Black Redstart

On Tuesday I spent nearly 2 hours waiting for the Topsham Black Redstart to put in an appearance, which it didn't. This afternoon Simon & I went for a wander down to the beach at Sandy Bay. As we stepped onto the beach from the concrete slipway, a bird flew off from the rocks.....a Black Redstart! Matt Knott reported its presence a while back on his blog (http://gobirdingexmouth.blogspot.co.uk) but I'd failed to find it. As this bird's on my 'patch' it's even better than finding the Topsham Black Redstart!

One of those 'record' shots

A lovely afternoon for a walk, until it poured with rain!

A birding smorgasbord

I've been out and about quite a bit over the last few days...

Last Thursday (15th) I went over to Exminster Marsh in the afternoon hoping for a Short-eared Owl or a Merlin. I didn't find either, but had an interesting time nevertheless, spending most of my time near Topsham Lock (or rather where Topsham Lock used to be). Of note:

• A Whooper Swan was with several Mute swans at the back of the Marsh near the railway.
• Several Cettis Warblers singing
• The Starlings put on a great display, it was mesmerising to watch them swirling about. Several small groups took me by surprise, flying low over my head from behind to join the main flock. The 'whoosh' as they went over made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
• Whilst scanning with the scope as it was getting dark, a Ring-tail Hen Harrier flew straight towards me low over the Marsh before dropping down out of site in the vegetation.
• There was a commotion behind me as a male Sparrowhawk battled with a Starling on the opposite canal bank. The Sparrowhawk won, but not without a lot of effort & lots of squealing from the Starling.

On Friday morning I nipped down to the Lifeboat Station on Exmouth front. I didn't see much, but I did manage to get my first ever reasonable photo using my little 'point & shoot' camera down the scope. It was a Redwing that flew in from the sea & dropped down at the back of the beach. It must have been exhausted as it didn't even move when several dog walkers & a runner went by a few yards away.

Tired Redwing

 

Saturday (17th) was the Devon Birdwatching & Preservation Society trip to the Somerset Levels. A small group of us met at Westhay Moor & spent the morning wandering around the reserve. It was very quiet, although I did manage to put 35 species on my list and at least the weather was pleasant.

    Bird sculpture at Westhay

Just before lunch a Great White Egret flew in and as it landed a Harrier flew by behind it. Typical, no 'good' birds all morning, then two together. Only a couple of us saw the Harrier, and no one got a good enough look to identify it. Luckily a few minutes later a lovely male Marsh Harrier gave us good views as it glided low over the reeds on the opposite side of the reserve.

A blurry digiscoped Great White Egret

 

After lunch we relocated to Shapwick Heath, parking at the Avalon Marsh Visitor Centre and walking to the Decoy Hide. Again it was very quiet & I only managed to add another 7 species to the day list. A Smew was apparently seen from the hide on Sunday, did it turn up after we left or was it hiding?

A large Redwing flock liked the drain bank



And so to yesterday, and a trip to Birmingham. Simon wanted to go to the Classic Bike show at the NEC, so I went along to keep him company. Well as far as the entrance anyway, where I dropped him off and continued North another 10 miles or so to visit the Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve. Or to be more precise, the Drayton Bassett Pit where a White-rumped Sandpiper had been hanging about for a few days. I was glad I'd followed the Birdguides advice & worn my wellies as it was a 20 minute walk through deep mud to get to the pit. There were quite a few birders about and I was told where the sandpiper was, which unfortunately was at the back of the pit behind a mound of mud. It had disappeared from view just before I arrived.

 

 The White-rumped Sandpiper was hiding at the back..



There no other waders visible in the pit, so I got excited when one emerged from behind the hump, but unfortunately it was a Green Sandpiper. However, after about 40 minutes the White-rumped Sandpiper came back into view. Although it was a long way off, it was still possible to see all of its distinguishing features, including its white rump as it preened. After about 5 minutes I decided to try & digiscope a record shot, at which point it went back behind the hump. I waited until lunch time hoping it would come back out, but it was still hidden when I left.

 



The twitch..

 

The mud...

After lunch I dashed down to the Kingsbury Water Park to see if I could find a Willow Tit on the feeders. I didn't, but I did see a lovely male Goldeneye on the lake.

 

Year List now on 209.

 

(For some reason Blogger is no longer  giving me the option of enlarging my photos. I have no idea why)



Lesser Yellowlegs

I went on an excursion to Ernesettle in Plymouth yesterday in search of the Lesser Yellowlegs. The sky darkened, a rainbow appeared, and by the time I'd made it down to the water's edge, the heavens opened. I wasn't sure if I was in the right place, but the tide was on its was out so I started scanning the mud from under my little collapsible brolly, which unfortunately lived up to its description & collapsed. The rain stopped as soon as I was wet, but at least my optics were still dry.

