Cornwall 2014 - Tamar Otter & Wildlife Centre - 26/4/2014

I've always wanted to visit Cornwall so on the 26 April 2014 we decided to venture to North Cornwall for a few days. We were staying in Bodmin and decided to pop into the Tamar Otter & Wildlife Centre on the way.

It is situated near Launceston and even though it was a rainy day we still chose to visit. We got there just before 12pm and there was plenty of free parking - after we paid our entrance fee of £8.00 per adult we were told to head to one of the members of staff who was just about to feed the otters.

The Tamar Otter & Wildlife Centre

They have both British and Asian short-clawed otters living in very spacious enclosures. The employee who was feeding them was friendly and very informative about the otters, she had no problem answering our questions about them. I think she was impressed we embraced the weather and and seeing as it was only Dan and I at one point it felt like our own private tour. We were shown the British otters first who were highly amusing and noisy demanding their fresh fish.

An otter enjoying it's fresh fish

Once we saw all of the British otters she took us to see the giant rabbits and Jack the kestrel. The rabbits had just had kits and got one out for us to see - as you can see by the pic the 'baby' rabbit is huge! Jack the kestrel on the other hand was petite and beautiful :)

A not so small kit

Beautiful Jack the Kestrel

After she showed us around we were free to roam the rest of the wildlife park (nb - you don't have to spend any time with the staff, but it is great and informative). We made our way to the pond where there was an array of different waterfowl including coots with their babies, tufted and white ducks. Around the pond were a few other enclosures including a gorgeous little owl and there were a lot of feeders available for local wild birds to feed on. We were only there a short while watching them but saw blue, coal & great tits, as well as chaffinches and nuthatches.

Little Owl

Coal Tit

Nuthatch

Great Tit

Tufted Duck

...a flock of ducks

From here we headed up to the woodland enclosures, on the way we passed a few more creatures including chipmunks and cockatiels. You pass through a big gate to get to the woodland area where fallow deer, wallbies and muntjac roam free.

Chipmunk

Cockatiel

In the woodland area you can purchase deer food for 50p and feed the fallow deer. Unfortunately the only deer I fed was the greedy male stag who wouldn't let any of the other deers near me. I briefly looked away and all the food and paper bag had gone in one mouthful lol. There's also muntjac that roam free, but I didn't see any (probably because of the rain).

Feeding the greedy deer

Fallow deers look on in the rain.

They have a number of birds of prey in the woodland area including buzzard, tawny & snowy owls. There's also turkeys and wallabies that roam free, in fact we saw both a young turkey and wallaby with a joey which was a treat.

Buzzard

Tawny Owl

Turkey

Wallaby

Wallaby and joey

Turkey chick

The woodland walk is fantastic and there were even traces of Bluebells left giving the woodland some colour. Near an old quarry is where the Scottish wildcat enclosure is - they are Britain's rarest mammal and are there as part of a breeding and reintroduction programme. Unfortunately due to the wet weather we didn't see them :(

We made our way back to the main part of the park and visited the Asian short-clawed otters. They were extremely curious and we glanced at our watches realising it was feeding time again - hence the load screams!

There were also alot of peacocks around, including a beautiful white one - but they had the right idea and most were sheltering in the shed.

Asian Short-clawed Otters

Peacock

Guineafowl

The peacocks sheltering from the rain

At 2.30pm everyday they have a birds of prey talk and we were lucky enough to meet a beautiful harris hawk called Skylar and aa absolutely gorgeous eagle owl named Karulah. We had a really informative talk about the two of them and you could even touch them. Quite an experience to be so close to fantastic creatures like this.

Skylar the Harris Hawk

Dan meets Skylar

Karulah - Bengal Eagle Owl

We had a fantastic time (even though it rained almost all of the time we were there - that's Great British weather for you!) and we would loved to go back and see all of the things we missed like the wildcats, meerkats and otter pups. It's a lovely place and not too big that it would tire you out. They also have a gift shop and tea room there but being so wet we just wanted to get back to the hotel to dry off. Next time though we would love to try some food there :)

Tamar Otter & Wildlife Center was definitely a great start to our holiday and if anyone is in that part of the world and loves animals then this is a hidden gem. We look forward to returning...with nicer weather hopefully! :)

British Otter poses for the camera

Such characters but so beautiful

Check out their website here: www.tamarotters.co.uk

Highlights of North Cornwall - Part 1

At the end of April 2014 Dan and I visited North Cornwall. Neither of us had ever been to Cornwall before and we crammed so much in over the week it was hard to write a blog on each day. Instead I have decided to pick the best photos and my favourite memories from each day and put it all in two blogs.

Saturday 26th April

Tamar Otter & Wildlife Sanctuary 

The Tamar Otter & Wildlife Sanctuary is situated near Launceston. This was on the way to our hotel in Bodmin so we decided to check it out. The weather wasn't on our side and it rained the entire time we were there, but that didn't stop our fun though. They have both British and Asian Short Clawed otters as well as other animals including Scottish Wildcat, Wallabies, and an array of birds of prey. I have already written a blog on our visit which you can check out here: Tamar Otter & Wildlife Sanctuary Blog

Sunday 27th April

Tintagel Castle 

The next day of the holiday we ventured to Tintagel Castle. Unfortunately the day started off quite rainy but thankfully brightened up as the day went on. Tintagel is a lovely little village with quirky shops and buildings including the old post office - a 14th century stone house with a quaint wavy roof and of course the impressive cliff top castle. Our first stop in the village was at Pengenna Pasties to have a traditional Cornish Pastie - wow, they were fab - Dan had a Steak & Stilton pasty and I had Cheese and Onion. As you can see they were massive!

