Description
Winter is the best time to visit Hayle, as the number of birds in the estuary can be up to 18,000. Among the gull flocks, you can find črnoglavi galeb, mali galeb, rumenonogi galeb, polarni galeb, ledni galeb or even an American vagrant like a progastokljuni galeb. American kreheljc and ameriška žvižgavka can also be seen among the thousands of native teals and žvižgavka. In autumn and winter, among the more common waders, including many zlata prosenka, there could be črni martinec, žličarka, srpokljuni prodnik, mali prodnik, močvirski martinec, togotnik or an American wader like a prekomorski prodnik. Several different tern species can be seen on spring passage. The estuary is best viewed from the causeway bridge or the path around Carnsew Pool, which is favoured by veliki žagar and srednji žagar. All five of the world's diver species have also been seen there. The area is also good for vodomec and it's worth visiting the hide at Ryan's field for a chance to see one as well as the resident veliki škurh. In late summer, you may see an ribji orel visiting the estuary if you're very lucky.
Details
Access
By road - From the town of Hayle, go west on the B3301 Carnsew Road along the estuary, then turn left onto Chenalls Road (signposted St Erth) and take the first right into the car park at Ryan's Field. From there, you can visit the hide and walk to the causeway bridge and Carnsew pool.

