Terry's Birding Diary

Friday 13th February 2009

2009-02-25T23:57:00.000-08:00

Unlucky For Some?

Yes, Friday 13th! Not a very good day normally for yours truly. Now, I'm not unduly superstitious, but I have had my share of really bad luck on this date over the years. Like when I was a child. I cycled with some mates to the local town (one of them needed a haircut!), completely forgetting that I had to go to my aunt's for tea as I my mother was off somewhere with my younger brother! Well, we got delayed and it had got dark when we returned to our bikes. No lights meant a hairy ride back up to our village, with cars zooming past just millimetres away, (but don't tell my Mum!!). I was still at junior school at the time, so you can imagine it was a bit scary. Luckily cars were not so frequent on our country roads then as they are now. Unluckily I was late getting to my aunt's and I got torn off a strip for it too!
Then a couple of years ago - Friday 13th again - I was chauferring my parents around for a few days whilst they were spending a few days down here in East Devon, when we decided to stop for lunch at a cafe in Honiton. I duly proceded to consume a hearty plateful of ham, eggs, chips and peas. I eventually arrived home late afternoon to hear of a Stone Curlew on the Axe Estuary near Seaton. As I had never seen one in Devon before, I went for it! I got reasonable views of it before it disappeared, never to be seen again. So, where the's bad luck associated with Friday 13th, I hear you asking yourself? Well, that evening I was very very ill! I had obviously had a very dodgy meal in that Honiton cafe. (Subsequent tests by the good doctor revealed I had succombed to severe food-poisoning!). So I paid for more Stone Curlew! I managed to lose a stone and a half over the next 10 days - not a recommended way of losing weight!
So, what of today? I first trundled down to Mudbank Lane, where due to the high tide, a large number of wildfowl were present, in fact the first large gathering of wildfowl for some time. Hordes of Wigeon were present, a little way out from the railway line, as were quite a few Shelduck and a very vocal lone Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Scanning through, the flock I discovered a drake Common Teal and a female Shoveler lurking within the masses. However, there was nothing else of note to be found at this site.
Later on, I trudged across from Knowle Hill, across the edge of Budleigh golf course and back into my patch, just east of Straight Point and Sandy Bay caravan park. On the sea here I found a small party of 7 Great Crested Grebes and a Red-throated Diver. A single adult Gannet passed offshore. I looked down on to the landslip and spotted a Fox, curled up asleep below me! However, I didn't see anything else of interest. I then trudged back to the car.

Thursday 12th February 2009

2009-02-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

Another Patch Yeartick

A quiet stroll along the cycle track at Mudbank Lane was the order of the day, or should I say lunchtime! The usual scene greeted me as I alighted from the car - several Shelduck, lots of Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatchers and a few each of Grey Plover, Dunlin, Little Egrets and of course, a multitude of gulls. I wandered along as far as West Lodge, where upon I found another local patch yeartick in the form of a Common Snipe, resting on the edge of the reedy pool. This pool always looks like it could produce something interesting, but I have yet to see anything unusual here. I think that the disturbance from the adjoining cycle track probably has something to do with it, but there again, on quiet days like today (hence Common Snipe) I'm sure if I keep plugging it, other birds will appear. It has the potential of being a nice little (with the emphasis on little) reserve. If it was screened off from the cycle track and a walkway put in along the side to a viewing screen............I'm getting carried away here!
I had a look out over the estuary from adjacent to West Lodge and was pleased to find a Great Crested Grebe and a female Goldeneye offshore. A Green Woodpecker called from the trees behind me. I then found a tiny group of 7 Knot shuffling around out on the tideline.
Having another look at the Common Snipe, I returned to the car, and thence work.

Wednesday 11th March 2009

2009-02-24T23:44:00.000-08:00

Bystock

Yes, it does sound like some hippy-fest does it not? However, Bystock Reserve, at the top end of Exmouth parish, is apart from being laid-back and incredibly peaceful (grab some flowers man!), a truly marvellous little reserve. It has a little lake, with some very large Coy Carp, surrounded by pines, a number of tiny ponds, (good for frogspawn and dragonflies), a large grass meadow (ideal for butterflies), a bog, a deciduous wood, and can be very wet underfoot, hence the raised boardwalks and steps in places! I decided to pay it another visit lunchtime.
A swift look at the small lake produced a single drake Mallard, an inauspicious start! I bumped into Glenn Vernall, and had a quick chat about what he'd seen. We disussed the paucity of Siskins in the area this winter, but Glenn indicated he'd had one fly over calling earlier. A Green Woodpecker flew past us, calling. I carried on up the path and Glenn left towards his scooter. About 2 minutes later, I had a Siskin fly over calling! This was a patch year tick. I strolled on up to the top end of the reserve, into the deciduous wood. I was soon watching a vocal Nuthatch, in a beech tree above me. A few common species were also seen including 3 tit family members. After getting taken in by the peace and solitude of the place, I soon realised that my daydreaming had made the time march on - got to race back to the car! On the way back down through the reserve, I heard a Raven calling and saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker near the lake. And so, having experienced an hour's worth of "good vibes" it was time to return to work.

Monday 9th February 2009

2009-02-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

And I thought it rained enough yesterday!

.........but it was truly awful today. There was a cold easterly wind blowing, and it poured with heavy rain on and off all day. Now, as well as hating being cooped up all day indoors, I also have to get away from work at lunchtimes, otherwise I would go insane! There was only one place to go lunchtime today, given the weather - the hide at Bowling Green Marsh! It was that sort of weather. Anywhere else in Britain if there was a bitter cold wind blowing from the east, and precipitation was great, it would SNOW like the blazes. Not here around the Exe! Yes, we get bitter cold wind, but the salty sea air makes sure that what would cover the country with a thick blanket of snow only falls as RAIN here! This makes it doubly unpleasant. Cold wind and heavy rain - roll on the spring! As I was passing Darts Farm a Sparrowhawk dashed across the road in front of me. I duly arrived at Bowling Green Marsh and kitted up, making the hide my first port of call. The wind was doing its best to blow big spots of rain through the slats into the hide. I had to position one of the benches a little way back from the "windows", set up my 'scope on its tripod and view as best I could. There were a large number of ducks present - Shelduck, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail and Shoveler all tried their best to make the day seem a little more colourful. Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank walked across the grass, probing in the very wet ground for food. On the main pool, a Little Grebe, 6 Pochard and a female Goldeneye were diving for their food. A few Dark-bellied Brent Geese were seen. I then decided to brave the elements, as the heavy rain had abated somewhat, leaving just a steady veil of rain. I wandered down to the viewing platform. Here were the obligatory Grey Plover, Curlew and Dunlin. This was more exposed than I would have wished for, so I quickly moved on round to the Goat Walk to view the upper Exe estuary. It was a little more sheltered here from the easterly wind and rain, and plenty of Avocets were feeding right in front of me. I then retraced my steps, seeing a nice flock of House Sparrows in the laneside hedgerow opposite Riversmeet. They may be dwindling in numbers but there always seems to be a regularly little flock here. I got back to the car, quite wet and starting to feel a bit on the chilly side, so headed back to work to warm up!

Sunday 8th February 2009

2009-02-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

Out in the Rain

I don't know about you, but I don't like being cooped up indoors for too long! So, when it decided to drizzle/rain lightly all day today, by the afternoon I was champing at the bit to get outside! I zipped down to Mudbank Lane where the tide was gradually rising. I managed to keep my optics fairly dry, but there wasn't a lot to be seen, the resident Greenshank being the highlight. There was acold south-westerly breeze blowing, so the drizzle was catching me in the face! I decided to have a walk around Maer Vale, so I drove up to Douglas Avenue, parked the car and wandered down the footpath to Maer Farm, seeing a few Long-tailed Tits on the way. Here there was a little more in the way of shelter from the rain. I had a Great Spotted Woodpecker by the side of Littleham Brook, in a dead elm, and a small party of Chaffinches brightened up the scenery, especially the males which are now showing bright breeding plumage! However, there no Brambling amongst them, a species I have not caught up with yet this year in Exmouth. I wandered up Maer Lane, then cut down through, recrossing the brook, slithering and sliding in the mud! A Jay flew over, again adding a splash of colour. By now the rain was getting a little more persistent, and I was getting a little damper and colder. Luckily it was time to go and pick up my good lady from work, so I arrived back at Douglas Avenue, packed my (damp) kit in the car, and arrived in good time.

Friday 6th February 2009

2009-02-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

Another grey day!

Today was the same as yesterday, grey and overcast. But the northerly wind was colder. I visited Mudbank Lane and the first birds I put my bins on were a Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank! They were feeding in the usual channel mouth just by the railway line. There plenty of the usual waders feeding out on the side of the waterline, with the tide nearly up to the side of the estuary. Also a few Pintail and Wigeon were evident today, whereas the large numbers usually encountered here in the earlier part of winter had moved on up the estuary to find fresher feeding grounds. I wandered along the track to West Lodge, seeing the usual Grey Herons and Little Egrets, and a pair of Buzzards sat on fenceposts. However, there was nothing unusual to be found. I turned round and ambled back again, a single Skylark flying over calling.
Later, I popped up to Bystock Reserve. There was a little ice on the surface of the lake in places, but most of the water was ice-free. A Cormorant was sitting on a partially-sunken log, an unusual species here. I walked up to the top end of the reserve, but the best birds I could find were a pair of Bullfinches and two Green Woodpeckers.

Thursday 5th February 2009

2009-02-12T23:33:00.000-08:00

Lunchtime Walk

As my wife had the car today, I spent my lunchtime taking a walk down to Exton, where I had a good look from the station platform, then carried on along Riverside to the railway crossing. It was probably the dullest day imaginable, with low heavy grey cloud which was stationary due to there being no breeze. It was also coldish which added to the depressive feel to things. The tide was right up, so most of the waders seen were just passing over, so to speak. There were 6 Goldeneye dotted about the estuary (there may have been more, but I was restricted to binoculars-only birding today). I noticed in the distance, across the other side of the estuary that something had spooked the waders on Exminster Marshes, and subsequently some of those birds flew over to my side! There plenty of Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits, a few Dunlin and Redshank, and a nice flock of Golden Plover, which wheeled around a couple of times before settling back down again. I reached the railway crossing to be greeted by the call of a Green Woodpecker.
A few Oystercatcher and a couple of Turnstone had passed me whilst walking alongside the estuary, but the best wader was found when I returned to the station platform. Just south of the station, a small pebbly promontary sticks out into the estuary just a few metres. This is used as a high-tide roost by a very small number of waders and usually, a couple of Cormorants, and sometimes the odd Grey Heron or Little Egret. Today however, there was a Whimbrel there walking around! This was my second one this year. There is one overwintering (again) at Budleigh Salterton, and there have been reports of one from Dawlish Warren as well earlier in the year, so maybe this is the Warren bird. It eventually strolled slowly over the pebble ridge and didn't return, so it probably decided to rest there over the high tide. I then returned to work, passing a Grey Wagtail in damp fields alongside the railway line.

Wednesday 4th February 2009

2009-02-11T23:46:00.000-08:00

Slavonian Grebes

After yesterday's mini-glut of patch yearticks, today was a disappointment. I couldn't seem to connect with much at all! I first went to the seafront, where I saw very little. So I visited the Shelly Beach area and watched a few waders fly past, as it was high tide. There were the usual Oystercatchers, Curlews, Turnstone, Dunlin and Redshank, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, whilst I was scanning along by the gaudy appartment blocks, I found 3 Slavonian Grebes swimming along together close in to where I was standing. These continued to perform right in front me, and I enjoyed watching their diving and resurfacing, sometimes right alongside some of the small boats moored in the channel. I decided to have a quick look at Mudbank Lane before returning to work, but again, this threw up few birds.

Tuesday 3rd February 2009

2009-02-10T23:36:00.000-08:00

A Very Cold Day

As it was cold with snow flurries, and a south-west wind, I decided to search for cold weather-movement birds today. This paid off as I parked up at Foxholes Hill, then strolled along to Orcombe Point and up the coastpath to High Land of Orcombe. Firstly though, I stopped at the point and did a seawatch. In half an hour I had logged 12 Red-throated, and single Black-throated and Great Northern Divers, a Great Crested Grebe (a patch yeartick) and 22 Common Scoter (some of which were sat on the sea). There were about 15 Song Thrushes around the point fields, a sure sign of cold weather-movement, then I found another patch yeartick in the form of a single Lapwing. Better things were to come though as I trudged up the path to the top fields. Last year in this one particular field, I was fortunate enough to add Lapland Bunting, Woodlark and Short-eared Owl to my Exmouth Lifelist. Today I found 75 Golden Plover in the same field, which strangely enough seem to be my first ever on the local patch! As if to make sure I had noticed them, they flew around a few times their lovely golden and brown plumage catching the light as they twisted and turned in flight. Marvellous! Just to add to the general scene, a feeding flock of 50 or so Curlew were present just down the lane. However, I was not done yet and a look in at Maer Farm revealed 4 Red-legged Partridge in the barnyard. These were my first in Exmouth this year, so I did well today for patch yearticks:
Great Crested Grebe, Lapwing, Golden Plover & Red-legged Partridge.

Monday 2nd February 2009

2009-02-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

Local Patch Yeartick

Another cold day today, but with much more sunshine. Lunchtime saw me heading down to Shelly Beach. I did my usual march round the appartment blocks and watched the birds flying past as they left their high tide roosts and zoomed towards their feeding grounds being left exposed as the tide started to drop. Plenty of common waders flew by, the best being a small group of Knot. However, apart from a female Goldeneye, there was nothing of particular interest to note.
I decided to have a look at Mudbank lane, as more mud was becoming exposed , but duck would still be in close to the railway line, making viewing fairly simple. I first concentrated on the duck. A few Pintail and Wigeon were feeding just off the tideline, and 9 Common Teal were with them, not always an easy bird to connect with in Exmouth. My only Teal so far this year on my local patch had been a drake on a tiny tiny pond up at Bystock Reserve. However the best species were 4 (2 pairs) of Shoveler, a local patch yeartick, and one I didn't see at all last year in Exmouth! I then searched through the waders and gulls, but the only bird of note amongst these was the resident Greenshank. Unfortunately I then had to return to work!

Sunday 1st February 2009

2009-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Biting Cold Sidmouth

Julia and I travelled over to Sidmouth today, but found it very cold with a biting cold south-eaterly wind coming straight in off the sea. I dashed round Connaught gardens, which being on top of the cliff, were more exposed than usual! I peered down on to the sea with watering eyes, and found a pair of Common Scoters diving in the surf, below the cliff. I next got my telescope on one of the rock islands which have been placed there to break up heavy seas and save the seafront from huge batterings. There, stood on the leeward side were 2 Purple Sandpipers, my first of the year. They soon disappeared down between the rocks, obviously sheltering from the elements. I could not find anything else worth mentioning and my eyes were watering so much from the continual blast of very cold wind that I soon retreated back to the car.

Saturday 31st January 2009

2009-02-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

Football and birding do go together!

I drove into Exeter this afternoon to see my team, City, play. There was plenty of banter as I had my son and his girlfriend with me. On arrival, I headed for my usual parking spot in Polsloe Road. We were getting kitted up with warm clothing, when I suddenly spotted a strange large bird flying towards us from the west. It appeared to be a raptor, but not just one of the multitude of Buzzards we normally encounter round these parts, this bird had a long thin tail! I rapidly reached into the car for my bins, focused, and confirmed my suspicions that the bird was a Red Kite! I have seen this bird a few times in Devon, including one a couple of years ago that flew low over my house! But I am always enthralled to watch these beautiful birds as they fly over, twisting their long, forked tails to add to stability of flight. This one flew at a height of about 100feet and passed slowly over us. Of course, I was jumping up and down with delight, oblivious to other footie fans walking past (and probably thinking I'd just escaped from the local institution). Nevertheless, I eventually calmed down and stopped embarrassing my son and his girlfriend (I even managed to try and get them to see the bird!). It eventually disappeared behind some rooftops. We then went on to the ground where, inspired by a Kite flypast, City won 2-1!

Friday 30th January 2009

2009-02-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Not much better today!

I paid 2 visits to Mudbank Lane today, once during lunchtime and again a quick trip there after work. Again, there was a cold south-easterly wind blowing and it was very very dull and overcast. Only 2 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were present and the only duck present were a few Shelduck. In the distance towards the Imperial Ground, there were over 100 Knot feeding on the mudflats, not a bad number for Exmouth! A Grey Wagtail was again present in the channel through the mud the other side of the railway line. The later visit revealed a Spotted Redshank and the resident Greenshank in the channel.

