera this casualty of storm Eunice, a tree in Bude thankfully fell away from the road. From The Guardian .  The post office on St Martins, the Isles of Scilly took a great picture of the crashing waves. From the BBC . Poor Porthleven always takes a battering, wonderfully moody photographs from Cornwall Lives ' Greg Martin. A little bit of fun

There is so much of this lovely county to explore - but how about seeing it in style? New Cornish business Cornwall Discovery has just been set up by Barry Pengelly, he aims to give bespoke tours of our diverse county in luxury and comfort.  The beauty of Cornwall Discovery is the flexibility, if you fancy a romantic picnic on the North Coast cliffs to watch the sunset, it can all be arranged. If you want to a tour of ancient churches and structures, a trip can be tailored. Or if you would like to be collected from the airport and discover the moors complete with history and folk tales, your wish is their command!   Barry has just launched his new website full of quirky photographs of some the gems that make Cornwall so special, I particularly like the cows who look wonderfully blow-dried! You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook to see some great snaps of this wild, wondrous and bizarre county.  Where would you go? To book your own tour contact Barry here .

Such an interesting perspective at The Eden Project, found by Maggie Beautiful shot of surfers on Polzeath Beach by Tom Barber Fine dining at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant, photograph by Andy Callard St. Mawes, photograph found on Tumblr St. Michael's Mount, photograph by JP Offord

Grey Heron at Marazion, Cornwall - 20/10/09 Looking out to sea at Marazion you observe plenty of turmoil in the restless waters, sometimes a bit like life. Take a 180 degree turn and you face the opposite in the tranquil waters of the marshes. Look at the water the heron is standing in in the photo above - not a ripple! Bird watching can be so peaceful calming & relaxing. All you need is a modest pair of binns, a pocket bird book for ID and a little patience. Don't worry if you can't ID a particular bird...just ENJOY the bird. The whole ambiance of the experience can be rewarding and there are plenty of places in Cornwall to visit. This month the fabulous starlings are putting on a full roosting display at Roughtor car park Nr. Camelford. My wife Steph & I were there last Sunday, there were 100s of thousands of them, what a spectacle! You need to get there at about 4pm. Don't miss it. Norman Greaves

Thanks to all the people who added captions to this photograph. Norman has read through them and selected a winner. The winning caption was written By Estelle: "Now look 'ere, you said there'd be other gulls in fancy dress!..you mean I've got to stay in this swan costume all day?!..how embarrassing..." Thanks for all your entries, we will definitely have to do another one soon! To see the others have a look at the original post here ...

Regular Bird Watching Contributor to The Cornwall Blog, Norman Greaves has asked if we can find a witty caption to this photograph. He took the shot a couple of weeks ago on The Camel River, near Anneka's Bridge in Wadebridge. He also took some other eye catching images when visiting The Lizard that we will be adding to the blog shortly. To get the ball rolling, he suggested: "Out of the way shorty!" Without being rude, I think you could do better... To see the winning entry, take a look at the results here ...

The Camel River in Wadebridge A few shots from my walk home today in the middle of a warm October. Only taken from my phone, so apologies for the low quality. If you think you can do better or would just like to add a few to the blog, please feel free to email us and we will take a look at them. Submit Photos . Bee Hives in Trenant Vale The Wooded Lane at Trenant Vale

These two images were submitted by Nigel Linton of Poynton in Cheshire. They are very atmospheric photographs taken this week in Rock, Cornwall, of the marina and sailing club. Nigel said, "We were down for my nephews wedding; it felt like an extension of summer."

Here are a selection of photographs taken in August 2009 of the Red Arrows' display over Fowey. They were taken by David Julian and really capture the unusual light and drama of the moment, as they carve up the sky in front of ominous rain clouds.

View from the footbridge at Wadebridge I took the photograph above on my phone a few nights ago, it was a very high tide and there were unique colours in the sky. It prompted me to put some photos of Cornwall on the blog. Spring blossom in Waderbidge Early morning in Padstow Harbour Surfers at Polzeath Beach Waterfowl on the Camel Estuary