The Old Post Office

Pasty from Pengenna Pasties, Tintagel

The castle is set high on the North Cornwall coast and is steeped in myth and legend. It is said that it is the place where the legend of King Arthur was born and you can still visit Merlin's Cave where King Uther Pendragon met with Igraine and conceived King Arthur. The remains of the 13th century castle are breathtaking with stone walls and steep steps and fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean. There is also a lot of bird life and whilst there we saw a kestrel flying around the castle and then perched on a cliff opposite.

Kestrel on faraway cliff (taken on Dan's superzoom camera)

Steep steps up to the castle and the impressive cliff edge

One of the main archways of Tintagel Castle

The castle is built overlooking the Atlantic Ocean (also known as the Celtic Seas) and when you're at the highest peak you are treated to views of Gull Island and, beyond that, the bay of Port Isaac. It is very rocky and slippery in places and a few warning signs for 'steep cliffs' - I would recommend a decent pair of walking boots when tackling the steps and cliffs. 

View from the clifftops of Gull Rock in the distance

Standing on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean

On the cliffs there are lots of nooks and crannies that you can hide in and seek refuge from the wind. There are also a number of ruins of the settlements that the ancient kings of Cornwall once resided and the remains of dark age houses.

Me sheltering from the wind

Remains of settlements of dark age houses (pic by @danturner23)

Just below Tintagel Castle you will find Tintagel beach where Merlin's Cave is situated. The cave is a hollowed out area of rock that runs right under the castle. You can only access it at low tide and legend has it that you can still hear Merlin in there.

A cheesewring inspired stack of pebbles on Tintagel Haven.

Merlin's Cave

Tintagel Castle is enchanting and is one of Cornwall's most iconic attractions. It costs's only £6.10 for adults to look around the castle and there is a cafe, toilets and gift shop.  The village is lovely too and when we got back to the car we stopped at Treleavens and had the most delicious ice cream - key lime pie flavour...divine :)

Some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted!

Sunday 27th April

The Cheesewring & The Hurlers
Bodmin Moor 

The same day we decided to explore the ancient stones that are The Cheesewring and The Hurlers. They are both situated near the village of Minions and stand on the Bodmin Moor and as you can see by the pics the weather changed by the minute. 

The Hurlers are stone circles which has been there since at least the 1500s. Legend has it the name 'The Hurlers' derives from men playing 'Cornish Hurling' on a Sunday and were transformed into stones for punishment. Nearby stands two other stones that are called 'The Pipers' - they are supposed to be the figures of two men who were playing music on the same sabbath day.

The Hurlers with a dramatic sky

The Hurlers in the foreground with the Cheesewring in the background

The Pipers

Rocks, old buildings & dramatic skies

Not far from The Hurlers is The Cheesewring, a granite tor situated on Stowe's Hill. It is unbelievably a natural geological formation caused by weathering (the breaking down of rocks through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, organisms and water). The name derives from it resembling a press-like device that was once used to make cheese. Even though they say it is formed naturally I much prefer the legend that surrounds it. It is said that the Cheesewring is a result of a stone throwing competition between a saint and a giant.

There are many other impressive rock formations on Stowe's Hill. In the eighteenth century it is said that Druids worshiped the tors as 'rock idols' and also made basins on top of some tors to hold blood of their human sacrifices! The weather is also unpredictable and whilst by the cheesewring we experienced rain, sun, wind, mist and a rainbow :)

The Cheesewring with a rainbow in the stormy sky

The weather on the moors changes by the minute - this was taken only a few minutes after taking the above pic.

Some interesting shaped tors with me on top to show perspective.

One of the ritual basins with only water thankfully!
(BTW Dan thought it would make a great pic if I laid on one of these stoned...errr no!)

There's a lot of flora and fauna on the moors and whilst we were there we saw beautiful Scottish Blackface sheep daringly walking on the edge of the peaks and horses grazing near the old 1881 engine house of the South Phoenix mine  - At this time there were also a lot of lambs around which were adorable to see. The moors are a wild place and remain untamed but the livestock seem to manage well here.

Scottish Blackface sheep graze around the rocks.

The old Houseman's Engine House

A sheep with it's adorable lamb

Bodmin Moor is also teeming with bird life and whilst exploring around the moors we saw meadow pipit, raven, stonechat and wheatear. The wheatear are a summer migrant from Africa and Bodmin Moor is the breeding stronghold for them in Cornwall.

Wheatear (pic by @danturner23)

Raven (pic by @danturner23)

Meadow Pipit (pic by @danturner23)

Stonechat

It is easy to get lost on the moor and at the back of your mind there could be the Beast of Bodmin out there stalking you! Some people say myth, but there have been sightings of big cats on and off for over 20 years. In the 1970's it is believed several large cats were released onto the Moors, which of course would be a suitable location for a large animal to hide for many years. Sightings are becoming increasingly rare but you can never be too careful :) 

This part of Cornwall is fascinating and you could literally spend a day here exploring. It's got a magical feel to it, very similar to Stonehenge and it was definitely one of my favourite places from our visit.

Not sure why the look of distress LOL...I could be lost on the Moors?  (Dan's pic)

Sunday 27th April

Golitha Falls

The pretty cascades of Golitha

The day ended with us visiting Golitha Falls on the Southern edge of Bodmin Moor. The nature reserve is a site of SSSI and the River Fowey runs through it creating a series of spectacular cascades. We got there quite late so we didn't see much bird life (although there are over 30 species here) and because it was getting dark we didn't have many good pics.  But it is such a pretty place that would be worth visiting time and time again.

Part two coming soon with Bodmin Jail, Jamaica Inn and Brown Willy...