A windy Grey Phalarope

Last night just before I went to bed I happened to look at the Devon Birds website & saw that there had been a Grey Phalarope on the Otter at Budleigh during the day. This morning it was blowing a hooley, but after a bit of early indecision I finally got myself in gear & headed for the estuary. Actually, I couldn't have been entirely in gear as I forgot my bins! Still, I had the scope & camera so it wasn't a complete disaster!

There were already a couple of people with a scope by the car park looking at the Phalarope, so I didn't even have to search for it. We walked along the top of the shingle bank, not wanting to get too close & scare it off, but then a couple of people & dogs walked right past it on the lower path & it didn't bat an eyelid…so we then went down the slope and had fantastic views of it feeding in the mud. It was definitely a bit of a show off, walking back & forth right in front of us. I'd called Libby when I first arrived, so she came along and got number 203 on her Year List, and brought along her friend Delia, a photographer, who took lots of photos which I have no doubt will be far better than mine!

It's the little white sport on the far side of the water ahead of my shadow!

Firecrest!

Today, I was intending to go to a meeting of the Mid Devon branch of the Devon Birders in Cookworthy Forest, which is somewhere North of Okehampton.  Looking forward to exploring somewhere new, and hopefully seeing Woodcock (the target species for the day), I intended to meet Annabelle at her house North of Exeter, from where we were to travel together. However, horrendous rush hour traffic & me getting lost meant that there was no way I could get to Annabelle's on time, and even less chance of me finding the meeting.

However, after I realised that I wasn't going to make it to the meeting,  I happened to pass by Stoke Wood, which I recognised as somewhere I'd once been birding with Mary whilst she was visiting.  I decided to cut my losses & have a wander.

The entrance to Stoke Woods

It started well with a Nuthatch, my first for the year. The ground was all a bit boggy, but at least it was quiet, with only one or 2 dog walkers during the 2 1/2 hrs I was there.

When I got down to the bottom of the woods, I scanned the River Exe & spotted 2 waders, which turned out to be Green Sandpipers. A nice surprise!

The Green Sandpipers were on the distant Exe

This is apparently the landscape that inspired Jane Austin's Sense & Sensibility

I gradually notched up the usual woodland species including some more firsts for the year, i.e. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Tree Creeper & Coal Tit. There were quite a few Goldcrests about & I'd just thought to myself how nice it would be to see a Firecrest, when blow me down, the next 'Goldcrest' I got in the bins was in fact a Firecrest! Lovely!

By the time I got back to the van it was after midday, so I headed off to Topsham Recreation Ground to have a look for the Black Redstart that's been there for a while. I met quite a few birders there who all told me that it's usually there and quite easy to see. Usually, but not this afternoon. However, I did have a brief view of the Water Pipit that's also been there on & off for a while & some lovely views of a Kingfisher & Grey Wagtail, so that made up for it.

This is apparently where the Black Redstart is normally seen.

The Exe looking downstream

So, although the day hadn't panned out as planned, I had quite a productive day. Simon meanwhile walked out the 9 miles or so from home along the estuary & met me!

Before today I have been out and about a couple of times adding birds to the Year List.

Exmouth front on 8th with Libby, had a relatively close Great Northern Diver...

....followed by a brief visit to the Otter for the Glossy Ibises (or is it Ibi?)

That's them....honest!

12th Jan, Shelly Beach where I saw a flock of Ringed Plover & 2 Sanderling

I also took part in the BTO 'Early Bird' survey, which is aimed at finding out how light pollution is effecting the feeding behaviour of garden birds first thing in the morning. I only needed to do it once, but as I forgot to note down cloud cover at the end of the survey on 9th, I did it again on 10th. It was quite interesting doing it twice as the first Robin of the day visited the feeders at exactly 07:47am on both days! The other birds also turned up in almost the same order, with just the Blackbird being different:

9th:   Blackbird, Robin, Sparrow, Dunnock, Blue Tit
10th: Robin, Sparrow, Dunnock, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit

Another year, another list

On Friday I thought it was about time I kicked off my 2014 Year List. I started keeping a list last year, but didn't get beyond February. Hopefully I'll have more staying power this year. I decided to try a spot of sea-watching as it's ages since I've been and the weather was looking good for it, i.e. bad. I collected Libby at first light & we went to Budleigh to use the shelters. Lots of auks and one diver flew by, but we weren't good enough to work out which ones as they were quite distant. Libby thought she may have seen a Long-tailed Duck fly by, but I missed it. Other than that, there were lots of Gannets quite close in, a few Brent Geese, and a Kittiwake. Not the best list, but it was spectacular watching the rough sea and the birds were a bonus! Much more practise required.

We then wandered down to the estuary & were shocked...

... just about everything was under water

Amazing!