Looking East along Ernesettle Creek

There were plenty of Redshanks, a few Greenshanks & a couple of Curlews. I'd been looking for a while & was peering  into the distance inspecting at a load of red legs, when suddenly a pair of yellow legs walked through the middle of them. They were so far away that I couldn't see much else of the birds, but those legs were unmistakable....even by me! It wandered about for a few minutes before vanishing into a channel, reappearing briefly and then vanishing behind a hump. The worst view ever, but I was happy!

A birding couple then arrived, followed swiftly by another chap, Tom, with his camera. Unfortunately the Yellowlegs didn't pop out again, so we moved further east along the bank in the hope of a better view. We could see further into the channel, but only saw Redshanks so headed back almost to the slipway again. And there it was! Directly opposite & much closer than before! This time I could see all of its features, including its white rump & barred tail. Unfortunately I only had my little Lumix 'point & shoot' camera with me.

It was on the bank behind the spot ( a yellow wheelie bin!) in the rear channel 

Here it is... photo taken by Tom Whiley (thanks Tom!)

I left Ernesettle & headed a bit further up the estuary to explore Lopwell. I didn't find many birds, but it was very pretty.

South from Lopwell dam 

Crossing the river involved a walk across the slippery causeway

The 'reservoir' is more of a marsh! 

On Thursday we'd had an interesting encounter whilst out walking along the cliffs just East of Exmouth. A large bird suddenly swooped down and landed on the cliff edge about 20 feet away. It was wearing a bell & a few minutes later an American lady arrived wearing a big glove. It was apparently a young Red-tailed Hawk out learning its trade.

Out 'walking' the hawk.

Year List now on 205

Black Tern

On 2nd & 3rd Sept I tried a spot of early(ish) morning seawatching from the Lifeboat Station on Exmouth front. This was my last ditch effort to find something new before heading North for another boating trip. I didn't succeeed, but I did enjoy watching two pale & a dark morph Arctic Skua doing some synchronised tern chasing in the bay on the 2nd, and one pale morph on the 3rd.

When I got home there were 2 moths on the garage, a green & a white Marbled Green. At least that was a new moth to tick.

Marbled Green

Back at the boat, I ventured off for a day's birding while Simon stayed with Muriel as she had solar panels fitted. I started off at Eyebrook Reservoir, but as that was a bit quiet, I headed off to Rutland Water. It was lunchtime by the time I arrived so I decided to stick to the free North Arm rather than pay the £5 odd to get into the actual reserve. The North Arm was full of Tufted Ducks with a few Crested Grebes thrown in, and lots of Egyptian Geese milling about on the bank. There had been Black-necked Grebes & a Little Gull reported there in the previous few days, but despite spending most of the afternoon there, I didn't find them. I tried to view the Southern Arm from the road as suggested in the 'Where to Watch Birds' guide, but unfortunately there is no longer access by road & it was a bit far to walk. I had a quick look from the one spot I could drive to, then returned to the North Arm, setting myself a limit of 5pm before I headed home.  I was checking out the terns with about 5 mins to go when I saw a smaller & darker tern than the Common Terns that I'd been seeing all afternoon. As soon as I spotted it on a post it flew off & I had to wait a while before it finally reappeared. It turned out to be my first Black Tern of the year. That made my day!.

Eyebrook Reservoir from the North end

The North Arm of Rutland Water, full of Tufties.

Egyptain Geese

A distant Black Tern on the post by the notice, a bigger & paler Common Tern on the post to the left.

Year List: 202 + 2 sub-species

A nice round number

Two new birds yesterday have taken my Year List to 200 species. I started off with a brief visit to Orcombe Point in the hope of finding a Manx Shearwater. I've never seen one, which is a bit of a disgrace when people are seeing hundreds if not thousands flying along the coast. I didn't get there until 9am, so it was a bit late, but I saw 4 birds flying west soon after arriving. They were very distant, and although they were definitely shearwaters of some sort judging by their low 'flap & glide' flight, they looked all dark. I don't know whether they were too far out to be able to pick out the white underside, or if they were one of the rarer shearwaters. Still, a short while later 9 more birds flew by, this time a bit closer & I could clearly see the white underside & the white 'notch' behind the wings on some of them.

Other birds included Gannets, a couple of Guillemots, lots of Sandwich Terns & Common Scoter & a few Oystercatchers that flew past.

