Tamar estuary / Ernesettle
Before the showers, 10 Great Crested Grebe on the Tamar, small groups of Teal & Wigeon, Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher, 40+ Redwing overhead, 94 Snipe on Ernesettle Creek and a small flock of 19 Avocet on Kingsmill Lake.
Greenbank area, Plymouth
Sunday 11.00am. Black Redstart in rear garden. Flew on to roof of neighbouring house before moving off in a southerly direction.
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Brixham boat trip Friday afternoon
A couple of photos from yesterday afternoon’s boat trip from Brixham.
Exminster marshes
A double owl evening – breathtaking flyby ftom the SEO by the lagoon, then barn owl quartering north of Station Road being mobbed by a magpie.
Braunton Marshes
12:00 – Flock of c30 Cattle Egrets flying SE across Braunton Marshes.
Longbridge, Plymouth
9.45am Saturday. At Longbridge, Plymouth, two Dippers, Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper and female Goosander.
Black Redstart back at the Skern, Northam
Black Redstart back near the bridge at The Skern, Northam, this morning.
cattle egrets
9am – 19 cattle egrets in the fields at North Down Farm at the end of North lane
Exminster – Starcross
On the marsh late morning were a Marsh Harrier, 4 Greylags, and many, uncounted, Lapwings and common ducks. Waders seen in the estuary from Turf included 1200+ Dunlin, 500+ Golden Plovers, 200+ Avocets, 50+ Grey Plovers, and 20+ Barwits. In Powderham Park were 2 Egyptian Geese and 6 Greenshanks. Off Starcross were 4 R-b Mergansers, my first of the Winter.
Finally, ‘scoped from the hill inland from Starcross, the distant Cockwood dairy herd was accompanied by 90+ Cattle Egrets.
Torbay and Lyme Bay cruise
Off Berry Head: 1 Grey Phalarope, 10 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, 2 Harbour Porpoise, 4 Mediterranean Gulls & 1 Red-throated Diver.
In Torbay: 2 Red-throated Divers, 3 Great Northern Divers, 22 Common Scoter, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 7 Shelduck, 6 Great Crested Grebes.
Grey Phalarope 1st w female Long-tailed Duck
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Exeter and Exminster Marshes
Glaucous Gull again at Exeter Quay late morning. Still feeding with pigeon and gull flock.
Short-eared Owl at Exminster Marshes late afternoon.
Plym Estuary & Saltram
In today’s sunshine: the Whinchat lingering, 2 Stonechats, Firecrest, 2 Siskins, 41 Redwings, Green Woodpecker, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, adult Kittiwake, Grey Plover, 16+ Turnstones, 8 Greenshanks, 2 Common Sandpipers, Teal (female/imm), 8 Goosanders (2 drakes), Red-breasted Merganser (redhead), 2 Wigeon, Great Crested & Little Grebes & 2 Roe Deer.
Soar
2nd winter farmland bird count this morning – 131 Cirl Bunting, site record, Devon record & UK record count. Proves the point that Cirls don’t move far whereas only 31 Yellowhammer located – these birds will move around much more before returning in mid-winter! Also: 465 Skylark, Snipe, Golden Plover, 30 Meadow Pipit, 11 Fieldfare, 80 Goldfinch, 49 Stock Dove (24W 20E 5 grounded), 480 Woodpigeon (410E 70W), 11 Fieldfare & Starling 8E.
Woodcock ~ South Brent
A Woodcock flushed while walking my dogs across the fields at home this afternoon, plenty of Fieldfare moving around the area and a smaller number of Redwing.
Budleigh Goose Barnacles
Goose Barnacles. Budleigh Salterton.
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Bowling Green Marsh
Yesterday at BGM: Curlew, Redshank, Black Swans, Shovellers, Teal, Mallard, Pintail, Wigeon, Cormorants, L. Egrets, Shelduck, Canada and Greylag Geese Blackwits, Stock Doves Bullfinch. A Peregrine swooped low over the marsh jinking for a kill unsuccessfully.
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Haldon & Exeter Quays
Yesterday at Haldon: Blue, Great, Coal and L.T tits, Wrens, Chaffinches ,Siskins, Goldfinches M. thrush, Jays, Goldcrests, Nuthatches and GSW’s Down to Exeter Quays to see the very confiding Glaucus Gull.
Devon Goosander count
Synchronied Goosander roost count on 12 Nov produced 96 birds including 15 males, four of which still showed signs of moult, Fort-eight were on Dartmoor (top site Venford with 24), and 48 elsewhere (top site Blackhill Quarry with 23). There were no Goosanders roosting at 10 of the 24 sites visited, but seven at Hennock on evening of 11th have been included as they must have roosted somewhere! Thanks to all who took part.
Saltram
Also on Blaxton Meadow, at least for a while, were single Whimbrel and Grey Plover. On the estuary nearby were single Great Crested and Little Grebes. The female Red-crested Pochard was still on the Saltram duck pond.
Wrafton area
I was in the Velator reserve, when a message came through on the Devon Rares site on Instagram. From Tim Jones who reported a Grey Phalarope on the same pond as the Red-necked Phalarope a couple of weeks back. So I tidied up what I was doing and walked the 200 metres to the pond. Like the other one, this one took a while to show, but even at distance it clearly had a stockier bill. Thanks for the heads up Tim!
85 plus Godwits on the scrape, But as usual not much showing in the reserve this late in the day.