Thursday 29th January 2009

2009-02-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

Cold and Windy!

I visited Orcombe Point today, but immediately thought it a daft thing to do, as I arrived and found the wind howling in very cold from the south-east, straight off the sea. Now, out on the point I usually seawatch from behind some clifftop bushes which give me some protection when the wind is coming anywhere from the west. Easterlies mean a darned good buffeting, and trying to hold on to your tripod and telescope! Such was the weather today, I soon retreated back to the car. A Red-throated Diver passing south-west was the highlight. What did seem rather funny was a party of 10 Long-tailed Tits passing through the bushes by my side, right in the teeth of the strong wind. The bushes were being blown all over the place, so as you can see the smallest bird in the UK (if you remove its tail!) is very resilient!
I soon found myself down at Mudbank Lane where it seemed a bit calmer. However there wasn't much to be seen here, save the resident Greenshank again. It was one of those days you just have to put down to experience!

Wednesday 28th January 2009

2009-02-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

Another Local Patch Yeartick

A fairly mild day with a southerly breeze and plenty of sunshine. I popped back into Exmouth at lunchtime and wandered round the Shelly Beach area, but there wasn't much to be seen save for a couple of Goldeneye just offshore. So I popped round to Mudbank lane, where I set up my 'scope and had a look over the railway line. A Greenshank was present as usual in the channel through the mudflats. 7 Knot were seen a little farther out. I was just about to head back to work, when I thought I'd better check out the gulls in front of me. Luckily I did, because I was soon looking at an adult Mediterranean Gull in winter plumage. It was loafing on the mudflats with a group of about 100 Black-headed and a couple of Common Gulls. This was my first on the local patch this year, and took my patch yearlist up to 101 species.
After work I popped up to Bystock reserve and had a quick zoom round before it got dark. I heard a Green Woodpecker calling near the top end of the reserve, and later had a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying over near the lake. However I saw nothing else of note until I got back to the car, where a Marsh Tit flew into the trees by the car, and started calling loudly (presumably to make sure I had seen it!).

Monday 26th January 2009

2009-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Working the Local Patch

I popped down to the Shelly beach area of Exmouth again at lunchtime, after a fruitless look at Mudbank Lane. The tide was out, but there was plenty to see. Just off the beach in a channel between the beach and a raised musselbed was a Little Grebe, a local patch yeartick. 5 Goldeneye were also just offshore together with the usual Red-breasted Mergansers. In the distance across the other side of the estuary I could see the Spoonbill again, at Starcross. A cold northerly wind was blowing down the estuary, but a little sunshine now and then brightened things up a bit.
Later on I paid a visit to Withycombe Raleigh Common, where I had very close views of one of the local Buzzards and the sun was shining continuously until it set. With the sun going down, a few birds dropped into the area to roost. A few Linnets were watched flying in. Best of all though was a female Crossbill, which flew over calling, before dropping in to Bystock Reserve, albeit some distance from where I was standing on WRC. Five minutes later a pair of Yellowhammers dropped into the gorse and heather, also calling as they approached. The latter were my first of the year anywhere!

Sunday 25th January 2009

2009-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Aftern-oon

Walk

Had an hour to spare this afternoon, so I drove over to Douglas Avenue, parked up, and took the footpath down over Littleham Brook, through Maer Vale up to Maer Lane. It was fairly quiet birdwise, despite the mainly sunny afternoon. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling near the stream and a flock of over 50 Chaffinches was given a good grilling for Brambling, to no avail! I saw that there was a small flock of Pied Wagtails in the ploughed field at the bottom of Gore Lane again, so I waited to see if anything else presented itself, as the birds kept popping up from deep in some furrow! A few Meadow Pipits were also present. However, all was revealed when a male Sparrowhawk flew low over the field!

There were twice as many wagtails and pipits as I thought there were, and also emerging out of the furrows were a couple of Skylarks, my first on the local patch this year. I carried on round, recrossed Littleham Brook, and eventually arrived back at the car, without seeing anything else of note. It was then time to go and pick Julia up from work.

Saturday 24th January 2009

2009-01-28T23:32:00.000-08:00

Tavistock

We had to go to Tavistock today to visit the father-in-law, who's just moved house. On arrival, we had time for a quick walk alongside the River Tavy before the visit, so off we went. It was a sunny, but cold day with a north-westerly breeze. After our walk, a couple of light showers passed through. There wasn't really much to see birdwise, until I spotted a Dipper stood on a small rock almost at water level. It suddenly plunged in to the river (about a foot deep here) and surfaced again with a tiny fish. It beat it against a rock and rubbed it up and down a couple of times before swallowing it! Abruptly, it plunged back into the water and again, surfaced with another tiny fish, which it gave the same treatment as the first. This occurred perhaps another 3 or 4 times before the bird just settled down to stand on the rock, blinking its white eyelids every so often. I have always been intrigued by dippers, since finding my first one as a small child on my local river in Wiltshire. I have watched them for hours over the years, finding them quite unique. I have watched them walking under water lots of times, always going upstream whilst submerged, the force of the water keeping the bird stuck to the bottom. They soon bob up again when they want to! The Tavistock bird was my first this year. At the end of our little walk, I noticed a pair of Goosander flying high over the town, following the course of the river downstream.

Friday 23rd January 2009

2009-01-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

Some Nice Relaxing Birding

Exactly what I did early this afternoon! I parked up opposite Littleham church and wandered down Elm Road to the footpath that goes across the field to Green Farm. After the rain we've had, the ground was very squelchy underfoot. Good job I had my wellies on then! Today there was a cold north-westerly wind blowing, but for the most part it stayed sunny. A Raven was a nice surprise, stood alongside the brook which runs through the meadow. 2 Little Egrets were feeding in a field by the farm with lots of gulls - an unusual place to see them. Mind you they tend to be everywhere nowadays! I passed the farm and carried on down into Maer Vale, where a pair of hunting Sparrowhawks were seen on and off during the walk.
Eventually I reached the set-aside field which lies adjacent to the footpath connecting Maer Farm with Douglas Avenue. In here was my first Stock Dove of the year for my local patch. I crossed Littleham Brook by the ford - there's a tiny stone footbridge here thank goodness, and was soon watching a Common Chiffchaff feeding in a hedgerow within a few feet of me. This was also my first in Exmouth this year. Carrying on up the muddy track (seemingly slipping back 3 paces for every forward two I took!) I arrived in Maer Lane. On reaching Prattshayes Farm (some wonderful poetic farm names round these parts!) I noticed a few thrushes in the field next to the lane. Peering through a convenient gap in the hedge, I had stunning close views of 6 Fieldfares, 3 Mistle Thrushes and a solitary Redwing. The Fieldfare were my first on my local patch this year too!
I then followed the lane along into Littleham village and wandered around the churchyard. I sheltered from the cold wind, behind the walls there, and a few birds were doing the same, including a Green Woodpecker which was probing the ground for food amongst the tombstones and a couple of female Bullfinches which were sat in a low bush. I then pottered over the road to my car and left the area.

Thursday 22nd January 2009

2009-01-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

One of those days!

Funny how sometimes you can have a torrid birding visit to a usually fruitful site, only to follow it up with a super visit to another place just down the road. My 2 visits today were alike as chalk and cheese! Firstly the boring bit - I visited Bystock Reserve and WRC (remember that?). Highlights were a Great Spotted Woodpecker heard on getting out of the car, and a little later a couple of Goldcrests. Yep, it was that exciting. However, later in the afternoon I popped down to Mudbank Lane in Exmouth and scanned over the estuary where the tide was right in. At first I thought my luck hadn't changed. Usually there are masses of Wigeon, Pintail and Dark-bellied Brent Geese to seen here. Today there was a single female Wigeon! Obviously something had disturbed the birds. Cursing the day I was having, I 'scoped a little farther out. A female Goldeneye was seen diving in the shallows over Cockle Sand. I was aware of a fair few gulls flying in to roost, coming down the estuary. Mindful of the fact that an Iceland Gull had been reported at this time yesterday, I decided to check the gulls flying in. Several of the gulls were flying in over the submerged Cockle Sand (entering my local patch boundary) and landing on a fairly distant protruding sandbar. I soon picked out an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, a patch yeartick, but this was quickly surpassed by the Iceland Gull flying in over Cockle Sand and landing next to the Lesser Black-back! This bird was an immature bird, I tend to lean towards a second-winter bird, as it was quite white, where a first-year tends to be a bit more biscuit-coloured. I quickly 'phoned the news out, and within 15 minutes was joined by 3 other birders, who I eventually managed to put on the gull. The bird was quickly becoming hidden by arriving gulls, however, luckily it had developed an uncanny knack of moving further away from the incoming gull rush and showing fairly well, even if it was quite distant. So, after a very lean day for birds, I was finally rewarded by persistance

Wednesday 21st January 2009

2009-01-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

Orcombe and Maer Vale

Yes, that it the right spelling! I haven't got 2 left hands for typing! Maer Vale runs from the Maer on Exmouth seafront right the way up to Littleham village (which has now been swallowed up by the town of Exmouth). Maer Vale is a small tract of countryside flanking Exmouth on the east side, with a stream (Littleham Brook) running right down through the middle. I hope it never gets built on, as it is a haven for wildlife, albeit mainly common species! So an early afternoon trudge round from Orcombe Point, where I did a swift seawatch, up the coastpath to the High Land of Orcombe, then down through Gore Lane and into Maer Vale. 2 Red-throated Divers flew west off the point, and I got my first Exmouth Fulmar of the year. 2 Common Scoter were sat on the sea there, and two more flew past. I wandered up over the top fields, then down Gore Lane, where a flock of c. 60 Pied wagtails were feeding in a ploughed field, together with 4 or 5 Meadow Pipits. On reaching the stream in Maer Vale, I was lucky ehough to connect with my first 2 Mistle Thrushes of the year, anywhere. 28 Curlew were feeding in a grassy field, behind Foxholes Hill, and a Sparrowhawk flew low down the valley. On finally returning to the car, I was rewarded with another view of a Black-throated Diver, passing westwards towards Dawlish.
Yeartick: Mistle Thrush. Exmouth yearticks: Common Scoter, Fulmar, Meadow Pipit.

Tuesday 20th January 2009

2009-01-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

Withycombe Raleigh Common

WRC as I call it (for obvious reasons!) is a tiny part of the important East Devon pebblebed heathland. Even more important as far as I'm concerned is the fact that part of it sits nicely within my local patch - namely Exmouth Civil Parish Boundary. It's not called pebblebed for fun. You can walk round it, and bruise a toe quite easily against a bleddy great pebble the size of a football if you don't look where you're going. When one is out birding here, one does tend to not look where one is walking. Hence yours truly has permanently bruised toes! Seriously though, it is a wonderful stretch of habitat, and contains a small selection of bird species which I would struggle to see on my patch otherwise. If you read this blog regularly you will see what WRC has to offer over the year. I'm not about to list all the species down here now!
To cut out my rambling, I will just say that I paid the area a visit at lunchtime today. It was sunny and quite springlike for the first time this year. We don't usually get much of a winter in these parts, so this season has been a bit of a shock to the system! However, today was one of our more normal January days weatherwise. A Blackbird, a Robin and a Great Tit were singing away, heralding the spring which won't hopefully be too far away. A Coal Tit was calling from a firtree. Then I heard the distinctive call of a Dartford Warbler, scolding me as I went past. Thank goodness, at least the cold spell hasn't decimated this species, which is always prone to very cold weather. A Raven flew over 'cronking' and shortly afterwards a Peregrine zoomed over the horizon heading towards the coast. (There is a fine distant view of the sea from up here!). All good things come to an end, and I had to retreat back to the office sooner than I would have liked.
Exmouth yearticks: Dartford Warbler (also a 2009 tick) and Peregrine.

Monday 19th January 2009

2009-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

Back with the birding!

I do this every so often. Have a break from birding. So, the weekend passed with me spending some time with the family, especially as my wife had the whole weekend off. I got some chores done too. Saturday afternoon was spent following my other great love in life after my family and my birding - watching Exeter City FC! Ok so we only drew 0 - 0, but it was great to be back at the park, after our last 2 home games had been postponed due to an icy pitch. It was also good not to have it too cold to sit and watch the game. The last time I went I'm sure that when I got up from my seat, certain parts of my anatomy were left still frozen to the chair! I haven't missed a home game yet this season.
So today I popped quickly into town to do a couple of chores, then I zoomed round to the seafront and set up my telescope. I was lucky enough to see a Slavonian Grebe just offshore, which was an Exmouth yeartick. I love these little birds. Even in winter plumage they appear so clean and sharply marked. Whilst scanning around the bay, I soon found another Exmouth yeartick. This was a Great Northern Diver - an adult in winter plumage. Miraculously it stayed on the surface for quite some time, only diving occasionally and resurfacing not too far from where it had dived. Most of the diver family have an uncanny knack of getting lost from view. They dive, then pop up several hundred yards from where they disappeared, which can be frustrating when trying to put other birds on them! I had no such problems today - there was a nice obliging diver, and not another birder in sight.

Friday 16th January 2009

2009-01-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

Orcombe Point

A wander around the Orcombe Point area early afternoon was reasonable for seabirds, but the strong south-south-west wind made sure that any small passerines kept below cover! I pulled up at Foxholes Hill, kitted up and was immediately treated to views of a female Sparrowhawk circling round in the wind, being mobbed by gulls. I ambled along to the point where I took shelter behind my usual hedge, set my 'scope up and started scanning the sea. A few Guillemots and Razorbills passed by. A Red-throated Diver was found sat on the sea, just out from the obelisk, and shortly afterwards I found another further out. Only one Gannet (an adult) was seen and 5 Dark-bellied Brent Geese flew swiftly past. I was aware of some alarm calls given by a couple of Blackbirds and a Robin. I took my eye from the 'scope, and put up my bins, just in time to see a male Sparrowhawk hunting low over the hedgerows (as if the wind wasn't enough to keep the small birds hidden from view!). I was being buffeted a bit by the wind, despite hiding behind the hedge, so I wandered up to the High Land of Orcombe to check the top fields. Big mistake! The only birds I saw were a cock Pheasant, and a small flock of Redwings, the latter seemingly squat and glued to the ground, in an effort to keep out of the wind! I returned back to the point and had another brief seawatch for a few minutes. This time I was rewarded by the Red-throated Divers being still present on the sea, and best of all, a Black-throated Diver, which flew past close in, into the teeth of the wind. Time was called by a solitary Kittiwake drifting by. I then had to pack up and leave.
Yeartick today: Black-throated Diver.
Exmouth yearticks in addition to the above diver were: Red-throated Diver, Sparrowhawk, Pheasant, Guillemot, Razorbill & Kittiwake.

Thursday 15th January 2009

2009-01-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

Blowy Budleigh

A visit to Budleigh Salterton today, as the wind was strong and coming in from the south. The sea was quite rough, and on arrival, it was obvious that quite a lot of seabirds were passing south-west. A Fulmar passed by, as were lots of Razorbills and Guillemots. Small numbers of Kittiwakes were on the move too. The female Eider was still just off the River Otter mouth, as were a group of 25 Common Scoter. 2 Red-throated Divers were also watched passing south-west. After standing under the seafront shelter for quite a time, I was still having to cope with the wind blasting more or less straight at me, although the shelter did give me some form of protection. I decided it was the right moment to take a break from this onslaught and wander up alongside the Otter estuary. A couple of Little Egrets were seen, as were a couple of Common Redshank. A small group of Curlew were feeding on the cricket pitch. Luckily, with them was the overwintering Whimbrel! I wandered on up to White Bridge, then turned round and came back.
I was aware of lots of gulls, especially Black-headed, drifting slowly westwards fairly high over the estuary. I decided to stop and scan these for a while (to be honest I didn't fancy braving the elements on the seafront just yet!). Plenty of Black-headed, several Herring and a few Common Gulls drifted over. "Hang on, what's that?", I thought, noticing a flash of white wing-tips. Thorough scrutiny revealed an adult Mediterranean Gull gradually working its way west, sometimes briefly circling with the flock.
It disappeared into the distance towards the Exe and I disappeared back towards the seafront. The Whimbrel was still showing well on the cricket pitch as I passed. On reaching the seafront, there were still plenty of auks passing south-west, but after a few minutes of wind torture, I gave up and returned to the car.
Yearticks in order today: Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Whimbrel & Mediterranean Gull.

Wednesday 14th January 2009

2009-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

Hawfinch!