That put me on 199. I couldn't leave it there, so in the evening we headed up to Mutters Moor just outside Sidmouth in the hope of finding a Nightjar. I wasn't expecting to hear any 'churring' as I thought it was a bit late in the season for that, but I was hoping to see them flying. We arrived at about 8.30pm & walked to the open area of moor behind the car park. There were lots of crows about & they were making a real racket. As it was getting dark, Simon said he thought he'd heard 'churring', and sure enough shortly after I thought I heard it myself. It was difficult to hear above the crows, but as they quietened down when it got darker the 'churring' became much clearer. A bird also flew backwards & forwards low over the heather, and although I didn't get a good look as it was a bit dark, it was the right size and shape and I can't think what else it could have been.

Simon tried a bit of hanky wafting, something I vaguely remembered Bill Oddie doing to mimic a male Nightjar. It didn't attract any more birds but at least it gave me a good laugh!

That took my Year List to the 200 (plus 2 sub-species)

Here and there

I've been out & about a few times since my last post so here's a quick round up.....

Last Wednesday morning we had to go into Exeter for a quick spot of shopping. Talk about bad timing! We didn't know the Queen was visiting, so after trying to battle through the crowds, being unable to get where we needed to go & watching a marching band for a few minutes, we made a quick exit left & went to Exminster Marsh instead.

That was equally unsuccessful as I couldn't get far due to lots of wet stuff. The road was flooded beyond the first car park & I only had walking boots & not wellies. I had a quick look from the bridge, then saw the state of people that had attempted to walk along the back fields in walking boots, decided not to bother & bailed out. I hadn't seen any good birds, but I did see a weasel come out of the hedge opposite the car park entrance with a very large dead rodent of some sort in its mouth & then run up the road to the top of the bridge before disappearing in the hedge.  At least, I'm fairly sure it was a weasel & not a stoat as it had a fairly short tail & I didn't see a dark tip.

Flooded fields at Exminster Marsh

In the evening we took Vera for a short walk on Woodbury Common, parking by the Castle. I don't normally see much up there, but this time the trees near the car park were busy with Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Goldcrests, a Whitethroat, and hot on the heals of my first Garden Warbler on Tuesday, I actually saw another one!

Woodbury Commmon

On Thursday I had a walk up to Orcombe Point. There were 12 Wheatears in the field up to the holiday camp, but no Whinchats. Gore Lane & the cliffs were vastly quieter than on Tuesday with just a couple of Whitethroats & Chiffchaffs, and Swifts & Swallows swooping really low over the clifftop path. I then took Vera over to Littleham churchyard for a short walk & heard my first Cuckoo of the year singing, although I couldn't find it.

By Friday the Wheatears had all gone from their usual field. The cliffs were a bit busier with Whitethroats, Chiff-Willows & a Blackcap, and a couple of flocks of Oysercatchers flew east. Thrift & Green-winged Orchids are brightening up the fields & clifftop.

Thrift

Green-winged Orchids

Passing Oystercatchers

Then for a complete change of scenery as we headed to High Wycombe in Bucks for my Dad's Birthday. There are always Red Kites over their garden but this time my Dad put a few small scraps of ham fat on the lawn. Amazingly it didn't take too long before the Kites spotted them & started to swoop down, grab a scrap & just keep going. It's impressive to see, they really are quite big & VERY fast! I tried to get a photo but I only had my little Lumix with me which was way too slow. We must have had 6 or 7 visits before it got dark & Vera went out to remove the one remaining scrap!

A Red Kite leaves with a snack (the best photo I could manage!)

The Cuckoo on 3rd puts my Year List on 179 + 2

The birds in the bush!

Yesterday morning I was enviously reading about the fallout at Berry Head & then Orcombe Point, so after lunch I set off for a walk. I debated whether to take the scope or the decent camera & decided that as I'd be peering into bushes rather than out to sea, the camera may be more use. I normally just use it 'hand held', but I thought I'd try an experiment so took it out on the monopod. It was a bit awkward hanging the camera over my shoulder with the monopod fully contracted as it kept banging on my leg, but if I held it out of the way, I then had to use my bins one-handed. I soon found the perfect solution.....with the monopod fully extended it balanced perfectly over my shoulder, leaving me both hands free to use the bins & ready to use the camera at the drop of a migrant!

And so to the birds! I hadn't even gone 50 yards from the house when I saw a bird fly into a bush at the bottom of the road to Sandy Bay. It turned out to be my first Whitethroat of the year & my first of many for the walk. A bit further up the hill I checked the field for the Whinchat & Wheatears that were there yesterday. There were now 3 Whinchats & 4 Wheatears. Unfortunately they were all over the far side of the field, so although I took a few photos, they aren't much good.....

Whinchat

Wheatear

I carried on through the holiday park & as I followed the hedge-line down to the cliff path I saw a flash of red as a Redstart flew off. There was also a Sedge Warbler singing in the hedge, along with a Blackcap, another Whitethroat, a couple of Chiffchaffs & a Willow Warbler. It took me a while to actually make it as far as the cliffs!

