Belstone

On Saturday I had a great day out with the Mid Devon Birds group, exploring the area around Belstone on the Northern edge of Dartmoor. We had glorious sunshine & fantastic scenery all day, and the birds were pretty good too.

We started off by walking down into the lovely wooded River Taw valley. There were quite a few Swallows & House Martins collecting mud from the edges of a puddle as we entered the valley & we could hear Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers & Cuckoos. A different song caught our attention as we descended towards the river, which we soon discovered belonged to an obliging Garden Warbler.

It was quite a steep climb down

The Garden Warbler gave us great views, I managed this shot with my 'point & shoot' Lumix.

Unfortunately no Dipper. Chris, the walk leader, says he very rarely sees them here

Diversification....John gave us a geocashing lesson

Stopping to admire the view we saw 2 cuckoos & heard a 3rd, and saw 4 Ravens

Looking back towards the village...

...and out to the North over the fields of bluebells 

We descended back into the valley, passing a singing Redstart on the way, and walked back to the car park in Belstone for lunch. Then we headed out through the village onto the moor towards Belstone Tor.

Communications centre...the old Telegraph Office

On the moor...we soon saw Meadow Pipits & Skylarks

I really should have put the tripod legs up!

This is what we were looking at. I really must practise digiscoping.

A Stonechat with limited orange on the breast & large white collar....a bit like a Siberian

As we started heading back towards the village, a female Wheatear gave us some nice views and a couple of Stock Doves flew over, putting the day list on 40, although I think we did add a couple more after that. The day finished in style....Chris's wife is still waiting for the lease to get sorted out on a tea shop in the village, so she catered for us at their house instead!

An afternoon cream tea on the lawn, how civilised!

Exminster & Powderham Marsh

I've been away with husband Simon for 3 months visiting 18 countries......flew to Moscow, train to Hong Kong via Siberia & Mongolia, & back by sea. It was an amazing trip & I may post a blog if I ever get around to sorting through my thousands of photos.

However, it's great to be home & yesterday I had a very enjoyable day out in the sunshine with the Devon Birds group. We met up at the RSPB car park at Exminster Marsh & wandered around the circular route. We saw several Lesser & Common Whitethroat, Cetti's, Reed & Sedge Warblers, Hobbies, Whimbrel & Dunlin.

Devon Birds....

The Lesser Whitethroats were in the hedge by the railway

Trying to find the vocal but elusive Reed Warblers...a raised hide would be  useful!

A lovely day for to wander....

...or just stand about looking & listening

A spot of bog hopping required....

...and Dave gallantly brought up the rear to fend off the cows!

A brief stop at the Turf for the Whimbrel

..and back along the canal path where we actually saw a Sedge Warbler & a Cetti's singing

After lunch most people headed off, but 5 of us stayed on at Powderham Marsh. We had a lovely wander to the viewpoint, where we sat in the sunshine for over an hour. We had fantastic views of a Sedge Warbler & Lesser Whitethroat, and added Swift, Peregrine, Stonechat & Reed Bunting to the list. However the highlight was Cirl Bunting, with one male briefly appearing on the bird table below the viewpoint, and another 2 in a ploughed field on the way back to the car park. The Lapwing chicks were pretty cute as well!

A great way to while away the afternoon!

Devon Birders meeting at BGM

Yesterday about 17 of us attended the first East Devon Birders meeting of the year. It didn't start too well....

Goosemoor.....couldn't even see the water let alone any birds!

Still, we had a quick try!

Quickly moved on to the hide at BGM. It was a it of a squash & I felt sorry for the people who were in there already. So much for some quiet birding! At first we couldn't see a thing, but gradually the sun burnt off the fog & birds gradually emerged through the murk.

Very cosy

From this...

...to this

At one point there was a sudden emptying of the hide when a Brambling was spotted on the feeders outside the hide. It took a while, but we all eventually saw the female bird, my first for the year. On to the viewpoint where a Goldeneye was spotted in the distance, although it did fly slightly closer for us.