It was a cloudy day with a few spits of drizzle now and then but over the lunchtime period, it wasn't too bad. It was a mild day with a southerly breeze. I decided to go and have another look at the Scaup at Countess Wear to put it on my 2009 yearlist. I parked up and strolled up the canal to the Double Locks pub. There on the water, just the other side of the frozen-up bit, was the female Scaup, still performing very well. Not much else was seen here, even though I looked through the screens at Riverside Country Park, viewing over the reedfringed scrapes.
On a whim, I decided to try and see the Hawfinch that has occasionally been seen at Ide! Now, me and Hawfinches have never got on very well. It took me about 15 attempts to connect with one when we first moved down to Devon all those years ago. I remember standing on a driveway in Doddiscombsleigh (try saying that when you've just come out of the Nobody Inn!), for hours waiting to see one. I also remember finding my first when I was a child, just down the lane from where I lived in Wiltshire - I only ever saw them once again in all my years of living there! In my twitching days, on a trip up to the north of the country, we would often pop into Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire (a proverbial Hawfinch Hotspot!) on the way back from a twitch and view a lot of empty trees! Speech House in the Forest of Dean in deepest Gloucestershire is supposed to be good for them. Nah, don't you believe it - I only ever saw them there once in about a dozen visits! Anyway, to cut a long Hawfinch story short, I arrived at the prescribed spot to the west of Ide, more in hope than anything. It didn't start out too good. A mechanical excavator was making a hell of a din on the hillside behind me, a group of noisy people all armed with axes and saws, trundled down over the fields talking at 40000 decibels and then a large, very noisy lorry crept slowly up the lane taking the half the hedgerow either side with it! I reached a point, and thought "That's it - I've had enough". I retraced my steps, and miraculously, it had all gone quiet. The lorry had gone - it was probably wedged in the lane further on up the road! The axesfolk had chopped off somewhere and the excavator had presumably stopped for lunch. I scanned the fields and hedgerows and the tops of all the trees. I nearly passed it by at first, a pale pinky-sandy blob sat partially obscured in a small ash tree. I got my 'scope on it, and realised it was the Hawfinch sat looking away from me. After several minutes, the bird decided to shift position slightly, turning its head and showing off its huge bill, and little neat black bib! Wow! My first one for several years. I watched it for several more minutes, then left it in what was presumably a short-lived peace!

Tuesday 13th January 2009

2009-01-19T23:54:00.000-08:00

Around my local patch

Right folks, this is where I get all thrifty and economical. Having accomplished my usual early New Year blast at a yearlist, it's time to draw in the reins a little and concentrate on the local patch. My patch consists of the area within the Exmouth Civil Parish Boundary and offshore from there. I have large scale maps of my patch produced and do not count any bird that is seen outside the boundary, while I am stood within it! Therefore today was rather lucky. I zipped down to Shelly Beach at lunchtime, and after a bit of searching, found the bird I was looking for, on the far side of the estuary at Starcross. An adult Spoonbill was busy feeding on the shoreline, close in to the railway line. This was easily seen by telescope, the bird swinging its bill from side to side whilst feeding. I realised that the bird was very close to a man digging for fishing bait. How I wished I was in his shoes. The bird was literally just a few feet away from where he was digging, although he seemed oblivious to it! Now, whether the bait-digger coughed loudly, sneezed or broke wind I don't know, but something spooked the Spoonbill. It flew up slowly and headed across the estuary towards Mudbank Lane, on MY side of the Exe! It conveniently flew into my local patch recording area, but then disappeared behind a large appartment block which ahem......'blocked' my view! By the time I had rushed round to the other side I could not find the Spoonbill again, so whether it had doubled back or carried on up the east side of the estuary, I couldn't say. There were still plenty of Dark-bellied Brent Geese and Red-breasted Mergansers about off Shelly, and the usual masses of Oystercatchers were being their usual noisy selves. Time was running out, so I headed back to work.
Later in the afternoon, I had a quick nip round Withycombe Raleigh Common, a nice little area of East Devon Pebblebed Heathland, conveniently placed just inside my local patch area! I had not gone very far, when a Raven flew over calling. I ambled down to the perimeter of my patch, and was delighted to find a flock of 87 Lesser Redpolls sat in a tree, just my side of the boundary. These birds have been very scarce this winter. Last winter, the trees seemed to be dripping with them! They didn't stay for long, but long enough for me to 'scope them. A bit further up the track and 4 Linnets landed in the heather by the side of me. They soon dispersed in different directions as a Buzzard lazily flapped across just a few feet above the ground! Finally a Jay flew over calling harshly as it went.
Today's yearticks: Spoonbill & Lesser Redpoll. And to that I added the following Local Patch yearticks:
Raven, Linnet, Buzzard & Jay.

Monday 12th January 2009

2009-01-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

Gales and rain

A horrible day today, with the south-west gale still blowing, and rain and drizzle being blasted horizontally across the ground! I took myself up to Topsham Rec' at lunchtime, put on my wet-weather gear and ambled up the side of the Exe. A female Tufted Duck just off the Retreat was a Devon yeartick, and several Red-breasted Merganser were present on ther river too. A Common Sandpiper was seen again on the side of the river, presumably the same bird as I saw on January 7th. A male Stonechat put in an appearance in one of the adjoining gardens. I was wandering back down towards the play area, when a Water Pipit flew in and landed on the side of the river. This was my first this year. It didn't linger, and took off towards Exminster Marshes. By now I was getting rather damp, and the realisation of a damp patch forming by my left elbow, decided me on making a swift exit from the site, and taking shelter in the hide at Bowling Green Marsh!
On arrival, there seemed to be very little about of interest. The usual flock of Wigeon were supplemented by Mallard, Pintail, Teal and Shoveler. 8 Greylag Geese were seen to the right of the hide, but that was about it.

Sunday 11th January 2009

2009-01-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

A Sad Day

I wasn't very happy today. I had to take my daughter back to University at Falmouth in Cornwall. I'd got used to having her around home again and brightening up the place even more! I dropped Julia off at work, then picked up my mate Tom and returned home. Eventually Rebecca was ready to leave. The 3 of us drove down to Falmouth, seeing a Raven near Okehampton, the only notable bird sighting on the journey down. It was cloudy and breezy, but at least it stayed dry. I pulled the car over at Fraddon for a much-wanted cup of coffee, then carried on to Penryn. We all unpacked Rebecca's kit into her flat and I made the usual sad goodbyes'. Always one to look on the cheerful side of life, I then put myself into full birding mode!
With the wind picking up somewhat, we drove on to Helston, where we stopped by the boating lake. There were the usual bread-throwing members of the public there, and of course, the wildfowl and gulls were going mad, fighting over that next juicy crust! Coot, Tufted Ducks and Mallard were in turmoil, and clusters of noisy gulls fought each other for food. Amongst this mad throng, we picked out a first-winter Ring-billed Gull, my first for a couple of years or so. Eventually the bread-throwers disappeared and things settled down. This resulted in the Ring-billed loitering on the path by the side of the lake. This gave super views and was a new bird for Tom. Next, we made the short hop over to the delights of the local sewage works! A few Chiffchaffs were foraging around in the bottom of the perimeter hedge, along with some tits, including several Long-tailed. A 'Siberian' Chiffchaff was glimpsed between the settling beds and the perimeter fence, but with the high wind, most of the Chiffs' were keeping low down. Whether this form of Chiffchaff will ever officially gain full-species status, is debatable! However, I seem to see this form on a fairly regular basis nowadays. It is quite distinctive, and has a different call to Common Chiffchaff.
With time ticking on, we decided to make our way to the Zennor area, to try and see our main target of the day. We found a convenient pull-in, hastily consumed some food (I was starving by then!), donned our birding gear and trudged up towards Sperris Quoit, the spot where the Snowy Owl has been seen most regularly. Regrettably, someone forgot to tell the owl to put in an appearance today, and we spent a fruitless time trudging over the moorland. No doubt, it will be seen again tomorrow! Luckily I had seen this species before, albeit 29 years ago, but it would have been a lifer for Tom. A Buzzard was seen sat on a rock, and 5 Common Snipe flew past, but that was it. Several other birders were also wandering aimlessly around, all to no avail. With the afternoon ticking on, we decided to cut our losses and head down to Marazion. We took the road over Trewey Common, where I spotted a female Merlin, which eventually settled on a fencepost. We arrived at Marazion, but the gale had got worse, and combined with the high tide, sent plumes of salt-spray over the seawall. There were loads of gulls feeding on the beach edge, picking up all those morsels pounded on to the beach by the weather. Lots of Sanderling were running around, doing the same. A quick look at the marsh produced nothing of note, but a distant Peregrine. With the conditions more suited to windfarming, we called it a day, and headed back up the A30.
With the light rapidly fading, I spotted a Barn Owl quartering the roadside fields at Zelah. I pulled over on to the grass verge as soon as I could, but Tom didn't get on to the bird, which was rather a pity. We then trundled back along the A30 to Exeter, and finally down the A376 to home.
Yearticks in order today: Tufted Duck, Ring-billed Gull, Siberian Chiffchaff, Merlin, Peregrine, Barn Owl.

Saturday 10th January 2009

2009-01-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

Sea Duck

In my quest to make sure I see at least one year tick every day for as long as possible, I wandered up the road to Knappe Cross this morning. Having seen the first-winter male Blackcap again from my kitchen window earlier, I carried on up to Dinan Way, crossed the busy road, and strolled quietly up Gorse Lane to the top. I then retraced my steps. I heard the usual Nuthatch at Knappe Cross and saw a splendid male Bullfinch in Gorse Lane. On arrival back at Knappe Cross I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker in flight, then on cue, I watched a Treecreeper spiralling up a large oak tree right outside the community centre, my wished-for year tick!
This afternoon I had to take my wife and daughter over to Budleigh Salterton. I made a point of heading for the River Otter mouth, and scanned the sea. 15 Common Scoter and the female Eider were still present, just offshore. 5 Razorbill flew west. However, again there was absolutely no sign of the Long-tailed Duck. With the wind blowing straight in off the sea, it was deathly cold and my eyes were watering very badly. I thought 'Blow this, I'm going back into town and meet my wife' (always a good option!). However, I had to park up the road near the Steamer Steps, so I decided one last look at the sea wouldn't go amiss. By this time I had warmed up a little in the car! I sat on a convenient bench and scanned the sea several times. A further 3 Razorbill were seen sat on the sea but that was about it. Right, time to go. One last look along to the east...........hell, what's that? A seaduck flying along just offshore towards me. As it got closer, I thought 'No, it can't be?'. But it was! Yes, the female Long-tailed Duck flew westwards and made yours truly a very happy bunny by plonking down on the sea, just a hundred metres west off the Steamer Steps. She dived a couple of times, surfacing a good distance from where she'd originally dived. Thanking Lady Luck, I quit my cold perch and wandered into town to find my wife and daughter.
Yearticks in order of appearance: Treecreeper, Razorbill, Long-tailed Duck.

Friday 9th January 2009

2009-01-12T00:53:00.000-08:00

Dawlish Warren

Today I paid an early afternoon trip to Dawlish Warren. There was a cold south-easterly breeze blowing and it was mainly sunny, although there was more cloud building up the longer I stayed there. A scoter was seen offshore, but was constantly diving, and due to distance was unidentifiable. I met Exeter birder Dave Hopkins there who had just seen 2 scoter together close in to Langstone Rock. After a bit of a natter, I wandered off towards the rock. Every so often I would stop and peruse the sea. This eventually paid off with views of a Great Northern Diver flying east past the rock. I located the 2 scoter, feeding and diving together. One was the long-staying female Surf Scoter - the other was a male Velvet Scoter! After a good grilling of the 2 scoter, I ambled back into the teeth of the cold wind back towards the warren. I met Dave again, and also Topsham birder Dave Stone. We discussed the 3 scoter, and after much viewing and discussion came to the (rather obvious as it happened) decision that the first scoter I had seen was a female Common! So, there were only 3 scoter off the warren, and each one was a different species! I leaned on the seawall, while the 2 Daves departed in different directions. I soon found a Slavonian Grebe riding the waves looking towards Exmouth. 5 gannets were seen distantly offshore.
Fed up with looking into the cold wind and my eyes watering, I exited the warren, and driving back up the road towards Cockwood, decided to stop by the railway line adjacent to 'Cockwood Wreck'. Here you require nerves of steel, and here I met Dave Hopkins again! You have to cross the busy London-Penzance railway line, and stand on the wooden platform right on the side of the track, with trains thundering past just a couple of feet away!! A good constitution and brown trousers are always a plus here. We scanned the dropping tide on the estuary and although we searched diligently, the best bird we could find was a Greenshank. 'I'm off up to Kenton to look for Brambling' says Dave. I says ' Think I'll tag along if that's OK'. So we nips up to Chiverstone Farm near Kenton and amble down the lane towards the farm. 4 Red-legged Partridge flew up from the field adjacent to our cars. A little further on and we spot a large finch flock. On closer inspection, we reckon about 200 Chaffinches and at least 15 Brambling make up this flock! Dave then headed off towards Exminster Marshes and I left for home.
Yearticks today in order of appearance:
Great Northern Diver, Velvet Scoter, Slavonian Grebe, Brambling.

Thursday 8th January 2009

2009-01-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

Cattle Egret

At lunchtime today, I nipped round to Exminster Marshes, and wandered along the new trail behind the Swans Nest pub. It was overcast, dull and coldish with a slight north-easterly breeze, with some of the ice now thawing out a bit. My mission was to try and see the Cattle Egrets that were reported from the viewing platform at the end of the trail yesterday. I eventually reached the spot, having to follow several kinks in the trail which seemed to be manufactured to take you the longest possible way round the edge of each field across Powderham Marshes (ie. 3 sides of each one!). As there was practically no birdlife to be seen, I failed to see the point of this. My highlights were a few Mute Swans and a couple of Curlews. Why they should be called Powderham Marshes is also a big puzzle as they are nowhere near Powderham! In fact they are closer to Exminster than anywhere. Oh well! On reaching the platform, I scanned the whole area and saw.........nothing! Feeling somewhat cheated (I had trudged out 1200m to view this after all!), I scoped back towards the lagoon and the end of Swans Nest Lane before leaving. It was then that I spotted this white speck sat on a fence the other side of the lagoon. On focusing my scope and my eye as well as I could, I definitely knew it was a small, white egret. The longer I looked at it, the more I thought it was one of the Cattle Egrets. Not wishing to yeartick such distant views, I trudged back to the car and drove down to the end of Swans Nest Lane, turned the car round and pulled up in the pull-in by the scrapes at the end. There, in all its glory was the Cattle Egret sat on the fence. Just to make sure it was going to be yearticked, it conveniently flew up and landed a lot closer to me! It received rather an unpleasant welcome from 3 Grey Herons, but stood its ground. With there being no other birds around to be seen, and no sign of the reported second bird, I drove off, had a brief fruitless look out over the Exe estuary from Exton station and returned to work.
Later this afternoon, with the last vestiges of light fading, I paid a brief visit to Orcombe Point in Exmouth. There was nothing to be seen of note, apart from my first Gannet of the year, an adult.

Wednesday 7th January 2009

2009-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Even Colder!

It was even colder today - large amounts of the slow-moving rivers around the area had frozen over and waders were forced to forage for food in fields. It was grey and overcast with an easterly breeze blowing just to add to the general gloom. I popped up to Trews Weir in Exeter at lunchtime. Several Mallard and Teal were frequenting the river below the weir, which was unfrozen due to the rapid movement of water. Crossing the suspension bridge to the west side, I noted several Common Redshank looking for food. A drake Shoveler was bombing around. Walking alongside the ditches which were ice-free in parts, revealed c. 20 Common Snipe and another yeartick in the form of a Jack Snipe. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from a nearby tree. I met Exeter birder Brian Heasman who kindly told me about another yeartick downstream. I drove down to Countess Wear and parked near the swing bridge. A few paces up on to the roadbridge, and I was watching a couple of 'brownhead' Goosanders on the river. On the way back to work, I stopped briefly at Topsham recreation ground where a Common Sandpiper was foraging around some debris on the riverbank top for food.
A late afternoon visit to the Shelly Beach area of Exmouth produced 2 Pale-bellied Brent Goose, a Bar-tailed Godwit (the latter being a local patch yeartick), several Red-breasted Mergansers, a few Grey Plover, a good number of Knot (105 to be precise!) and 20 Sanderlings. The female Black Redstart was seen again around the appartment blocks.
Yearticks today in order of appearance:
Jack Snipe, Goosander, Common Sandpiper, Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Sanderling & Knot.
The Common Sandpiper was my 100th species this year!