The weather was showery, we got hailed on & soaked as we left

Unfortunately the cricket pitch & pavilion haven't fared too well... again

Alan normally organisers a 'Bird Count' for New Year's Day, the goal being to see as many birds as possible during the day. This year the count was postponed due to bad weather and rescheduled for yesterday. Five of us started the day at Bowling Green Marsh at 9am, starting in the hide where we had good views of the Long-tailed Duck that's been about for a while.  We paid a quick visit to the estuary viewing platform & Goat Walk where the water was amazingly still, but unfortunately virtually devoid of birds!

Another very high tide from the viewing platform

The Team: Alan, Libby, Chris & Annabelle

Misty and atmospheric on the Goat Walk

All very still....and birdless!

We stopped off in the hide again on the way back to the cars, which was just as well as Keith, the local patch expert pointed out a Spotted Redshank sleeping on the marsh, and Chris caught up on the Water Rail which he'd missed on the earlier visit.

We had a quick look at Goosemoor before we left, but that was very disappointing. The only birds we added there were Little Egret & Meadow Pipit.

Next stop, Dart's Farm. Unfortunately the feeders were empty, so no flocks of finches & Reed Buntings. Only added 5 species to the list and I missed the Collared Dove, which was a shame as we didn't see another all day! Libby headed off, leaving 4 of us for the next stop....

The field in front of the hide was flooded

The hide is uncomfortable to use....the heights are all wrong for normal sized people!

On Woodbury Common Alan had us yomping across the vegetation, although he insisted that it was actually a path. We had a probable Dartford Warbler, but none of us got a good enough look to be sure, and I heard a Raven, but other than that it was bird-free.

Woodbury Common

The last stop was the Otter at Budleigh, where we were joined by Mike. We started with some sea watching. We had a distant diver species which was occasionally visible above the waves, but which we couldn't identify. There were a couple of Great Crested Grebes, some Gannet, and 3 Guillemots sitting on the sea.

On Budleigh beach

We walked up the estuary to the White Bridge. The cricket pitch & scrapes were still flooded. We had a disappointing total of about 62 when we got to the bridge, and the light was beginning to go. We suddenly had a bit of a flurry of birds and within about half an hour we'd added Reed Bunting, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Mute Swan, Kestrel, Pheasant & Red-legged Partridge.

The water levels in the estuary had dropped 

The fields by the White Bridge were still flooded

The Otter at the White Bridge

I thought my final total was 69, but having checked my list I realised that I'd missed off Gannet & Moorhen, so my total for the day was 71. Not a particularly good number, but we'd had an enjoyable day looking.

The day list: 71 (73 for the Team)
BGM: Robin, Great Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Long-tailed Duck, Black-headed Gull, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Redshank, Snipe, Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Curlew, Blackbird, Crow, Little Grebe, Buzzard, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Pochard, Magpie, Song Thrush, Water Rail, Goldfinch, Jay, Chaffinch, Shelduck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Gull, Spotted Redshank, House Sparrow, Starling, Moorhen.
Goosemoor: Little Egret, Meadow Pipit
Dart's Farm: Kingfisher, Jackdaw, Herring Gull, Rook, Redwing, Greenfinch, (Collared Dove)
Woodbury Common: Raven
Budleigh Salterton: Gannet, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pipit, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Shag, Oystercatcher, Guillemot, Turnstone, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Mute Swan, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge (Common Scoter)

Budleigh & beyond

Yesterday was the DBWPS meeting at the Otter Estuary. We were showered on just after we arrived but after that it wasn't bad, just a bit windy.

When we were there in November, there was a large tree wedged in the White Bridge which has now been removed, although the bridge hasn't been repaired yet. The footpath to the coast that was partially washed away in the floods has been repaired, although the path is closed North of the bridge for works.

White Bridge in need of repair

There were reasonable numbers of Wigeon & Teal in the scrapes, along with quite a few Curlew, about 50 Snipe, a couple of Lapwings & Redshanks & a Knot.

Down at the front the only birds to be seen were 2 Brent Geese on the sea & a couple of Oystercatchers & a Turnstone on the rocks. It was difficult to look through the scopes as we were battered from behind by a strong wind. Jonathan's scope got blown over in the wind & broke in half! Luckily it turned out not to be as catastrophic as it at first appeared. The scope has a 'stay-on' cover &  presumably, over time, the front half had become unscrewed & falling over was just the last straw. When it was screwed back together, it worked perfectly!

Walking back along the rear of the reserve

A Chiffchaff was very obliging in the same spot as last year.