Viewing the Clyst

On to the Goatwalk & through Topsham checking the Exe as we went

Then some of us went on to Dart's Farm where hundreds of Brent Geese were feeding in the fields, along with quite a few Canadas. Surprisingly there were also 2 Bar-headed Geese, one of which had a nasty limp. The feeders were empty at first, although an RSPB man did appear before we left & topped up the sunflower seeds. It didn't take long for the finches to move in & start munching.

2 Bar-headed Geese

The limping Bar-headed Goose

There was only David & Wally & myself left when the Kingfisher appeared.

The full list for the day:

BGM/estuary: Wigeon, Teal, Canada Goose, Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Avocet, Crow, Magpie, Curlew, Redshank, Lapwing, Shelduck, Dunlin, Pintail, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Great Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Tufted Duck, Moorehen, Pochard, Shoveler, Heron, Brambling, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Wren, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Snipe, Grey Plover, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Goldeneye, Brent Goose, (Bar-headed Goose), Greenshank, Cormorant, Turnstone, Collared Dove, Starling, Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail

Dart's farm: Chiffchaff, Stock Dove, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Mute Swan

Escot

This morning I joined the East Devon Birders for a walk around Escot Park. It would be fair to say that the birding was a bit slow, although it was very pleasant & I did end up with 34 species on my list, including Redwing, Fieldfare, Grey Wagtail, Linnet, Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit, Snipe, Buzzard, Lapwing, Treecreeper, Nuthatch & Stock Dove.

A flock of Devon Birders in formation

It was chilly & foggy when we set off, but soon warmed up

The woods were pretty quiet.....well apart from us!

The 'hot spot' of the day...a large proportion of the days birds were seen here

My 35th bird of the day.....turkey at the Christmas lunch!

Then outside for a close encounter with a Devil Squirrel!

As usual, a very enjoyable day out with good company. 

Beer Head & Black Hole Marsh

Yesterday I went along to the Devon Birds meeting at Beer Head. There were about 17 of us, and we were led on the walk by Steve Waite, local patch birder & Devon Bird Recorder. Steve also writes a blog about birding on the Axe, which I read regularly (http://stevesbirdingblog.blogspot.co.uk) so it was nice to actually meet him.

The forecast was for heavy rain showers and for once they actually seem to have got it right! However, between showers we saw quite a nice variety of birds including quite a large flock of lovely Yellow Wagtails, Wheatears, Whinchats, and a Redstart - which I missed, unfortunately. I suspect that Steve would have found more birds without us, as we make quite a lot of noise...we're quite a sociable bunch & tend to natter as we wander!

One minute we were watching a juvenile Green Woodpecker...

....the next we were taking cover from the rain

There goes the culprit

What a fantastic place for a walk; birds are a bonus!

More rain approaches, head for the trees!

Watching Whinchats & Wheatears

The meeting finished at lunchtime, but 6 of us went on to Black Hole Marsh. We added 24 species to the day list including Green & Common Sandpipers, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit & Kingfisher. We spent quite a while watching a small & distant wader on the river which we thought at first was a Curlew Sandpiper. However, after much head scratching & consulting of the Collins we decided it was probably just a lonely Dunlin. It's a shame Steve wasn't still with us as undoubtedly he would have  been able to ID it in a flash!

Low water levels at the Marsh

Colin had a visitor in the hide....I think it may be a Speckled Bush Cricket but I'm happy to be corrected!

When we'd first entered the hide, a couple of people had just been treated to fantastic views of a juvenile cuckoo sitting on nearby fence poles. Apparently it had been feeding in the grass & flying up when disturbed by passing trams. After about an hour we'd practically given up hope of seeing it when a bird flew in from across the river & landed on a post. Bingo! I still haven't got the hang of digiscoping but I managed a record shot!

The cuckoo finally put in an appearance

It was worth the wait!

Another very enjoyable day out with the Devon Birders.