Tuesday 6th January 2009

2009-01-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

Still freezing!

Another bitter cold day, with a biting cold easterly breeze. At lunchtime, I popped down to Budleigh Salterton, as a few seaduck had been reported off the mouth of the River Otter. I parked on the seafront, and wandered up to the war memorial to gain some height advantage. I scanned through my 'scope and soon found a raft of c.50 Common Scoter bobbing about on the waves. I could find no sign of any Long-tailed Ducks, one of which had been reported yesterday. A distant diver sp. flew west, probably a Red-throated but I could not be sure. Scanning closer in and getting colder by the minute, I found a Great Crested Grebe. Shortly afterwards I moved my attention to the sea right at the river's exit. Here was a female Eider, showing very well. By now I was chilled to the marrow, and worse still my eyes were beginning to water badly. I strode down to Lime Kilns car park, and walked briskly up the Otter estuary to the first viewing -platform. There were several Common Snipe feeding on the cricket pitch, and a couple of Dunlin. 4 Common Redshank were seen on the estuary, together with a further 2 Dunlin. The next field up produced a Black-tailed Godwit and a Curlew. There were plenty of gulls on the estuary, but nothing unusual.
Warmed up a little from my fast walking, I decided to brave the exposed seafront again. I wandered back along the main path and stopped in the white-painted shelter. This time a 'scope scan found 3 Red-throated Divers flying west together. After noting a Common Chiffchaff briefly by the toilet block, I realised that I had better 'pay a visit' myself. Bleddy cold weather! Ambling back to the car, I saw 4 Ringed Plover on the beach, and a pair of Buzzard were flying together over the seafront itself.
After work, I visited Hayes Barton and Yettington to search the fields before the light faded completely. I eventually came across a covey of 5 Red-legged Partridges on the eastern outskirts of the last-named location.
Yearticks today in order of appearance:
Common Scoter, Great Crested Grebe, Eider, Red-throated Diver, Common Chiffchaff & Red-legged Partridge.
Needless to say, Exeter City's game this evening was called off due to the still-frozen pitch!

Monday 5th January 2009

2009-01-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Back to Work

Yes, after two enforced weeks off from work (our place operates a bit like a college), it was back to reality today. It is still bitter cold out. Work yes, but the birding (or should I say yearlisting) didn't stop. Lunchtime saw me at the top of Deepway Lane in Exminster village, where I trudged round the setaside fields for ages looking for the reported Woodlarks. Cor blimey, it was cold! The cold breeze seemed to cut through you like a knife. Luckily there were a few common birds providing yearticks for yours truly to take my mind off the weather. A pair of Stonechats were probably the most noteworthy, but a dash-past male Sparrowhawk was an exhilarating sight. After seeing only 3 Skylarks and NO Woodlarks I gave up and returned to the car. I coasted down Deepway Lane, but stopped at all the gateways to check the fields on the way down. At the second gate, I had just extricated myself from the old Nissan, when some familiar flutey calls made me look up. Yes, Woodlarks! They flew low over the lane (and my head) and dropped into the field adjacent to the gateway, where I was able to get a better look at them. Phew!
After work, I again made the most of the extending minutes of daylight and wandered briefly round Bystock reserve on the edge of Exmouth's northern fringe. Luckily, I saw a drake Common Teal there (a bird I didn't see within the parish boundary last year!) and another yeartick in the form of an explosively vocal Marsh Tit.
Today's yearticks were in order of appearance:
Stonechat, Reed Bunting, Linnet, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Raven, Woodlark and Marsh Tit.

Sunday 4th January 2009

2009-01-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

What Waxwings?

Firstly, the adult male Blackcap showed well again out the back of our house, just before 10am. Following a report of an alledged 6 Waxwings at Ide yesterday, Julia and I decided we would combine a trip to the garden centre at Cowley near Exeter with a bit of birding. We covered the area in and around Ide to start with, we couldn't even find a berry bush, yet alone a Waxwing! Just north-west of Ide we located a yeartick - Pheasant. In fact there were several in the area. Waxwingless, we headed on to Dunchideock, where we enjoyed good 'scope views of the resident Little Owl, opposite the village hall, another good yeartick. We pulled over for our picnic lunch on the edge of Ide again, taken in the car due to the freezing conditions outside! Whilst eating lunch, the birds came to us. A Grey Heron flew up from a weedy field. Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers showed themselves in trees around the car, and a Bullfinch provided another yeartick. A couple of Buzzards were seen very close, from the car.
We then trundled over to Bernaville Nurseries at Cowley and warmed up a bit. Later we headed towards home, but decided to stop at Topsham. We headed down to the antiques centre on the quay, where Mrs Smith headed inside, whilst I spent a very cold half hour watching the gulls flying down river to roost. Little Egret, Grey Heron, Avocet and Wigeon were present, and after checking through about 750 fly-past gulls, I spotted my first Lesser Black-backed Gull of 2009, an adult. After that I soon took shelter in the Antiques Centre!

Saturday 3rd January 2009

2009-01-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

A Quick Look

Another cold day, but sunny here in Exmouth. However there seemed to be a fog bank out at sea and in Torbay. Not much time for birding today, as I was going to watch my beloved Exeter City FC this afternoon - more on that later! The adult male Blackcap put in an appearance out the back of our home again. I had to run an errand in town this morning so I drove down with my wife and son. Now, in January I always try to get at least one yeartick a day. It keeps the list going and the interest up! I thought a quick 20 minute look at the seafront might provide the yeartick. However, we hadn't even reached town, when on travelling down Hulham Road, I spotted a small group of Redwings flying over! Yes, they were conveniently a yeartick that I hadn't connected with yet. I eventually pulled up on the seafront anyway, and although the tide was in, there seemed to be very few birds actually "out there". A couple of Red-breasted Mergansers posed as 'grebes' for a while, but when turning side-on instead of showing me their 'bums', they were caught out! I was scanning with my 'scope when I realised that I was looking distantly at the long-staying female Surf Scoter! This species although rare, has turned up in our area now for some years running. Today it provided me with the rarest yeartick I've had so far.
OK, on to the footie, or should I say, the lack of it. I drove in to Exeter with my son and his girlfriend, extricated myself from the car, only to told by a passing fan that the game had been called off due to an icy pitch! This is something that very rarely happens down here in mild old Devon. We are supposed to be playing a home game again on Tuesday night, but I reckon that could be in doubt too, looking at the projected weather forecast!

Friday 2nd January 2009

2009-01-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

More Laidback Yearlisting!

This morning I dropped my wife off at work, returned home, had a leisurely breakfast, then nipped down to Shelly beach in Exmouth. It was sunny but there was a cold north-east wind. I had the Red-necked Grebe again, fairly close in, and managed to put local Exeter birder Dave Stone on to the bird. A Rook flew over providing ME with a yeartick! I then hunted for the female Black Redstart around the gaudy new appartment blocks. Grovelling around in a tiny area of sparse bushes was my first Song Thrush of the year. I met Doug Cullen from Otterton, who had also come over for the grebe. After a while, I decided to wander off round to the seafront. I was ambling along the path by the seawall, when a wet, bedraggled little bird hopped on to the seawall just by my elbow! The female Black Redstart! She had obviously decided that all those hordes of people out for Christmas/New Year strolls around HER Shelly beach was too much. She had been out on the rocks at the west end of Exmouth seafront and had endured a little saltspray in the process! Well Miss Black Redstart saw me and promptly dived into the gardens of the flats on the seafront that are Moreton Crescent. If you know me then you will sympathise with her actions. A quick look late morning at Mudbank Lane yielded the Spotted Redshank, another bird I had missed yesterday.
This afternoon, after a quick snack and picking up Mrs Smith from work, I drove my wife, my son and his girlfriend in to Exeter to go sales shopping. Me - I headed in the opposite direction towards good birding areas! I visited Matford Pools, which luckily were only partially iced over. Here I added another half dozen yearticks before I moved round the corner to Countess Wear and the Riverside Country Park, alongside the Exeter Canal. Best bird here was a Water Rail. Finally I turned up at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, where I knew I could get a few more yearticks. The tide was out, so not a good time to visit, but I got a few more birds here and there, by also looking over the Clyst Estuary from the viewing platform.
Here are the birds I saw today that were new for 2009 in order:
Rook, Song Thrush, Black Redstart, Turnstone, Spotted Redshank, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Kestrel, Buzzard, Teal, Stock Dove, Shoveler, Common Snipe, Coot, Fieldfare, Water Rail, Canada Goose, Lapwing, Moorhen, Jay, Pochard, Little Grebe, Avocet, Meadow Pipit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Golden Plover and Greylag Goose.

Thursday 1st January 2009

2009-01-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

Yearlisting at snail pace!

Gone are the days when I used to get up long before first light and arrive at some far-flung spot just to start my new yearlist with a bang. Years ago, it was the normal practise for me to go to bed early on New Year's Eve, ready to spring out of bed at some ungodly hour, to start yearlisting at a torturous pace. Previous New Year's Day listing has produced such gems as Little Bustard (was it really 21 years ago!), Red-breasted Goose (even further back in time!), Bufflehead and Dusky Warbler (both seen at first light in Devon!). Several January 1st's have seen me crack at least 90 species on that day alone! This morning, following a leisurely breakfast in bed, I finally emerged from my cocoon at 1100hrs, having got to bed about 20 to 2 earlier.
I spent most of my undressed hours peering somewhat hazily out of the windows, adding a few first yearticks to my notepad! First bird of the year was a Starling! This was closely followed by Goldfinch, Great Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Goldcrest in that order. Before managing to find my clothes, I had cracking views of a first-winter male Blackcap out the back of my house. Eventually I wandered up the road and found myself up at Knappe Cross, this area producing a few Long-tailed Tits, and a Nuthatch. Further on, at Gorse Lane I saw another Blackcap, an adult male, and at the top of Marley Road, I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Arriving back at Knappe Cross, I had very close views of a Green Woodpecker. With dinner not being ready until 1pm, I drifted down to Mudbank Lane just as the tide was dropping. The highlight here was the usual Greenshank, and a cracking male Kingfisher, sat on the usual low wall exposed by the dropping tide. After a sumptious dinner of roast beef, I eventually found myself at Shelly Beach. Here, the Red-necked Grebe performed superbly again, in the channel, just off the beach at low tide.
So here in order of appearance were my yearticks for today:
Starling, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Blackcap, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit, Nuthatch, Greenfinch, Robin, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Shelduck, Wigeon, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Pintail, Mallard, Common Redshank, Common Gull, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Kingfisher, Greenshank, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pipit, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Cormorant, Goldeneye, Grey Wagtail, Red-breasted Merganser, Mute Swan, Red-necked Grebe and Shag.
49 species in all.

Wednesday 31st December 2008

2009-01-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

End of the Year

Well 2008 turned out to be a good year for yours truly. I found 2 really good birds on my local patch here within the parish boundary of Exmouth, namely Stone Curlew and Rough-legged Buzzard. I had at least 4 World Lifers, Pacific Diver in Cornwall, and Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Crested Lark and Short-toed Treecreeper in northern France. I also had 2 pending lifers - Azorean Yellow-legged Gull (a possible future 'split') and Hooded Merganser (if it isn't wild, where the devil did it come from, given that it was in diabolical first-summer plumage when it arrived after late spring westerly gales and driving rain?). Other great birds this year included Devon's first King Eider, an obliging Little Crake at Exminster Marshes back in April, followed by an equally obliging American Golden Plover at the same location and the first 'mainland Devon' record of Semipalmated Sandpiper at Dawlish Warren! I certainly hope that 2009 is as good in birding terms.
Today I popped around a couple of Exmouth's birding hotspots. I visited Mudbank Lane late morning and was rewarded with the usual Greenshank and hosts of wildfowl and waders. A Grey Wagtail put in an appearance to add another splash of colour. I then zipped round to Shelly Beach and wandered round the area including the marina and the western end of the seafront. I was more than pleased to locate a Red-necked Grebe, just off Shelly Beach late afternoon. This was my second bird of this species I'd connected with this year - let's hope it's still there tomorrow! A couple of female Goldeneye were present in the same low-tide channel. Late evening saw me partaking of a few drinks to see in the New Year!
Happy New Year!

Tuesday 30th December 2008

2008-12-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

Exmouth bathed in sunshine!

Yes, we had wall to wall sunshine for the day, but looking over to the other side of the estuary and where the Haldon Hills should have been, it was seemingly foggy and cloudy! Apparently Exmouth is the sunniest and driest spot in Devon, and from some of the days we've had over recent years, it must be partially true. I remember working in Exeter some years ago. The children were small. I used to work in an office in central Exeter and there were days when it rained nearly all day. I'd return home to my family and find out from my good lady that she had been out sat in the garden with the children in warm sunshine practically all day! A look out from my conservatory very early afternoon produced the female Blackcap again, skulking around the hawthorn hedge, popping in and out of the large ivy clumps which have grown up what is left of the trees that the previous incumbents of our home deemed necessary to have felled to a height of 10 feet.
This afternoon I had to pop in to town. Once I had got the necessary shopping out of the way, I drove round to the Shelly Beach area, and walked round by the appartments, around the 'marina', and a little way along the seafront and back. The tide was right out, being a distant silver thread over towards Starcross and Cockwood. There were the usual hordes of Dark-bellied Brent Geese and dog-walkers swarming over the mudflats, the latter scattering any resting birds as soon as was humanly possible. Despite the human and canine mayhem, a few Little Egrets could be seen, along with the usual masses of panicking Oystercatchers and Curlews. Red-breasted Mergansers spent more time under water than above (who could blame them?) and even the gulls seemed jumpy. I found the female Black Redstart hopping around on the low walls of the appartment 'gardens' adjoining Shelly Beach. I'm glad this bird shows so well, she should provide me with a good year tick in a couple of days' time or so!
I moved on round to Mudbank Lane as the light started to fade and the sun had disappeared into the foggy mass the west side of the Exe estuary. A Kingfisher was seen flying over the mudflats close in to the railway line before plonking itself down on a muddy clump right on the edge of the stream which cuts through the mudbanks at low tide here. This stream is actually Withycombe Brook, which flows down through the 'village' of Withycombe, which although now being a part of Exmouth, many years ago used to be a separate entity to the town of Exmouth. Thank goodness, the Pintail had returned here too in numbers (at least 100). I then returned home to warm up.

Monday 29th December 2008

2008-12-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Another Trip to Wiltshire

Doing my dutiful son bit today, saw the whole family travelling up to west Wiltshire to visit my elderly parents for a 'Christmas get-together'. So we were up early this morning and soon on the way up the A303. It got colder the further north-east we journeyed. A coffee-stop was enjoyed at the garden centre on the edge of Yeovil, before carrying on into Wiltshire to pick up some groceries for my parents en route. Eventually we managed to get through the diaboliocal traffic which seems to abound nowadays, and we duly arrived at the village of Westwood. Whilst chatting to my father in the lounge, I suddenly realised there was a male Blackcap sat in a tree the other side of the road!
After a hearty dinner (probably resulting in a few more Xmas pounds added on!) I dropped my wife, daughter and mother off to hit the shops in Trowbridge, excusing myself and fighting the excessive traffic over to Westbury Ponds for some birding. This is not the tranquil spot that it sounds! The area is totally criss-crossed by busy railway lines, and the ponds are dotted around Westbury Station, a very busy place indeed. The area also suffers from that run-down look, with much waste ground, litter and general shabby feel. However, where there's muck there's birds, and a potter about the general area resulted in a few Great Crested Grebes, Tufted Duck and Canada Geese, a couple of Pochard, a Grey Heron, 3 juvenile Mute Swans and many Coot and Moorhen. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over as well. Look back at my blog entries and you will see that I saw a Great Northern Diver here, back in November! I then retraced my car miles back to Trowbridge and drew up in the car park by Asdas, just outside the Shires shopping centre. It was busy with sales-shoppers, and I started to cringe, that well known phenomenon that overtakes most males when faced with shops and shoppers! I got out of the car and was amazed to see a Kingfisher fly over the entrance to the shopping mall, just over the heads of all those shoppers! Well, if the bird could fly literally in the face of all that humanity, then so could I. I swiftly (no pun intended) met up with 'my ladies' and even joined them for a browse round Asdas, even if it was only to peruse the beer shelves!