A busy hedge

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler again

Whitethroat

& again...

The hedge along the cliff was really busy with lots more Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps & Whitethroats. I heard another Sedge Warbler & saw it briefly. My favourite though was a Garden Warbler, which is a new Life bird for me. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it is, although I would be pleased (that's probably not the right word!), to know if I've got that wrong, as I even managed to get a half way decent photo of it.

More busy hedges & a lovely blue sky

My first ever Garden Warbler  (I hope!)

There were lots of Swallows hurtling about along the path & a few Linnets in the hedges. It really was fantastic, sometimes there were so many birds hopping about in front of me that I didn't know where to look!

I met another local Exmouth birder who puts sightings on Devon Bird News. He took my mobile number & said he'd let me know if he ever finds anything good. Excellent!! I need all the help I can get! He also told me exactly where 3 Pied-flycatchers had been seen earlier, but unfortunately I didn't see them.

The plan had been for me to meet up with Simon & Vera so that we could walk back together. However, it had taken me about 3 1/2 hrs to get to Orcombe Point, so they'd given up & and gone home without me!

Looking West towards Orcombe Point & Exmouth

As I walked along the high path at Foxholes I saw two extremely distant blobs on the sea. I took a photo & having cropped massively, amazingly enough I think I've identified them as Mr & Mrs Eider!

There are 2 ducks out there....

....and here they are cropped somewhat! Eider!

I walked back up Maer Lane & found another Whinchat on the hedge just before Littleham Village. A lovely end to a fantastic walk.


Year List now on 178 + 2

Wind, waves, water & a Whinchat

Yesterday morning I braved the wind  (the forecast was for 30mph+) & headed off to Orcombe Point in the hope that some passing sea birds would be blown nice & close to the shore. Luckily it was dry, but despite finding a bit of shelter behind some bushes just West of the Point, I was still getting buffeted about. It seemed to keep changing direction as well, coming head on & then from behind, which made for a sore eye as I kept bashing it on the scope eye piece! It was quite impressive watching the waves crashing on the sea wall across the estuary at Dawlish

Looking West 

I had some nice Fulmar go by quite close in, that's the first time I've seen them at The Point. Three divers flew West, but they were too far off to identify. There were also 3 Skuas, but they were too far away as well, especially as I couldn't keep the scope still! Two Whimbrel flew East & some Greater Black-backed Gulls passed by. I checked the Devon Bird News to find there was a Black Guillemot at Budleigh Salterton, I tried to will it to come my way, but funnily enough it didn't work! Another chap had joined me briefly with his scope but as soon as I mentioned the Black Guillemot he headed off to Budleigh.

I didn't stay too long before I gave up and headed along the cliffs to meet Simon who was walking out via Sandy Bay holiday camp. The waves were crashing so far up the cliffs at Straight Point that it must have washed some of the Kittiwake nests away.

Straight Point being battered by waves

As we walked down the lane from Sandy Bay I checked the ploughed field for Wheatears as I'd seen 7 a few days ago. I only found 4, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find a lovely male Whinchat as well. Oh for my camera! I went home for it, but when I got back it had gone.

The Wheatear & Whinchat field

After lunch I decided to head to Budleigh, not expecting the Black Guillemot to still be there but to try out the shelter on the front that the chap at Orcombe Point had mentioned earlier. It was still blowing a gale so it was a good time to try it out. The view is a bit limited by beach huts, but I was nicely out of the wind & could even sit on a bench! Luxury! Just a shame there were no birds passing! Still, I really enjoyed myself just watching the waves crashing on the beach. I've never been there when it's been so rough.

The Budleigh shelter.....

& the view from inside

I stayed there ages, then decided I'd have a quick wander. The River Otter was almost full & flowing out with considerable force. It was mesmerising watching it meet the waves on the beach.

The River Otter....lots of water

The River Otter fighting the waves

Then I headed up the estuary. I hope they weren't planning to play any cricket any time soon! I diligently checked the gulls, but couldn't find anything of interest.

Anyone for cricket (don't forget your wellies)

One of the scrapes further up the estuary had 18 Bar-tailed Godwits, most of which were in full summer plumage & looking fabulous. A Kingfisher caught dinner quite near to the path & Sedge and Cetti's Warblers were singing in the reeds. This amazing huge Oil Beetle was also burrowing on the path. 

 Oil Beetle

I walked as far as the White Bridge where the water was the highest I've ever seen it. I guess all that rain has to go somewhere!

Lots of water heading downstream

Looking South from the White Bridge

It had been an interesting day's birding, even if I did only add Whinchat to the Year List. I added Swift the day before as well as 2 flew over the van whilst we were driving up Maer Lane having just walked Vera.

That puts the Year List on  176 + 2