Bird watching in Cornwall
Whatever your personal level of interest in birds you will find a great deal to see and do not only around Little Music Cottage but throughout Cornwall.
Nearly 450 species have been recorded in the county (over 80% of the total recorded in the UK) of which some 115 are regular breeders, reflecting the richness of Cornwall's bird life.
There has been great excitement over the reappearance in 2001 of Cornwall's 'heraldic' bird, the Cornish chough, which has settled in the west of the county. These birds are protected by a round-the-clock watch by RSPB staff and local volunteers from CBWPS. Other rare sightings include a Golden Eagle which was
photographed over Stithians Reservoir in April, 2009. The previous one was nearly 200 years ago!
There is a daily diary of sightings at Cornwall Birding and lots of information at Cornwall Bird-Watching and Preservation Society including details of hides and reserves.
Around Little Music watch out for barn owls, peregrine, a pair of firecrests, skylarks, woodpeckers and heron amongst a wide 
variety of more common species such as swallows and swifts. Buzzards make a fine sight gliding on the thermals on a warm day, sometimes being mobbed by the hooded crows which nest in the engine house.
Most summer evenings you will also see bats flitting amongst the trees. They come from the 'bat castle' (a specially capped mineshaft) on the far side of the Wheal Rose to Porthtowan road.
The coastal walk from Holywell to Crantock was spectacular. Saw a grey seal in Joke Cove and a pair of oyster catchers in flight."