Saturday 27th December 2008

2008-12-28T03:45:00.000-08:00

Sidmouth

I glanced out of the conservatory this morning and was pleased to see the female Blackcap again, in a tree in the garden to the rear of our house. The day was very cold with a south-easterly wind coming straight in off the sea. We drove over to Sidmouth this afternoon, where I braved the biting cold wind and popped into Connaught Gardens. These are situated at the top of the cliff to the immediate west of Sidmouth beach, and from here you can look directly down on to Chit Rocks, which are completely covered by high tide. Luckily, the tide was rising but hadn't completely covered them. The result was that I located 6 Purple Sandpipers feeding below, together with the usual sprinkling of Turnstones and Oystercatchers. There may have been more sandpipers, but their ability to remain undetected on seaweed covered rocks combined with my streaming eyes, made it hard to establish. I then walked into town and met my wife for a quick trundle round the shops. Later on we stopped for a cuppa as it was so cold, enough to fortify us for our walk back up to the car! On the way back, whilst striding along the seafront with the wind mercifully behind us, I spotted a Black Redstart, which promptly flew for the shelter on the town, presumably to find a nice warm roosting spot for the night.

Thursday 25th December 2008

2008-12-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day

Season's greetings to everyone! I managed to get out for a swift walk up the road from my house this afternoon. Before I went out, a look in the back garden area produced a female Blackcap, the first I've had from the house this winter, and a small party of Long-tailed Tits, working their way through the trees. I walked up to Knappe Cross and found some more Long-tailed Tits accompanying several Great and Blue, and a couple of Coal Tits. A Wren lurked in some thick ivy, whilst a Great Spotted Woodpecker called behind the community building somewhere. Luckily, the sun had come out this afternoon, so there were a few more minutes of daylight today. I wandered up Gorse Lane, and found another female Blackcap in exactly the same spot as I had seen the male a few days earlier. This tiny area has to be the best spot around for catching up with this overwintering species! At the top of Marley Road, a couple of Buzzards flew low over my head, soon attracting the local Herring Gull populace! With the light starting to fade, I retraced my steps, having cracking views of a Nuthatch just a few feet above my head on an overhanging bough, at Knappe Cross.

Wednesday 24th December 2008

2008-12-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

......but who would have believed it from the weather? Normally it's pouring down with rain over the festive period, usually accompanied by howling gales! Not today - it was positively balmy, there was no wind but it was grey and overcast. A day of bombing round doing those pre-Christmas chores eventually petered out and let me do some birding (especially as my wife was working until 6pm). I arrived at the seafront mid-afternoon and looked out over the sea from the area opposite the Pavilion. After managing to ignore the hordes of people and even more numerous dogs on the beach (the average person in Exmouth I'm absolutely convinced owns about 6 dogs!) I located a Slavonian Grebe fairly close in to Dawlish Warren beach, but some distance off our seafront. However, panning left (eastwards) I spotted a diver which promptly dived (as they do). I waited a while and was pleased to see, that on resurfacing, it was a Black-throated Diver. This bird was quite a bit closer than the grebe, and more importantly, was much closer to Exmouth, than the Warren! Out of the 3 regular species of divers occuring off British coasts, this one is the scarcest around these parts.
I moved round to one of my regular haunts, Shelly Beach, and had 4 Goldeneye offshore. The tide was coming right up, and waders were few and far between, most having moved off to their regular high tide roost at the Warren. A few Common Redshank and Oystercatcher remained, but were easily outnumbered by the usual masses of Dark-bellied Brent Geese. The usual female Black Redstart was again on the rooftop of Windward Court, one of the ostentatious gaudy-coloured appartment blocks that our local council deemed to be fitting in with the area (what a joke). Tell you what though, they are darned good perches for fly-catching Black Redstarts!
Finally I moved round to Mudbank Lane to coincide with the highest point of the tide. Here I found a really strange thing - only TWO Pintail could be located amongst the Brent Geese and Wigeon hordes. Where did they all go this afternoon? I walked up the riverside track towards Lympstone, but could not find any more. If anyone spots about 100 lost-looking Pintail could they please notify any Exmouth birder, we would like them back please!! Luckily, the Spotted Redshank was still present, and believe it or not, was the first bird I managed to put my bins on, after getting out of the car. Regrettably dog-walkers drove me insane again, but fortunately it was beginning to get dark by then.
Merry Christmas to anyone who is mad enough to read these ramblings!

Tuesday 23rd December 2008

2008-12-24T14:30:00.000-08:00

Another dull day.

OK, its lovely having all this dry weather at this time of year, but the skies are so boringly dull. Another day of motionless thick dark grey cloud and very mild again. This afternoon I popped down to Mudbank Lane and took another look over the Exe estuary. I was a little luckier today however, as not only was the Greenshank still present close in to the railway line, but the Spotted Redshank was with it again! The assembled masses of birds as usual were present in the following order of numbers:
Wigeon, Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Pintail, Shelduck, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Common Redshank, Common Gull and Great Black-backed Gull.
To this can be added a few Mallard, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Cormorant and Grey Plover.
I then moved round to the Shelly Beach area again, where I located the female Black Redstart, today snapping up insects from the rooftop of Windward Court. The usual Red-breasted Merganser were supplemented by 4 Goldeneyes (seemingly 2 pairs). A few Knot, Grey Plover and Dunlin flew over the estuary heading for the high tide roost at the back of Dawlish Warren.
I finished off up at Orcombe Point, having parked as usual at Foxholes Hill estate. However, I found nothing much here apart from a few Greenfinches and Chaffinches.

Monday 22nd December 2008

2008-12-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

Touring Round Exmouth

A strange day for the time of year - very mild, dry and windless! I paid swift visits to Mudbank Lane, then the Shelly Beach area of Exmouth late morning. The lone Greenshank was still present at the former site, amongst the hordes of waterfowl and waders, and the female Black Redstart was still around the dinghies on Shelly Beach, behind the sailing club main building. This time the redstart was perched on the mast of one of the boats and I approached her to within 5 metres - if only I could take photographs! Regrettably this is something that 1) I cannot afford and 2) suffer awfully from camera shake. This latter problem always means that another member of my family has to take the holiday snaps, as all mine turn out blurred! My children are probably the best photographers in my family. Still, with the advent of digital cameras, I have managed a couple of passable shots, so there's hope for the old chap yet!
This afternoon, I did a walk from my house to cover the 'top end' of town. Just 300 metres from my house I quickly found a cracking calling Nuthatch and a little later some Long-tailed Tits and a Treecreeper, all at Knappe Cross. I crossed the busy Dinan Way and crept slowly up Gorse Lane. Here I was fortunate enough to find a male Blackcap in the same stretch of hedgerow that I normally find one or two in winter. I carried on up and quickly had a look around Bystock Wood. An uncanny lack of birds here though. Strange, because normally there are more Nuthatches and Treecreepers, woodpeckers and on the rare occasion, a Firecrest! I quickly retraced my steps and was pleased to see a Green Woodpecker flying across the fields at the top end of Marley Road. I got home as the light started to fade early due to it being an unbelievably dull afternoon and being the shortest day of the year!

Friday 19th December 2008

2008-12-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

A High Tide at Topsham

Today I visited the reserve at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, timing my trip to coincide with a very high tide! There was a little sun early on, but it clouded over. There was a slight south-west breeze, but mercifully again it stayed dry. I first spotted a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying over the reserve, calling. Two Greylag Geese were close in to the fence, and regarded me with their usual farmyard-goose-like stare! Settling in to the hide, I found myself looking out at a large mass of waders on the far-edge of the pool, tightly-packed together for the duration of the high tide roost. 5 Pochard were diving on the main pool and 10 Pintail were dotted about the marsh. Large numbers of Wigeon and Teal were scattered all over the marsh. I could only find 6 Golden Plover amongst the larger numbers of Lapwing though. Right, time to count all those Avocets! I was pleased to find there were 355 of them, obviously showing off for the benefit of the RSPB who run the reserve! 6 Common Snipe were lurking around the sedge clumps near the hide.
I wandered out of the hide and strolled down to the viewing platform, seeing the obligatory flock of Long-tailed Tits on the way. When I reached the platform I realised that the tide WAS high! There wasn't a single speck of mud to be seen. Another Great Spotted Woodpecker flew out from Riversmeet Wood. A couple of Little Grebes were diving in the Clyst just off the platform, whilst a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers were busy diving for food a little further downstream. A distant Buzzard was circling over the Exton area. I left the spot and headed back along the lane. As I approached the 'log layby' a Common Chiffchaff flitted around the hedgerow, and a female Stonechat was perched on a convenient hedgetop. I then returned to the car.

Thursday 18th December 2008

2008-12-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Mudbank Lane & Shelly Beach

A lunchtime visit back to Exmouth took in both these excellent locations. It was cloudy with a north-westerly breeze and fairly mild. I arrived first at Mudbank Lane adjacent to the railway line and alongside the eastern edge of the Exe estuary. As usual, there were hundreds of birds present including nice numbers of Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Wigeon and Pintail. A few Little Egrets were feeding on the mud, with lots of gulls loafing around. Scurrying amongst all these were Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Common Redshank and a single Greenshank, the latter being close in to the railway line. Curlew were dotted about, and the usual House Sparrow flock were as ever, noisy in the hedgerow!
I then moved round to Camperdown Terrace, parked the car and wandered around the new appartment blocks, skirting along the edge of Shelly Beach, and then the marina. The female Black Redstart was still present, lurking amongst the dinghies on the top of Shelly Beach, behind the Exe sailing club. Again, the male was nowhere to be seen over the other side of the marina. This bird is very elusive, only ever briefly showing on the rooftops. It must spend a lot of time in hidden gardens, grovelling around for insects down low. Red-breasted Mergansers were again showing themselves in the channel and I counted 30 Ringed Plover on a nearby exposed sandbar whilst the usual Rock Pipit was hopping around the walls of the appartment table-cloth-sized gardens! All good things come to an end eventually, and it was soon time to zip back to work!

Wednesday 17th December 2008

2008-12-17T23:36:00.000-08:00

A Typical Lunchtime Visit

A standard visit to Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham at lunchtime today threw up plenty of birds, but no surprises. It was sunny and clear but not cold. I parked at the top of the lane as usual, then pottered down the lane and along to the hide. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker as I approached the hide, and a small party of Long-tailed Tits were feeding in the copse surrounding the hide. Settling myself down I scanned over the reserve. As usual there were loads of Wigeon and Teal feeding across the meadow. A Little Grebe was on the main pool, whilst 2 Greylag Geese were in the Canada flock. Only 3 Pintail could be found and 5 Common Snipe. There plenty of Lapwings there but only 10 Golden Plover. 4 Pochard were diving on the main pool. A Buzzard and a Kestrel were also seen from the hide.

Leaving the hide I ambled along the lane, seeing a Common Chiffchaff in the laneside hedge, and turned left through the old iron gates and tried to keep out of the mud along the track to the viewing platform. Several Goldfinches were present as usual. Suddenly I realised a Kingfisher was flying towards me. However it was flying slowly, with little flaps of its wings - most unusual. It flew leisurely across the field and dropped in to Riversmeet wood in no hurry at all and seemingly without a care in the world! It had passed within 5 feet of me before veering off across the field. From the platform itself there were the usual Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Common Redshank and Grey Plover.

Tuesday 16th December 2008

2008-12-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist it.

I do love to watch Black Redstarts! They are always perky in their movements and I love seeing those orange tail-feathers when they dart out to take a fly or other hapless insect. Therefore I was down in the Exmouth marina (docks) area again early this afternoon to check that the overwintering birds were still there. My luck was in. Firstly I found the first-winter female again by the Exe sailing club. She drew attention to herself by doing just what I described above. Yes, she flicked up to snap up a fly from the ground amongst the dinghies on the edge of Shelly Beach and behind the club main building, showing those gorgeous orange tail-feathers! I watched her as she took cover under a dinghy, resting on the axle of the trailer supporting the craft. This bird chose to remain mainly hidden underneath the multitude of boats on the beach.
The second bird was also still present, a male in winter plumage. This time, after diligent searching I found him on the roofs of some flats bordering Victoria Road adjacent to the marina basin. This one sat up on the ridgetiles as bold as brass. The only time this one moved was when a gormless Herring Gull chose to sit on that particular rooftop. Excellent news then, both birds are still present and are highly likely to remain until the new year, providing yours truly with another good yeartick!
Supporting birds today were the usual Dark-bellied Brent Geese in droves, some very obliging Red-breasted Merganser, a couple of Little Egrets and Grey Herons, and Oystercatchers, Curlew and Common Redshank. Regrettably the tide was right out and many dogwalkers were parading their pooches all over the sand/mudbanks so that they could poop everywhere, scaring off most of the birdlife. I sometimes wonder why most of these birds return to winter on the Exe estuary. They are always getting flushed off the minute the tide starts to drop.

Monday 15th November 2008

2008-12-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

5 Minutes' Birding!

Yep, that's all I had time for today. I carried this out whilst I was on a quick visit to Exmouth seafront. Best bird was a Red-throated Diver in winter plumage, some 200 yards offshore. So that makes 4 out of 5 of the world's divers this week! With Great Northern, Pacific and Black-throated on Saturday that makes it only White-billed to complete the set. Somehow I can't see me achieving this though, there have only been a couple of records of the latter in Devon, and they've only been seen by a couple of observers!
It was a beautiful sunny day, but cold again for down here in Devon. A distant small group of scoter were unidentifiable, but were probably Common. Lots of Dark-bellied Brent Geese were bombing around the edges of the bay and a few Red-breasted Merganser were diving for food just off Dawlish Warren. The tide was just starting to recede rapidly and many Oystercatcher were flying out of the estuary in eagerness to be the first to probe those newly uncovered sandbars.

Saturday 13th December 2008

2008-12-13T13:56:00.002-08:00

World Lifer!

I had been looking forward to today for some considerable time. I was to drive down to Cornwall to pick up my daughter from University and bring her home for Christmas! Not only that, I was also going to do some birding in west Cornwall during the morning, giving my daughter time to do her packing and clearing things up. I first had to get there though, and when I left home shortly after 6am things didn't look too good. We had experienced torrential rain all night and it was still pouring down as I drove away up the road. I reached the A376 and things were diabolical! If you don't know the stretch of this road between Exmouth and the M5 junction let me describe it. The road leaves town up a gradual incline, then drops down the other side to the Saddlers Arms at Lympstone. The road in fact is a series of inclines and dips all the way to the A3052 junction at Clyst St Mary. Well you can imagine what was at the bottom of each dip, can't you? That's right, a torrent of muddy water pouring across the road. Every dip had its attendant police car, council vehicle or (in one particulary awful spot at Exton) fire engine. In places it was easily a foot deep. Nothing for it but to engage second gear, keep to the middle of the road and the revs up. I churned through several places like this, and eventually got to the motorway having avoided abandoned vehicles in several spots! Phew! Luckily, there was no more flooding, but there was a lot of surface water and spray for the rest of the journey. I kept the radio on my local BBC station for the Devon part of the journey hoping to get updates on the state of the roads, and of course, I didn't hear any mention of the roads or weather until I was the other side of Launceston in Cornwall! Then I found out that the A376 I'd travelled earlier was shut due to the floodwater I'd driven through.
By then, the rain had stopped and I only had a few very brief light showers for the rest of the journey. I arrived at Newlyn at 8:15 and duly started to scan Mounts Bay. The sun came up and I only endured a few very brief, very light showers for the rest of the morning. I spent some time at Newlyn, having seen a Water Rail scurry down the lane in front of me on extracting myself from the car! I then popped round to Penzance seafront, stopping by the Jubilee Pool, moved east to Long Rock for another scan, and finally my last stop at Marazion where I enjoyed sunshine, stunning views of St Michael's Mount and a minced pie! I was lucky enough to see the following around Mounts Bay:
Pacific Diver - I had reasonable views of this bird mid morning and later again distant views from Long Rock. This was a new bird for me, a species I had never seen anywhere before. The bird, an adult, like most of the other divers in the bay, was very flighty, and dived frequently, often surfacing a long way from where it had dived!
Great Northern Diver - At least a dozen were dotted about the bay, some fairly close, some distant. The situation was complicated by most of the birds bombing around the bay!
Black-throated Diver - As with the above species, difficult to assess the total number, but at least 5 were scattered round the bay. I had very close views of one just off Penzance harbour, and another close in to the Jubilee Pool on the seafront.
Black-necked Grebe - One was very close in to the rocks by the Jubilee Pool, Penzance.
Great Crested Grebe - A winter-plumaged bird was right in Newlyn harbour.
Mediterranean Gull - Good views of an adult touring around at Newlyn.
Water Pipit - One on the beach at Marazion was my first of this species in Cornwall!
Stonechat - a pair were also present on the edge of the beach/dunes at Marazion.
With the morning fast ticking on, it was time to leave Mounts Bay and head for Helston, where I tried for the first-winter Ring-billed Gull at the boating lake on the southern edge of town. I spent an hour here, chucking out loads of bread which I had been saving up all week! I got the required response from the birds present, but obviously the Ring-billed Gull was sick of bread, as it did not put in an appearance. A bit disappointing, but you can't get them all. There were lots of Herring and Black-headed Gulls, Moorhen and Coot there, several Mallard (some of dubious parentage!) and some very obliging Tufted Duck which fed off the bread right by my feet. A Sparrowhawk flew over a couple of times, a Grey Wagtail zipped around the edge of the lake with some Pied and a couple of Long-tailed Tits brightened up the procedings.
It was soon time to leave and I popped over to Falmouth to pick up my daughter from the Tremough campus of Exeter University. We had lunch nearby, then drove back during the afternoon. On the way back we saw lots of Lapwing at Goss Moor, a flock of c.100 Golden Plover over Bodmin Moor, 3 Common Snipe flying over the A30 near Launceston and a few roadside Buzzards.
All in all, a good day despite the appalling weather to start with, a world lifer, lots of good back-up birds and seeing my daughter again!