We followed the path North of South Farm Road for a little way, but it was very boggy & we didn't find anything. Time for lunch, then a few of us headed off to Ladram Bay sewage works. Us birders go to all the nicest places! It was really windy standing on the cliff edge, so I hung on tight to my scope. There were 19 Red-throated Divers in the bay, which I thought was Ladram Bay, but when I looked it up later it's actually Chiselbury Bay. I've never seen that many divers together before. There was also one Great Crested Grebe & a Guillemot on the water & a few Fulmars flying close to the cliff.

Looking East towards Ladram Bay

A windy sea watch

We checked out the bushes around the sewage works, but the only thing that moved was a Dunnock.
Another good day out & we didn't even freeze! I had 40 species on my list, 19 of which are going on my Patch List as I've finally managed to define my Patch for the year. I've drawn a 5km radius around home which takes in the bottom of the Otter Estuary, so the morning session was putting birds on the List, which is still truly pathetic at 42! I must admit that I haven't actually put in any effort yet, but that's about to change!

My Patch

Beautiful!

I've been out & about quite a lot since my last post, with the highlight coming yesterday when I found 3 Waxwings on Dawlish Warren. However, first things first.....a few other moments of note.

On Tuesday 20th there was a strong onshore wind so I went over to Budleigh Salterton for an hour. The sea was pretty rough & I was still getting wet despite cowering in the corner of the shelter, but it was well worth the effort as I found a first winter Little Gull. It was with several Black-headed Gulls just offshore near the Lime Kiln car park and I watched it on and off for about 50 minutes. Little Gull is UK first for me, so I was very happy!

On Sunday 25th I decided to head to Bowling Green Marsh for the afternoon, but only got as far as Darts Farm as the River Clyst had broken it's banks. It was an amazing sight. I visited the Darts Farm hide for the first time, which looked out over water, which I'm sure wouldn't normally be there. At least I managed to have a good view of 2 male Bramblings on the feeders.

    The Clyst flood plain does its job

A soggy hide

On Tuesday 27th there was a Devon Birdwatching & Preservation Society meeting on Woodbury Common. There were quite a few of us for this one, so it was a shame that we found very few birds. I managed to see a total of 13, with the best being a Buzzard & a Goldcrest! David branched out into a spot of fungus identification when he found some Yellow Brain, a bright yellow parasitic fungus.

David & the Yellow Brain fungus

Some of us went on to Budleigh Salterton for the afternoon where we added a few more species to the day list, although nothing exciting. The cricket pitch & scrapes were under water & the path beside the Otter had been partially washed away in places.

Anyone for cricket?

                                                                           
The access road to the White Bridge was still flooded & the White Bridge itself had been damaged by an enormous tree that seemed to have come down river in the flood.

The White Bridge v a big tree!

As we were about to leave I checked Devon Birds News to find that there were Waxwings in Exmouth by the Community College. I headed straight over there to see if I could find them before it got dark. There were 4 or 5 people there looking, including Ian who had followed me from Budleigh. We didn't see them, although one of the other chaps saw a small flock fly over. It appeared that they had gone to roost in the college grounds, so I decided to return in the morning.

I got up early on Wednesday, but for some reason faffed about rather than heading straight to the college. I was kicking myself for the rest of the day as the Waxwings had left just before I arrived. I spent the rest of the day trudging around Exmouth & Littleham in the hope of locating them, which I didn't.

And so to yesterday (29th). I decided to head over to Dawlish Warren to see the Black-necked Grebe that had been on the main pond for a few days. Driving across the Clyst flood plain I would never have known that it had been under water a few days before. At Dawlish Warren I headed straight for the pond. At first I only found 3 Little Grebes, but after about half an hour the Black-necked Grebe appeared and gave brilliant views. It was really nice of it to be so obliging!

Black-necked Grebe

                                                                         
I had a look off the coast but only found a raft of Common Scoter, so returned to the pond for another look at the grebe. I decided to have a walk around the back of the the pond before lunch, and I was really glad I did when 3 'trilling' birds flew in from the golf course over my head. I had a moment of panic as I put the scope down & got the bins up....and there they were, 3 Waxwings sitting in a tree! They dropped down into the bushes & started feeding on the berries. To say I was pleased would be a gross understatement. I posted the sighting on Birdguides & e-mailed the Dawlish Warren website. A few people started appearing fairly quickly & I soon discovered why. It was only the second ever sighting of Waxwings on the reserve & the first time they have ever been seen to land!  I had managed a few very bad record shots as proof, but then luckily they hung around all afternoon and were joined by another 2. A flock of 20 were also seen flying over heading for Exmouth. I'd love to have taken the fantastic shot at the top of the page, but it was actually taken by Chris Grady who who kindly sent me the photo (www.wildlife-imaging.co.uk) (Thanks Chris!).

Waxwings settled in the big bush on the left & went down to drink at the puddles

                                       

(I'm still having Blogger problems, hence the variously sized photos & wonky labels!)

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