Nightjars on Mutters Moor

On Wednesday I joined 18 other members of Devon Birds for a Nightjar hunt on Mutters Moor near Sidmouth. It was a clear dry evening with a nice bright moon to help the Nightjars hunt for supper, although there was a reasonably strong chilly wind which probably kept  some of their insect menu grounded. At least we didn't get nibbled by any mozzies.

We arrived at 8.30pm & wandered to the North of the moor for fantastic views as the sun set.

It must have been about 9.45pm when we first heard the Nightjar's 'churring', and shortly after that one was spotted perching in a nearby tree. Most of us got a decent look at it in the scope before it flew off. We then had good but brief views as a pair flew around not far from where we were watching.

Headed back to the car park in the dark after a good night out!

White-billed Diver

Last year when I tried for a big year list I did plenty of twitching. I considered going down to Cornwall for the White-billed Diver, but decided it was a bit too far. This year I've done no twitching, but when I noticed on Devon Bird Sightings that there was a White-billed Diver in Brixham, I thought it would be rude not to indulge in a last minute 2013 twitch. I collected Libby at 7:30am & we headed for Brixham Harbour, parking in the car park near the Astro Zenica building. Another couple of birders had just arrived & headed off towards the harbour, so we followed along. We walked to the entrance to the inner harbour where we found a line of about 8 birders with scopes. Within about a minute, the White-billed Diver popped up. How easy was that?! It gradually got closer & entered the inner harbour, giving us amazing views.

Bingo!! 

The WBD was very obliging & came right into the inner harbour

It was a bit showery, but luckily there was no wind & the water was flat. 

Met a chap using an Questar scope which cost him £2500 30 years ago!  You could see why, the image quality was excellent.

An impressive rainbow made up for the rain.

We moved to the other side of the harbour for even better views

I tried out my new 'point & shoot' Lumix TZ40 ....

...and was quite impressed

What a bill!!

Well worth the trip!

We walked out onto the breakwater & got a real bonus for the day with a Black-guillemot. I only saw my first ever this Summer on Shetland, so this was my first English sighting. It wasn't as obliging as the WBD, but I still managed a record shot.

A distant Black Guillemot 

The WBD had moved to the outer harbour to the left & the Black Guillemot was to the right.

Brixham from the Breakwater

Other birds of note were Purple Sandpiper, Black-throated Diver & Great Northern Diver.

On the way home we stopped off at Broadsands to see the Cirl Buntings. We met some birders from Wakefield who'd left home at 3:30am, been to Portland for the Brunnich's Guillemot, Brixham for the WBD & had dropped in for the Cirl Buntings on their way home! They were very tired but happy birders!

We saw the Cirls, what we think was probably a Siberian Chiffchaff, and a distant Black-necked Grebe in the bay.

 Cirl Bunting hunting

It had been an excellent day out. I remember now why I enjoy the occasional twitch!

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. 

Hope's Nose

According to the weather app on my phone, there was due to be a strong onshore wind & rain yesterday. I decided to visit Hope's Nose in Torquay as I've only been there once before, on 3/3/02. All I can remember about that visit is that I went there with Mary and that she spent the entire visit lying on the grass due to a dodgy back!

When I arrived just before 10, it was lashing down and visibility was pretty bad, although it wasn't too windy.

View of Hope's Nose from the van when I arrived 

By the time I'd walked down to the end of the footpath, which was more like a stream, the rain had virtually stopped & the visibility quickly improved. There were 4 Great Northern Divers in the cove just West of the point, 2 of them were close in giving me an excellent view. There was also one Black-throated Diver, although that was a bit further out. There were plenty of Fulmars, Kittiwakes, and Gannets flying about, along with quite a few Common Scoter, Shags & Guillemots on the sea.  I only saw one Razorbill on the water although  quite a few auks flew past, which I think were probably Razorbills too.  A trawler heading towards Brixham was trailed by a mass of swirling gulls & Gannets,  quite a spectacle. There were no other birders, but a fisherman turned up and pointed where a Peregrine normally sits, and sure enough, when I checked, there was one exactly where he said. My favourite for the day though was a seal in the bay, which I happened upon in the scope whilst it was quite close & looking straight towards me.  Lovely! I guess it was probably a Grey Seal as they are apparently the most common in the SW.

The bay with the Great Northern Divers & seal

I stayed until just after 12, and although I hadn't found any new birds for the year, I had thoroughly enjoyed my morning.

Improved view from the van when I left