Friday 12th December 2008

2008-12-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

A Quick Look

Only a quick look at the Exe estuary from Mudbank Lane, Exmouth mid-morning. The usual hordes of Dark-bellied Brent Geese and Wigeon were present, with good numbers of Pintail. A couple of Little Egrets were braving the cold breeze, pretending to be in the Med! A lone Grey Heron was stood neck and head extended downwards just inches from the water waiting for a small fish to swim by! Redshank were noisy as usual, but the Grey Plovers were quiet. A lone Greenshank was the closest wader, up to its belly in water in the stream running out through the mudbanks left exposed by the low tide. Shelduck added a forther splash of colour to the scene. Also "out there" on the mud, mainly distant were plenty of Dunlin, Curlew and Oystercatcher. As I've mentioned before on a previous posting, House Sparrows are still fairly numerous here and a noisy bunch were flitting about the nearby hedgerow. Sadly time precluded me from having a longer look.

Thursday 11th December 2008

2008-12-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Another trip to Sidmouth

This morning, after visiting our local garden centre for a cake and a coffee, we decided to go over to Sidmouth again. We parked outside Connaught Gardens and wandered in and viewed over the sea and rocks below the cliff. Cormorants and Shags were seen on the sea, but I could not find any divers. Closer inspection of Chit Rocks below showed there to be several Oystercatchers and Turnstones feeding on them, as the tide lapped the sides and was gradually beginning to cover them. In amongst these birds were a couple of Purple Sandpipers, always difficult to pick out as they merge beautifully with the seaweed-covered rocks they stand on! Scanning over them I realised there were a couple more sandpipers which seemed to appear out of the seaweed! And another............and yet another................gosh, there's another one. In the end I found that there were 8 of them, all blending in nicely with their surroundings! Today the weather was calm and the sea was flat calm, therefore making them a bit easier to spot, but this species always seem to defy the seas whatever the weather, seeming to be able to pick the exact piece of rock which is NOT going to be inundated by a large wave. They stick to their rock, limpet-like, in the face of waves which seem to threaten to wash them away! I never tire of watching them. Later we looked for Black Redstarts on the large thatched houses that we usually find them on, but worryingly, we could not find any again. A look round the shops was followed by a snack in one of the local cafes. Then we ambled back up to the car mid afternoon, but didn't see anything else of interest birdwise.

Wednesday 10th December 2008

2008-12-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

Doctors and hospitals

Following on from my unplanned Torville and Dean wannabee show on Monday, I took myself off to the doctor's this morning, as my shoulder was in considerable pain. Having examined my shoulder, the doctor referred me straight to the hospital for X-rays. I drove there right away, and within 5 minutes was seen by the radiographer! (Who says the NHS scheme doesn't work any more?) The upshot was that I hadn't broken any shoulder bones, but heavy internal bruising was making arm movement almost impossible. The one good thing to come of all this was a little slip of paper signing me off work for a week!
Again, I took myself off for some therapeutic birding around the Shelly Beach area of Exmouth this afternoon. I had good close views of a Pale-bellied Brent Goose amongst the Dark-bellied birds on Shelly Beach itself, and a good number of Ringed Plover were seen on a sandbar just offshore, amongst much the same stuff as I saw yesterday. The marina basin area produced the obligatory Black Redstart again flitting about the rooftops of the new appartment blocks. I then succumbed to my aching shoulder and drove home, picking up my son again from college on the way.

Tuesday 9th December 2008

2008-12-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

Spotted Redshank

Yes, today I spotted a Spotted Redshank. This one was in its usual Exmouth haunt, that is to say close in to the railway line at Mudbank Lane. The tide was some way in and the bird was stood in an inch or two of water on the tideline, roosting with its bill flat on its mantle. A Greenshank was stood beside it doing exactly the same thing! Loads of Brent Geese and Wigeon, and a good scattering of Pintail were also close in, the Brents and Wigeon being their usual noisy selves. I had taken myself down for another hour's therapeutic birding, as I was suffering from my injuries incurred yesterday, following my Torville & Dean turn on the black ice! It soon decided to throw it down with another cold heavy shower, so I dived into the car as well as my shoulder would let me, and drove round to the back of the station to view the bay there. Through rain splattered windows I saw more Redshank, some Dunlin and some hardy Grey Plover and Turnstones, trying their best to ignore the rain. Shelduck and Mallard brightened up the scene.
Next stop as the rain eased was the Shelly Beach area, where I saw lots of Ringed Plover amongst the same species of birds I had seen earlier, together with a few Little Egrets pretending they were on the edge of the Med! I had another quick view of a Black Redstart near the marina basin, before another heavy cold squall came along. By this time I was in considerable pain from my injured shoulder, so I headed off to pick my son and his girlfriend up from college.

Monday 8th December 2008

2008-12-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

Acrobatic skating championship

Today I took part unintentionally in the above competition! I left home in Exmouth where it was a bit cloudy and there was a dew on the car. 4 miles up the road I arrived at work at 7am. I opened the car door, took 3 paces and went absolutely flying! Black ice everywhere! I reckon I was horizontal about 4 feet off the ground for a nano-second. I crashed heavily on my side, ie my hip, my arm and my shoulder took the brunt of the fall. Now, as you all know, I'm not so young as what I used to be. There was a time when I would pick myself up, brush myself down and forget it. Not now though. It hurt! I lie there for a bit thinking 'Blimey, I hope no-one saw that - I feel such a prat', or words to that effect! As I was in pain I actually led there for quite some time. In pitch darkness. Lying on black ice which was cold. Feeling like a prat.
I eventually felt able to move and obviously feeling very sore, I checked to make sure nothing was broken. Luckily, there wasn't. I staggered into the office, where I checked myself for damage before anyone else should arrive. I had a scored arm which also carried a large lump. My shoulder and hip although unmarked had been heavily jarred and gave me the most pain. Eventually some colleagues arrived and promptly told me I looked ghastly. Now, those of you who know me probably think I look ghastly most of the time, but today they obviously realised I looked more ghastly than usual! Eventually again, someone in authority arrived and told me to go home. I had a few chores that I needed to get done, so this took me 3 hours to achieve. I was beginning to get bum-ache from sitting on my damaged side so I left for home.
After some taking it easy on the sofa and not being able to get comfy, I decided to take myself off for some therapeutic birding, reckoning that keeping myself moving was a better bet. I drove down to Shelly Beach and watched the birds as the tide got higher. I enthused over the Brent Geese, I took in the Red-breasted Mergansers. I watched small parties of Ringed Plover and Knot making the most of the last-remaining sandbanks. Turnstones called. Shelduck swam. Little Egrets waded around in the rising water. A Grey Heron ignored the rising tide. Oystercatchers and Grey Plover added to the spectacle, along with Dunlin and Curlew. When you're in pain, even the Cormorants and Shags look good! Redshank and what I presume was the local Exmouth nutter also put in appearances! The latter was wading through the icy-cold water carrying a mountain bike. Honest!
Further on I skirted the building site, where they are constructing even more unsightly appartment blocks, which folk with plenty of capital will buy for outrageous sums of money, then as has happened before, complain about there being "too many bleddy seagulls about - one gets woken up at first light" and "why do I have to draw my curtains back and see all those awful boats?". Yes this has happened and even got a mention in the weekly paper! Thank God for Black Redstarts. The first one was watched on some rooftops near the marina basin, until a Herring Gull decided that HE would like to sit on those ridge tiles. I carried on along to the seafront, but the sun was reflecting badly off the sea, and all I could make out were 2 Wigeon and a female Red-breasted Merganser.
By now, my side was killing me. I had to return slowly to the car. Luckily, as I approached the Exe sailing club, my attention was drawn to a small bird flycatching from the end of a flagpole. This turned out to be a first-winter female Black Redstart, a different bird to the one I had seen earlier. By now, in pain, tired and thirsty, I reached my car, fell in and drove home for refreshment. I hadn't been back more than two seconds, when my good lady arrived. I then had to recount my ice-skating finesse!
After sitting around consuming sandwiches (which had originally been made for work!) and a tasty cream cake (which hadn't!), I popped up to Bystock reserve up on the edge of the East Devon pebblebed heathland (more commonly referred to as the 'Commons'). Now if you look back at my blog, you will see I paid the reserve a visit a week or two back and saw nothing. Today I saw not much more, but did hear some other birds. There were ten Mallard on the big pond which is something of a novelty, there normally being 2 or 3! A Crossbill flew over calling which I managed to get on to with the bins, before it sped on over East Budleigh Common. A Buzzard was heard mewing in the distance and a Green Woodpecker was having a good laugh at my inability to see it. Several Grey Squirrels were chattering away to themselves and scampering up trees, trying to hide from me. But again, birds seemed to be scarce. I just could not get comfortable. My aching shoulder and hip gave me trouble, and worst of all it started to drizzle. So I gave up and headed for home.

Thursday 4th December 2008

2008-12-07T23:43:00.000-08:00

Showers

It was a day of showers with a westerly wind, so I thought my best option lunchtime was to go to Bowling Green Marsh again so that if there was a shower, I could dive quickly into the shelter of the hide! This I duly did on a couple of occasions. Luckily there was a longish dry spell which enabled me to walk down to the viewing platform and back.There were plenty of birds on the marsh, but nothing unusual. Large numbers of Wigeon and Teal were present, with smaller numbers of Mallard, Shoveler and Shelduck, and single figure counts of Pintail and Pochard. 51 Golden Plover brightened up the area with about 150 Lapwing. There were plenty of Common Redshank dotted about the grassland feeding, and with them, over towards the oak trees, was a single Spotted Redshank, easily 'bird of the day'.
The wander down to the viewing platform and back produced several Long-tailed Tits and Goldfinches. The tide was a fair way up, so there were plenty of Avocets and Dunlin out on the mud, and several Grey Plover, Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew and a few Bar-tailed Godwits. A couple of Red-breasted Mergansers were diving for food down towards Exton station and a distant small group of Knot were feeding on the newly-exposed mud. Time, as usual at lunchtimes, sped by and a brisk walk back to the car was necessary!

Wednesday 3rd December 2008

2008-12-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Countess Wear

Over the years Countess Wear, former scene of totally chaotic traffic jams before the advent of the M5, has produced some good birds. First and foremost in my book is the Hudsonian Godwit which I saw over 26 years ago. Add Black-crowned Night Heron and such Devon rarities as Bearded Tit and Yellow-browed Warbler and you get a good idea what can turn up here. Regrettably there is a fair bit of car crime in the area, always a burden to local birders. So when I visit I NEVER park anywhere near the swing bridge! I walk the extra half mile or so and try to ignore the thunderous traffic as I head towards the birding spots. So lunchtime today saw me trudging along to the swing bridge and turning north to head up towards Exeter to the Riverside country park.
I had a look over the reedy pools from the 2 viewing screens first. An exhibitionist Water Rail was stood on some flattened reeds, calling to draw my attention to it. A cock Pheasant was seen nearby, also calling to attract attention. I eventually saw what I was looking for a little further along the cycle track. A female Scaup was present on the canal, my first this year. I managed to get within 20 metres of the bird which dived every so often. It has been here for at least 5 days now, and is a local rarity.
Having enjoyed the Scaup, I then pottered off in the other direction, that is to say, south, towards the smelly sewage works. Grey Heron, Little Egret and numerous Cormorants were seen, most of the latter sat on the large electricity pylons and wires, below the road bridge. 3 'brownhead' Goldeneyes were diving in the river as I approached the entrance gates. I followed the path down the western side of the compound, seeing a male Great Spotted Woodpecker only a few feet off the ground on a stunted dead tree, and heard another Water Rail calling. I reached the topmost corner of the old settling beds reserve and my attention was immediately drawn to some Chiffchaffs flitting around the bushes, busily feeding in the sunshine. There were Long-tailed, Blue and Great Tits there too and a couple of Goldcrests. But the Chiffchaffs had my attention, as I followed them very slowly as they worked their way down in the direction of the motorway flyover. One of the 5 birds here was obviously the presumed 'Siberian' Chiffchaff which has been around here for a little while. It appeared quite drab and lacked olive in the upperparts. It had a buffy wash on the flanks. Its legs appeared jet black too, not like the Commons which vary through to browny-black. I watched the birds on and off for a few minutes, before realising I had to get back to work!

Monday 1st December 2008

2008-12-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Another visit to Bowling Green

As I was running late for lunch, I popped up to Bowling Green Marsh again today. It was quite cold, with frost still on the ground where the sun hadn't shone, and the main pool was three-quarters frozen over. I was greeted on getting out of the car by a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which always seems to be in these trees on the Bowling Green hill. I saw nothing of note until I got into the hide. Only dabbling ducks were present, there being no diving ducks, presumably because there was quite a lot of the pool iced over. I could only pick out a single (drake) Pintail amongst the hordes of Wigeon and Teal. A party of 4 Teal landed on what they thought was water, right in front of the hide, and promptly slid across the ice like budding Torville & Deans'! I think God must have listened to my prayers - there were only 5 geese present! These consisted of 3 Canadas and 2 Greylag. Common Snipe were bombing around looking for some unfrozen mud - I counted 5 in all.

I wandered on to the viewing platform, seeing a couple of Goldcrests on the way. The usual suspects were out on the estuary - Avocets, Redshank, Little Egrets, Dunlin, Grey Plover and the like. Whilst I was on the platform, a Chiffchaff was feeding in a nearby tamarisk bush. After scanning the estuary for a bit longer, and picking out a Grey Seal stretched out on a distant mid-estuary mudbank, and checking the fields on the opposite side of the River Clyst, seeing a dog Fox, I ambled back up to the lane and started checking the bordering hedgerow. I had got about 100 yards along towards the 'log layby', when I noticed 3 more Common Chiffchaffs. On reaching the small pond by the railway arch, I had terrific views of a male Bullfinch. It was then time to get back to work.

Thursday 27th November 2008

2008-11-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

Bowling Green Marsh

Just occasionally I like to vary my lunchtime from day to day. It was dry but cloudy, after a spell of light rain this morning, and fairly mild. I decided on the spur of the moment to visit Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, despite it being low tide. I arrived, parked up the top of Bowling Green Lane and ambled quietly down the road, taking note of some Long-tailed Tits feeding with a couple of Goldcrests, near the railway arch. They soon moved on, so I scanned over the wooden gates to the main pool. Most of the birds seemed to be on the south side of the pool, so I carried on to the hide. Wigeon numbers were fairly normal for the time of year, as were Teal and Shoveler. Amongst these were 5 Pintail and on the pool, two pairs of Pochard. A couple of Greylag Geese were with the tiny Canada flock. A Buzzard was noted in the distance. 3 Common Snipe were located amongst the grassy tussocks bordering the small pool nearest the hide. A couple of Jays carried acorns over the marsh.
After getting 'bum cramp', it was time to move on along the lane. Lots of small birds were present in the hedgerows. Several Redwing and Blackbirds showed themselves. More Long-tailed Tits called noisily accompanied by Great and Blue Tits, another Goldcrest and many Goldfinches. A Grey Heron was tucked in a corner. I ambled slowly down the track to the viewing platform to look over the River Clyst. The tide was right out, but Avocet, Redshank, Dunlin and Grey Plover were well spread out across the mudflats. A single Knot was seen. Little Egrets were dotted about the estuary. A couple of Red-breasted Mergansers were diving in the channel. 62 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were feeding in the field, adjacent to the viewing platform, along with a few Wigeon and Teal.
I then made my way back, studying the bushes closely along the track, as they were full of birds, including many Goldfinches, attracted to the alder trees, Greenfinches, more Long-tailed Tits, Redwings and a couple of Goldcrests, and, a Firecrest which flew into my field of view for a few moments. It soon dropped back down into cover, and try as I might, I couldn't see it again.
Making my way back along the lane I encountered a male Stonechat and another acorn-carrying Jay flew over. Then I returned to work. Another very pleasant lunchtime's birding!

