In winter, when water levels are high, it provides a refuge for Common Snipe and Woodcock. Raptors visit the area looking for prey, including Peregrine, Hen Harrier, Merlin, and occasionally a Short-eared Owl. In cold weather Firecrests move south-west and use the Willow scrubland to shelter for periods of the winter. Sometimes Siberian Chiffchaff is present too.

Spring and autumn see migrant birds using the land to feed and gain energy for their long journeys, whilst breeding birds return and leave. The familiar song of the Cuckoo is often heard in spring along with many breeding warblers such as Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, and Sedge Warbler. Pied and Spotted Flycatchers can often be seen at times of migration when they stop off for a few days to break their journeys. Green Sandpipers will stop at the wet areas, particularly on their return journey to Africa in July and August. One spring saw a vagrant Black Stork alight in one of the wet fields.

Red-billed Chough and Raven are seen year round, as are Barn Owls which hunt the fields at dawn and dusk.

Nearby moorland and heathland supports a small population of breeding specialities such as Dartford Warbler, Nightjar, and Grasshopper Warbler. The coastal waters here are also very productive for birdwatching: huge numbers of Manx Shearwaters move back and forth between their feeding areas offshore in the summer months and European Storm-Petrel is also present. Many rarer seabirds such as skuas, uncommon shearwaters (e.g. Balearic, Sooty, Great), and petrels (Leach’s and even Wilson’s) have been observed from Pendeen Watch. Winter brings divers and the great spectacle of many thousands of auks to the coast.