Wednesday 26th November 2008

2008-11-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

Stick to the estuary?

At lunchtime today I decided a long-overdue look around Bystock Reserve was in order. Last February the place was dripping with birds, including large numbers of Siskins and Redpolls, and sizeable tit flocks with associated species like Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff and even a couple of Firecrests. Oh dear! Today the place was like a morgue. I struggled to see a few Redwings and a couple of Goldcrests. The only finches I saw were one Chaffinch and two Goldfinches. Had the usual Buzzard sightings and I heard invisible Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. However that was it. Very disappointing. Maybe we will get some more birds when the winter has progressed a bit.
I was so jaded at the lack of avian delights, I soon took myself off to Mudbank Lane, where I knew I was going to see some birds! Sure enough, amongst the hoards of feathered friends I found a Spotted Redshank and a couple of Pale-bellied Brent Geese. A Greenshank was in the same creek as the 'spotshank'. Grey Plover were present in good numbers and quite a few Knot were visible. Phew! That's better. I then nipped back up to work, and found myself trying to keep up with a Peregrine which was flying over the main road heading in the same direction!

Tuesday 25th November 2008

2008-11-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

Surf Scoter and Football

I had to pick up my wife from her dancing at the Pavilion on the seafront in Exmouth at lunchtime. I had time for a quick scan over the sea for 10 minutes or so. The cold north-easterly was not noticeable stood behind a seafront shelter, and the sun even warmed things up a tad! I soon obtained distant views of the female Surf Scoter again off Dawlish Warren. I also found a flock of 10 Common Scoter a lot nearer to Exmouth, but very close in to the Warren beach.

This evening it was off to my other great love (after my family and birding!) - Exeter City FC. We only managed a draw but deserved all 3 points against Rotherham, whose goalie pulled off a string of superb saves to deny us a win. It was a cold night, but I was well wrapped up and to be honest I have felt a lot colder sat in the Old Grandstand than what I was tonight! Still 7th position after getting promoted (at Wembley!) last season is not to be sneezed at!

Monday 24th November 2008

2008-11-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

A quick look round the mouth of the Exe

I spent lunchtime in Exmouth today. Firstly I went to Mudbank Lane. It was quite cold with a north-easterly wind blowing, but thankfully dry. The tide was some way out, but was starting to come in a bit. There were the usual thousands of birds out on the estuary, with numerous Wigeon, Pintail, gulls and Dark-bellied Brent Geese. After scanning through the hordes for quite some time, I found 5 Pale-bellied Brent Geese amongst the wildfowl, out on the tideline. There were lots of Oystercatcher, Curlew, Dunlin and Redshank, interspersed with a few Grey Plover and Turnstone, and 2 each of Greenshank and Knot. In the fields behind the lane, a Grey Heron and 5 Little Egret stood in the lee of a hedge, sheltering from the cold wind. A good flock of House Sparrows were noisy from deep in the laneside hedgerow. We are lucky in that we still seem to have plenty of these little birds in our area. I know that they are fast disappearing from our cities and towns!
Next stop was the seafront, which was cold and exposed and mainly birdless! I noted a single Gannet out in the bay, but nothing much else. I always find that with the wind blowing off the land here, most of the birds are nowhere to be seen.
Just time for a quick trudge round the old docks area then (I still can't get used to calling it the marina - it sounds too posh and also reminds me of those awful cars that were churned out by British Leyland back in the 70's!). There were plenty of Dark-bellied Brent Geese off Shelley Beach and a few Red-breasted Merganser in the channel. A Rock Pipit was keeping low out of the cold wind and I suspect the wind was the reason I saw no sign of any Black Redstarts! I then headed back to work.

Saturday 22nd November 2008

2008-11-23T04:30:00.000-08:00

Back to Wiltshire

I had to travel back to my roots in Wiltshire today, occasioned by my elderly parents. As you can see from my profile, I was born in Wiltshire, and I actually lived there for 28 years. However, I have a very small Wiltshire birding list - caused mainly by living in the extreme west of the county, most of my original birding trips being to such birding hotspots as Chew Valley Lake and the Somerset coast. I also had many birding contacts in the Bath and Bristol area, and in my early twitching days, used to travel with crews of birders from these haunts. I only had to walk less than a mile from my home and I would be in Somerset! Therefore I don't have many rarities on my Wiltshire list. Red-footed Falcon is about the rarest, and to that you can add Black-winged Stilt, Hoopoe, Dotterel, Bittern, Osprey and Great Grey Shrike, so as you can see it's not very impressive!

Come on Terry, stop whittering on, get to the point. As I mentioned, I was back in Wiltshire and luckily there was a Wiltshire tick waiting for me. I called in at Westbury Ponds, well actually Frogmore Pond to be precise, and there sat in the middle of the pond was an adult Great Northern Diver still moulting out of summer plumage. I would imagine that it was a sick bird. It was pretty inactive and didn't dive once the whole time I was there. In fact speaking to a local birder, I was told he had only seen it dive once in over three hours' viewing over the past few days! Still, it showed very well and it was a good bird to add to my county list. Strangely enough, while I was there I added another bird to my Wiltshire list. This was the Yellow-legged Gull which was seen paddling around with a few other gulls. So, a lucky double strike!

A bit later on in the day I had a quick stomp around my old childhood patch before dusk totally descended. This produced Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and Grey Wagtail, but nothing else of note.

Thursday 20th November 2008

2008-11-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Distant Surfer

No I don't mean there was someone on a surfboard right out in the bay! I had incredibly distant views of the female Surf Scoter again this afternoon from the seafront at Exmouth. It has such a distinctive head shape you can pick it out at considerable distance. It appeared to be with 4 Common Scoters. Of course, the sea was flat calm, otherwise it might have been a tad more difficult. I also had a couple of high-flying Gannets right out in the bay, but there was nothing else of note.

This morning I had a quick look over the Exe estuary from Mudbank Lane. Again, there was nothing unusual, but large numbers of wildfowl were close in to the railway line. Several hundred of each of Dark-bellied Brent Geese and Wigeon were continually calling, the former 'barking' and the latter 'whistling'! Scattered amongst these were about 100 Pintail - these ducks are so smart, they always seem to be in immaculate plumage! A Green Woodpecker was calling from some trees a little further along the lane towards Lower Halsdon Farm. This is now owned by the National Trust. After the last owner died a few years back he decided to leave it to the trust, rather than let some disgusting developer get hold of it and build hundreds of houses all across the estuary-side fields. In my book, the guy should be awarded a posthumous knighthood!

Wednesday 19th November 2008

2008-11-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

Sidmouth

Still suffering from a bad back, and taking my chiropracter's advice, I visited Sidmouth today and did some walking around the town and seafront area, also managing to hobble round Connaught Gardens. These small council-owned gardens sit right on the top of the cliff, at the western end of Sidmouth's main beach. They are well-tended and in spring and summer are a blaze of colour, thanks to wonderful planting of beautiful flowering plants. The gardens are also well-known to local birders for producing views of Purple Sandpipers and Black Redstarts! I called in this morning but the tide was right up and there were none of the former species on view. I also drew a blank with regard to the latter. These tend to frequent the thatched roofs of the large houses immediately east of the gardens. What was apparent though was a huge gathering of Herring Gulls across the bay, presumably enticed in to a very large fish shoal. These remained out there all day. The gardens are in a bit of a precarious position, being sited at the top of the red sandstone cliffs. To the east and west of the town a lot of cliff erosion is taking place and regular falls of tons of cliff occur. Spectacularly, to the west of Connaught Gardens is a house right on top of the cliff heading up towards Peak Hill. It has already lost some of its garden down the cliff, and one wonders just how long the place will still be standing! I would imagine that it cost the owners many thousands of pounds a few years ago. I would also imagine that it is practically worthless now, as the eroding cliff gets ever closer............
I walked round the town with my lovely wife, and we took lunch in one of our favourite cafes - wonderful! Mid afternoon, and I was back along the western end of the beach to check Chit Rocks, which thanks to the receding tide were now starting to become visible. A few Oystercatchers and Turnstones were feeding on them, and thanks to diligent searching, a Purple Sandpiper was found fairly close in to the path. These little beggars are a so-and-so to find. They are small, dumpy, the colour of seaweed-covered rocks and stick like limpets to said rocks, always seeming to know just where to stand to avoid being swept away by the next crashing wave! There are usually around 6 of them on these rocks, but I could only find the single one today.

Tuesday 18th November 2008

2008-11-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

The Workplace

It's amazing what you can see at work, and also travelling to and from the place of toil. I always start early (usually before 7am), so as it's quiet I can catch up with mundane paperwork and also keep a beady eye open for any birdlife outside the office. I've already posted about the late House Martins I always seem to see in November. But back to this morning which dawned nice and bright and early. A small flock of distant Canada Geese flew over the adjacent farmland. A flock of 14 Fieldfare could be heard calling in flight as they ventured over the nearby playing fields. A few Curlew flew inland from the adjoining Exe estuary. Then, just before the incoming rush of workers, a couple of Long-tailed Tits busied themsleves in a small tree just below my top floor window.
Although suffering from a bad back (sitting for long periods is the worst thing you can do), I decided to walk the 4 miles home this afternoon. More Fieldfares and a few Redwings were seen first, as well as Blackbirds, Song and Mistle Thrushes. I walked up Stony Lane to Conigar Cross. I had just passed over the junction, when a bird flushed from the laneside ditch right in front of me. Expecting it to be a Pheasant, about one second later I saw that it was much much smaller, and then in the next nanosecond I realised it was a Woodcock! Dumpy build, with dead-leaves camouflage-colour, a long snipe-like bill held slightly downwards, and totally silent, it was only my second one this year! A bit further on a Great Spotted Woodpecker attracted my attention by calling and flying over the lane, while I was focusing on an overhead Goldfinch. Then, just round the corner, a Green Woodpecker was heard calling at the same time as I spotted a Buzzard, also calling from the top of a very tall telegraph pole. This bird was a right exhibitionist. It launched itself off the pole and proceeded to fly up and down over the lane, calling constantly. By now the light was beginning to fade. I had to navigate myself safely down the side of a busy road for 400 yards. No birds could be given attention while doing so. I eventually passed on to a safe pavement and pottered quietly back home to be greeted by my son, who gave me all the latest football news ahead of tonight's FA Cup replays!

Saturday 15th November 2008

2008-11-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

The Same Bird?

I had the chance to have a wander along the seafront at Exmouth and around the Orcombe Point area this afternoon. It was a very mild day with a slight north-westerly breeze. I scanned over the beach and noted the usual masses of gulls, and large number of Shags out across the bay. I was aware that a female Surf Scoter had been seen the previous day from Dawlish Warren. Mindful of this, I was carefully 'scoping the sea area to the east of the Warren beach when I found the bird in question, some 200 yards or so off the beach. This was quite a chunky dark seaduck and it was alone on this particular patch of saltwater. There were no other scoter in sight. This was my second sighting of this species this year. Indeed it could be the same bird, albeit ten and a half months later! A female Surf Scoter was in practically the same position back in January when I saw it. Surely it's the same bird returning? Hopefully it will hang around into next year, and I can go and year-tick it again! This species is becoming annual in its occurrences around the mouth of the Exe estuary - especially in the October to March period. I remember seeing my first 'Surfer' many many years ago. Strangely enough this bird, an adult drake, was also off Dawlish Warren. I had travelled down from my then Wiltshire home to see it. It was quite a rarity in those days! I recall that it was a freezing cold day in late January. It was only really possible to see the bird from the top of Langstone Rock, giving birders the necessary height to scan over the rafts of distant scoter. Of course it was real brass monkey weather up there with the wind tearing in from the sea. The bird didn't really show well until we had all been perched up there for several hours, by which time we had turned blue with the cold. I remember staggering back down to the car in order to try and warm up, having lost the feeling in my arms, legs and other unmentionable extremities!

Anyway, back to the present, and after eyeing the scoter for a while, I carried on up to Orcombe Point, where a large Peregrine flew low over me twice slowly, the second time being so low I could have almost touched it with my tripod! Only one Gannet was visible out at sea. There were several large ships moored out on the horizon. The light was now getting a little dimmer and passerines seemed to have gone to roost early, save for a Goldcrest, still foraging for insects in an old apple tree. Of course, when I had literally reached the farthest point from the car, I had a call from my good lady telling me to get back into town to pick her and my daughter (who has come up from uni' in Cornwall for a few days) up from a bout of intense retail therapy. Still, I had taken my own spell of therapy, enjoying both the Surf Scoter and the Peregrine views.

Wednesday 12th November 2008

2008-11-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

To tick or not to tick?

The continued presence of the drake Hooded Merganser at Radipole Lake had been tormenting me for some time. I hadn't seen this species before anywhere. It was a world lifer. Could the Radipole bird be a genuine wild bird? I wouldn't like to say either way! It has certainly turned up in a westerly location, always a good sign for a genuine American vagrant. When it turned up in the late spring, it was a grotty little grey and brown duck! Now it has moulted in to stunning near-adulthood and certainly is a superb bird. Well, I was unable to resist any longer, and decided to get up even earlier than usual, and drive along the coast to see it. I was up at 4.45am, and duly arrived at Radipole visitor centre at 7am. There wasn't too much traffic on the way over, but the coast road was closed between Swyre and Abbotsbury. I decided to go the main road way to the Dorchester by-pass and take the Weymouth road from there. Massive queues of traffic heading out of Weymouth, all the way to Dorchester (ie. coming in the opposite direction), gave me a mental reminder that I should not return this way later!

Anyway, I parked the car by the (closed) visitor centre, and started scanning the water nearby. There was no sign of the bird, so I wandered slowly down to the Gurkha restaurant and scanned the area down to Westham bridge. It wasn't there either! OK, so it was only 7.15 and I had a couple of hours to find the bird. At 7.20 I was back up by the visitor centre, and lo and behold there was the drake Hooded Merganser steaming out from under the branches out on to open water. It performed beautifully and even bobbed it's head a few times in mock-display. Apparently in the wilds of North America this species has hybridised regularly with Goldeneye, so a bit of head-shaking towards a couple of female Tufted Ducks was perfectly acceptable! They just drove it off anyway. No American posers allowed in posh Dorset then! It drifted back under some low branches the other side of the footbridge in common with its native habits across the pond. I reckon this is where the bird was when I first arrived, well-hidden in some dark corner under the trees. The outrageous crest on the rear of the bird's head had to be seen to be believed. It looked some enormous powder puff. And yet the bill was thin, long and delicate. The eyes were outstanding, looking like a couple of colourful beads, deep yellow irises with black pupils. The reddy-brown (orangey) body was finely vermiculated with brown.

I decided to have a stroll round the reserve while I was there. Apart from two people with dogs on leads, and a young female red-faced jogger, I saw no-one. Bliss! There were several duck species present, but there did not seem to be half the number of birds there that I used to see, when I visited the place regularly from my Wiltshire home some 25-30 years ago! Mind you, there wasn't a horrendous noisy main road running down the western flank of the reserve in those days. Regrettably all you could hear the whole time I was there was thunderous traffic. How sad that this awful state of affairs should spoil my happy memories of how things used to be! I seem to remember being towards the western side of the lake back in February 1980, when I was watching a Pied-billed Grebe. It was so quiet back then. I see some new houses have been built alongside the road too, another thorny issue...........

Cetti's Warblers were as usual, everywhere, and a couple provided stunning views. A Chiffchaff was more fleeting though. I returned to the bridge by the visitor centre to find that the "hoodie" had drifted some way up the channel and had returned to hiding amongst the vegetation and low branches. Indeed, it was even having a quick forty winks, whilst I watched it. A little while later, it decided to do a bit of diving a bit nearer the bridge again, so I had great views of it once again. Having to be at Budleigh Salterton back in Devon by 11.30, I left the bird to it, again having drifted back under the branches. This just gave me enough time to pop over to Ferrybridge for a scan over the eastern end of the Fleet, and take a much-needed cuppa from my flask.
Here there was a massive flock of Brent Geese of all different types. About 1500 geese in all, mainly being adult and several juvenile birds of the Dark-bellied form. However, I counted at least 15 Pale-bellied in amongst them and, star of the goose-fest, a single Black Brant! I hadn't seen one in Dorset before, but my last one, in December last year, had been on the Kingsbridge Estuary in my home county of Devon. A cracking bird and so different from the Dark-bellied form! Also there stood in a little group, were at least 12 Mediterranean Gulls, 6 of which were adults, the rest being made up of juvenile/first winter and second-winter birds. Some goon with a dog came up on my left flank, marched over and read a sign which said to the effect "Please do not exercise your dog here due to feeding birds", then proceded to wade through the mud with his pooch and let it run amok! All the birds took flight and flew around in a blind panic. I immediately left in disgust, otherwise I would have been in trouble with the local constabulary for assault! I took the coast road as far as Portesham then cut up to the A35 through Little and Long Bredy's, and made my way back to East Devon.
This afternoon I had a look over the seafront at Exmouth, but save from 20 Common Scoters and a few Gannets, there was little to fire the enthusiasm. Still, I was happy with my trip this morning, and glad to have caught up with a possible lifer!

Tuesday 11th November 2008

2008-11-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

A Lunchtime Stroll

A day of heavy showers, so I had to pick my time for a lunchtime stroll from work on the side of the Exe estuary. I dashed out straight after a heavy shower and found myself down at Exton station in next to no time! I was indulging in 'dude birding' as it was binoculars only as I was without my 'scope. Hence I saw nothing very exciting, but there were plenty of birds on the estuary, though about eighty per cent of them were a long way out. There were lots of Bar-tailed Godwits, Redshanks, Grey Plover and Dunlin fairly close in, but the Avocets were just 'white blobs with dark bits' over towards Exminster Marshes. A few Black-tailed Godwits were present too. A Buzzard was soaring in the cold wind over the other side of the estuary, whilst a Little Egret flew in and landed on 'my' side of the Exe. It immediately hunched up and pointed its bill into the wind! Not too many wildfowl were present though. A few Red-breasted Mergansers were in the channel, and a small clump of Mallard had batoned down the hatches in the wind. A couple of Brent Geese flew up the other side of the river. All of a sudden there was another sharp heavy shower. I dived into the shelter on the station platform, whilst the wind and rain whistled around me. Strange thing though today was the total lack of trains - perhaps they were out on strike or something. The nature of the single track line means that trains go south to Exmouth, then 'reverse' back up to Topsham, where the next train waits on the double track. This normally means there is a train thundering by every few minutes, but not today!
So it was a fairly quiet shelter on the platform today. Once the shower had passed, I had one more good scan over the estuary, then set out back to work. However, this was not before I had spotted a party of six Knot feeding with the Bar-tailed Godwit flock - small, dumpy, hunched up, neckless, chunky, call them what you will, they are always a pleasure to see! A Grey Heron was stood out on the tideline, also hunched up against the weather. A Kestrel was hovering alongside the railway track as I left the estuary-side. I luckily got back to work before the next shower came up.

Friday 7th November 2008

2008-11-09T23:26:00.000-08:00

A Quiet Corner of Somerset

This afternoon I had to drive up to Wiltshire in order to pick up my elderly parents and bring them down to East Devon tomorrow to stay for a holiday. I had a little time before it got dark, so I stopped at Bruton to see if I could find the Hawfinches that were seen the previous two days. I parked up and walked along Mill Lane to Lower Backway. I scanned the prescribed trees, wandered round the immediate area for a while and didn't see any Hawfinches!What did amaze me though, was the sheer number of small birds that were to be seen. I suppose they were attracted to the cover provided by the trees and bushes alongside the tiny River Brue. I soon realised there were lots of tits in the vicinity. Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed Tits were present, with the latter two species providing the closest views. The Long-tails were obliging enough to hang around a couple of bushes just ten feet from where I was stood, whilst the Coal Tits actually inspected a plant-covered wall for insects only six feet away! A couple of Goldcrests were busy feeding across the road as well. The ash trees which acted as suitable perches for Hawfinches yesterday did the same for some Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Greenfinches today. A Buzzard passed low overhead at one point, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker called briefly. Blackbirds were busy chasing each other around the ivy-covered trunks and a couple of Pied Wagtails put in an appearance. Collared Doves vied with the Wood Pigeons in making their presence felt, whilst Jackdaws were noisy on surrounding rooftops. Star of the show though was a female Blackcap which materialised out of the greenery just before I left the quiet backwater that is Bruton.
I carried on my journey towards Wiltshire and with a few minutes remaining of half-light, I quickly scanned Orchardleigh Lake, an old stomping ground of mine from some forty years ago! A couple of Great Crested Grebes were the highlights here, but apart from the usual Pochard and Tufted Ducks, which I could just about make out in the dimming vestiges of light, there seemed to be nothing else of note here. I carried on to the Wiltshire village and found my parents in good health and ready for their break in Devon!

Thursday 6th November 2008

2008-11-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Local Specialities

Living in East Devon, we are blessed with having a few species nesting locally which are uncommon or just plain rare elsewhere in the country. Dartford Warbler springs to mind. They are literally common on the commons, and can be found in good numbers on the East Devon heathlands. They even nest within the Exmouth Civil Parish Boundary, so I get to see them like most folk in other parts of the country see Yellowhammers or Treecreepers. But perhaps the most localised of all is a bird whose main breeding stronghold is in our fair county. Yes, I'm talking about the Cirl Bunting. The males in breeding plumage are absolutely stunning, and even at this time of year set the pulse racing. Now most local birders hereabouts would have year-ticked Cirl Bunting back in the first two weeks of January. Not me however, I tend to be a bit slow when it comes round to yearlisting. So, when I realised I hadn't seen any this year yet, I thought I had better make a special trip and make sure I saw some. I usually catch up with the birds on the west side of the Exe estuary, or in the South Hams when I am twitching a county rarity in those parts. Not this year though! I haven't had occasion to travel down to the south of the county and, well, I just hadn't made the effort to see them locally.
Therefore I popped round to the village of Exminster at lunchtime and meandered up and down the edges of some fields which are well-known to locals as being a good bet for connecting with the species. Eventually I came across a small finch flock numbering some 35 birds. Goldfinch and Chaffinch made up most of the numbers, but a couple of Reed Buntings were present and sure enough, there were the Cirl Buntings! There 6 birds in all, consisting of 3 of each sex. They flew into a hedge which had all it's leaves turned to an autumnal yellow in colour. Once I got the telescope on them, they were easy to see. I enjoyed these for about 30 minutes whilst a pair of Stonechats did their level best to impress me by perching closely on convenient stalks of weed. Mission accomplished. I must not leave it so long next year to make my acquaintance with these lovely birds!
I popped briefly into Bowling Green Marsh hide on the return journey just to see if there were any different birds to yesterday. Wigeon numbers were up on yesterday and there was a pair of Gadwall on the back edge of the main pool, while 3 Pochard were new in as well. The Little Grebe was still present. I bumped into Ron Lewis from Bath who had caught the train down for a day's birding, definitely a well-known birder from my distant past, and one I hadn't seen for over 20 years! He was quick to inform me he'd seen a Firecrest earlier along by the viewing platform, so that will be something to look for over the next few days.

Wednesday 5th November 2008

2008-11-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

Off with a bang!

OK, a nice early start to today's diary has me keying in this at 7.30hrs. Yesterday I managed to find a couple of minutes to look skywards at work, and this produced at least one House Martin still hawking insects above the buildings. I suspect there were more, but I just didn't have the time to look! A quick look over the seafront at Exmouth during a much-reduced lunchtime period gave me tantalising distant views of a very small duck, which was all-dark. Trouble was, it was just too far out to identify, even with my trusty telescope. But, it was very small, especially in size comparison with the nearby Shags. One that got away.............

Back to today, and I was driving to work at 6.40 when one of the numerous local Buzzards nearly flew into my windscreen in the growing light. Mid morning, staring out of the office window (wishing I was out there), and a House Martin is wheeling around down towards the edge of the Exe estuary, so they still haven't gone south yet.

Lunchtime today was taken rather late, but I zipped up the road to Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham. Parking the car at the top of the lane, I ambled quietly down and watched a large tit flock moving through the trees. A couple of Goldcrests were with this flock, but I couldn't find anything more interesting. Still, I had super views of Long-tailed Tits, some being only a few feet away. Arriving at the hide along the lane, I had time to sit there for twenty minutes or so and peruse the birds in front of me. The Canada Goose flock was not excessive thank goodness, so a few more wildfowl could feed undisturbed. The flock contained three semi-feral Greylag Geese. A Little Grebe was diving out on the main pool, and a nice flock of 67 Lapwing were dozing poolside! One Common Snipe was showing right out in the open. I wonder how many more were out there hidden behind vegetation clumps! I strolled along to the viewing platform that looks out over the River Clyst. From here I saw a large number of Avocets feeding on the mud exposed by the receding tide (about 150+), a solitary Grey Plover right under the platform, a Greenshank which flew downriver with lots of Redshank and a group of Red-breasted Merganser diving in the channel. All too soon it was time to get back to the car, so I retraced my steps along the lane, seeing a male Stonechat in the "log layby" and wondered just how many Blackbirds there were in the area. An overnight fall must have occurred - they were everywhere! I checked them all in case anything rarer was lurking, but to no avail. Up to 4 Jays were flying backwards and forwards over the area as well.

Monday 3rd November 2008

2008-11-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

Late House Martins

I was walking out from my office near the east side of the Exe estuary today, when I noticed a House Martin wheeling around feeding on late insects. I came to a halt and watched the rooftops for a few minutes, and realised there were four of them! I must admit that although we have endured cold north-easterly winds for the past few days, I wasn't at all surprised. I have had them in this locality in November for the last few years, the latest being about 24th November! There are a lot of large buildings on my complex, and I would imagine that these give off a fair amount of heat, thus attracting what insect life is left around. (Some of my colleagues would argue that the amount of bull---t emanating from these buildings would probably draw in the entire insect population of the northern hemisphere!). Still, they were a pleasure to see, and I reckon they could hang around for a little while longer.
Although working for the whole day, I was lucky to hear a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers back in Exmouth this afternoon too. We seem to have a healthy population of Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers in our area, and I have very occasionally seen their smaller cousin, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, within a couple of hundred yards of my house. Other notable species seen from my house or garden include White Stork, Red Kite, Little Egret, Waxwings, Black Redstart, Hobby and Peregrine, so it pays to keep looking out, even though I live in Exmouth's suburbia. I now keep a list of bird species seen within Exmouth Parish Boundary, and this year I have added Stone Curlew, Cattle Egret, Short-eared Owl and Lapland Bunting to that list amongst others, so one can only imagine what else will turn up!

Friday 31st October 2008

2008-10-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

Black Redstart 1 Spoonbill 0

News was of a juvenile Spoonbill during the morning at Dawlish Warren. Now, I have learnt that it is quite easy to 'scope some of the larger birds at the 'back' of the Warren (ie the estuary side), by driving to the Shelley beach area of Exmouth and looking out from the gaudy new apartment blocks. Indeed I used this ploy last year to see 3 Spoonbills which were lingering in the same area of the Warren. One simply sets up scope and tripod, and looks out over the mouth of the Exe estuary. Better still, I used this method to view the Caspian Tern (only the second record for Devon) a couple of years ago or so. Rather than drive all round the estuary (a journey of some 17 miles and 45 + minutes!), it's far quicker to bomb down to Exmouth and use the trusty telescope. The Caspian Tern only hung around for a couple of hours or so, before flying off never to be seen again! This bird was easily seen from Exmouth as it stood head and shoulders over the rest of the assembled terns. So there I was at lunchtime today, perched above Shelley Beach looking for the Spoonbill. Regrettably someone forgot to tell it that it should hang about until yours truly arrived! I was left looking at lots of bait-diggers, fishermen and dogwalkers swarming over the mudflats as if the tide was out for the last time ever. This has to be the biggest threat to wildlife now, as the population grows larger and more folk seem discontented with only owning one dog. They have to have 3 or more nowadays. Needless to say all these pooches need exercise and where better to take them than the mudflats at low tide. Of course all the feeding birdlife gets driven off. They feel they don't have to bother clearing up after their animals as the tide will do it for them. I just pity those poor bathers off Exmouth seafront when the tide is running out. I hope they swim with their mouths firmly closed! Anyway the point is Sammy Spoonbill had cleared off before I got there. Luckily all was not lost as I found a Black Redstart frequenting the sailing club area. I actually got to within 15 feet of this bird and had cracking views of it moving around the boats. One of these birds seems to occur here most winters, so it was good to see one back again this autumn. Masses of Brent Geese and Wigeon were performing well, as were the obligatory Little Egrets. A few Red-breasted Merganser were also diving for food there. So although there was a cold north-easterly blowing, the sun was shining and as long as you stood out of the wind, it was quite pleasant.

Wednesday 29th October 2008

2008-10-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

Cold and windy

I had a quick stomp around Orcombe Point, Exmouth at lunchtime today. It was cold despite the westerly wind blowing, and small birds were keeping hidden to a large extent. I left the car at Foxholes Hill as usual and a Coal Tit flew into a small fir tree by the car. I wandered out slowly to the point, checking the bushes and hedgerows on the way. Three Curlew flew over heading towards the top fields. There were a great many crows feeding in the fields around the point, including quite a few Rooks, a bird which doesn't always make its presence felt in this area. A large commotion occurred when a Raven flew low through the assembled throngs! I had a quick scan over the sea, which to a large extent was pretty calm. There were 6 Common Scoters (3 of each sex) a little way out from the western end of Sandy Bay beach. I walked up to the top cliffs, but it was quite exposed up here, and I quickly decided to return back down to the point, with time running out as well. 4 more Curlew headed over towards the top fields. A Goldcrest and a few Long-tailed Tits were moving quickly through the bushes below the campfield, but nothing else of note was seen. I plodded back to the car and returned to the dubious delights of the office!

Monday October 27th 2008

2008-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

A Trip to West Cornwall

We were down in Cornwall visiting our daughter at the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus at Falmouth for a couple of days. I thought I'd take the opportunity to drive over to the Sennen area and try to see the presumed Azorean Yellow-legged Gull that has been frequenting the Sennen Cove area. The weather was sunny but a cold north-westerly was blowing, so hat and gloves were required. Still it was a bright morning and the Isles of Scilly were visible in the distance, bringing back memories of when I used to visit the islands regularly over 20 years ago.
I hadn't managed to get any news on the gull for a couple of days, so thought I would give the Sunny Corner Lane area a grilling, that being the last location of any reported sightings. I noticed that there were lots of gulls down on the Cowloe on arrival mid morning, a rocky islet down in the cove, about a mile distant. I thought I'd give the immediate area a good look over, before popping down the road to the cove to try my luck there. I managed to park in a newish tiny cul-de-sac along the lane, kitted up and started scanning. A handful of immature gulls were flying around low overhead. I scanned the first -a first-winter argenteus Herring Gull, however my eyes nearly popped out when I got my bins on the second bird - a dark individual a bit reminiscent of an American Herring Gull! It was the Azorean Gull! I watched it wheeling around on and off for a good 45 minutes, sometimes dropping down below the clifftop houses, and reappearing some few hundred yards further on. Raven and Buzzard gave superb views as well, but small passerines were keeping low in the cold wind! A phone-call to my wife to confirm that I'd luckily jammed in on the bird, then it was off to the car. I drove back to the main road, then turned towards Lands End. I quickly stopped again when I realised the bird was in a roadside field just to the south of Sunny Corner Lane!
I had further good views of the bird, then with time fast running out, I decided that I would try for the Yellow-browed Warbler at Porthcurno on the way back to Falmouth. I listened to Birdline on my mobile, and picked up on the news that it was to be found in scrub to the south of the toilet block! Hoping that the wind was blowing away from the block, I parked up the car and started scanning and trying to listen for the bird. I did a slow circuit of the bushy area, and after several false alarms with 'crests and Chiffchaffs, I eventually got brief views of the bird as it moved quickly through with a tit flock. Time had run out, and I was keen to meet up with my daughter again, so I zipped back to Falmouth as fast as the traffic would allow. This turned out to be like the trip over - pretty slow. It now seems like the roads in West Cornwall are as slow as everywhere else in Britain. You get in a line of moving vehicles and crawl along behind someone who delights in pottering along at about 20mph! Of course, being half-term week probably added to the misery. Heavy prolonged showers now broke out, so I was pleased to have got my birding done in the sunshine! Despite keeping my eyes peeled I saw nothing else of interest during the afternoon, spent pottering around Falmouth.
I was just pleased that I had located the Azorean Gull, a world lifer for me, and who knows, one day it may get officially split as a separate species before I die!!