With it being nearly the end of the year I took a look at my local patch Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham this morning and it got me numerous Eurasian Wigeon , Northern Shoveler and Common Teal , 8 Tufted Duck & 4 Gadwall , I then walked down the lane to look for Common Snipe but I couldn't see any , but I did see 20+ Redwing and a Mistle Thrush .
I then had a look at Darts Farm but the only birds of any note were 4 Common Stonechat and a Winter Wren .
Saturday, 30 December 2017
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
Bowling Green Marsh
Sue and I went for a walk around Topsham this afternoon with our first stop being at Goosemoor to look for the Bearded Tits that had been seen there but today there was no sign of any at all but we did see a Water Rail .
We then went on to Bowling Green Marsh where wildfowl was in abundance with numerous Common Teal , Eurasian Wigeon , Northern Shoveler & Northern Pintail , also seen was a male and female Tufted Duck . Waders seen today consisted of Common Redshank , Common Greenshank , Black-Tailed Godwit and Dunlin .
We then went on to Bowling Green Marsh where wildfowl was in abundance with numerous Common Teal , Eurasian Wigeon , Northern Shoveler & Northern Pintail , also seen was a male and female Tufted Duck . Waders seen today consisted of Common Redshank , Common Greenshank , Black-Tailed Godwit and Dunlin .
Sunday, 24 December 2017
Pomarine Skua
A trip down to Dawlish Warren this morning to look for a lingering Pomarine Skua and I managed to see it out in the bay putting on a few piratical chases of small gulls etc , also seen were numerous Northern Gannet . 60+ Great Crested Grebe , quite a few Common Guillemot and Razorbill , a Great Northern Diver and a Red-Throated Diver .
I searched the sky for flying Reindeer but had no luck at all so I had to settle for these Fallow Deer instead lol .
A very Happy Christmas to all of my readers .
I searched the sky for flying Reindeer but had no luck at all so I had to settle for these Fallow Deer instead lol .
A very Happy Christmas to all of my readers .
Friday, 22 December 2017
Family Birding
Today I took my Daughter and grandson for a walk on the Highway Rat Trail a trail made for small children at the Great Haldon Forest in Devon . It was not really a birding day but I still kept my eyes open and managed to connect with 2 Common Crossbill , a male Great Spotted Woodpecker , 12 Long-Tailed Tit , 6 Coal Tit and a Common Raven .
Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Birding Cornwall
A trip down to Cornwall today with my mates Andy and Ken with our first stop being at Porthpean ,we arrived just as the light was starting to rise but there was quite a bit of sea mist to start with . But we managed to start picking out some birds after a while and in the end we had see 8 Common Scoter , a female and a juvenile Surf Scoter , 2 Great Northern Divers , 2 Red-Necked Grebe , a female and a juvenile Long-Tailed Duck , 21 Black-Legged Kittiwake and 4 Northern Fulmar .
We then went to Colverack where there was numerous gulls around the small harbour including this smart looking 2nd winter Iceland Gull , the day then started to fizzle out a bit but we did see 6 Little Grebe on Long Rock Pool and on the Hale Estuary there was an impressive flock of European Golden Plover that was well over 1000+ birds .
We then went to Colverack where there was numerous gulls around the small harbour including this smart looking 2nd winter Iceland Gull , the day then started to fizzle out a bit but we did see 6 Little Grebe on Long Rock Pool and on the Hale Estuary there was an impressive flock of European Golden Plover that was well over 1000+ birds .
Sunday, 17 December 2017
Bearded Reedling
There was still 2 Bearded Reedling showing on Goosemoor in Topsham this morning , but they were a bit more harder to get in the open than the last couple of days .
Saturday, 16 December 2017
Hen Harrier
Early this morning I went up to the Uphams Plantation area of Woodbury Common as a female Parrot Crossbill has been reported there , I searched the area for a couple of hours without getting anything on the bird , but then again I didn`t see any Crossbill`s at all .
The best bird that I saw was a female Hen Harrier that went across the common quite quickly heading for the Yettington area of the common and its my first on the commons for quite a while , also seen were 4 Common Raven , a European Green Woodpecker and a male European Bullfinch .
I then headed back to Topsham to see if the Bearded Tit`s were still showing and today they were but I only saw one male and a female bird but I expect that the others are still there somewhere .
The best bird that I saw was a female Hen Harrier that went across the common quite quickly heading for the Yettington area of the common and its my first on the commons for quite a while , also seen were 4 Common Raven , a European Green Woodpecker and a male European Bullfinch .
I then headed back to Topsham to see if the Bearded Tit`s were still showing and today they were but I only saw one male and a female bird but I expect that the others are still there somewhere .
Friday, 15 December 2017
Bearded Reedling
News of some Bearded Reedling showing at the Goosemoor Reserve in Topsham had me going down to see if I could see them as it has been quite a while since we have had some local ones . And my luck was in as they were showing quite well but were always a little bit distant while I was there , I managed to see 3 males and 2 female type birds but I expect that there may have been more in the reedbed . Later on in the afternoon I came across some thrushes feeding on a Cantonyaster bush and had very nice views of Redwing and Fieldfare making it a very nice end to the day .
Monday, 11 December 2017
Barred Warbler
Myself and Andy Bond made the trip up to Titchfield Haven in Hampshire this morning to look for a wintering 1st winter Barred Warbler that has been showing very well there . Andy needed it for the year but I had seen one in October in Cornwall but I had never been able to photograph one before so that was my main objective and as you can see it turned out very well with the bird showing very well at times .
The weather was very cold so we then headed for home as the snow started to fall and near Dummer in Hampshire we saw 2 Red Kite , we then saw another one over the M3 near Thruxton , and on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire we saw another 2 Red Kite , 20+ Fieldfare and a Common Raven .
The weather was very cold so we then headed for home as the snow started to fall and near Dummer in Hampshire we saw 2 Red Kite , we then saw another one over the M3 near Thruxton , and on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire we saw another 2 Red Kite , 20+ Fieldfare and a Common Raven .
Thursday, 7 December 2017
Wednesday 6th December
Five Hawfinch were still on show this morning at Pines Hill in Exeter but they were very mobile , also seen were 20+ Common Linnet . I then had a look around the Ludwell Valley Country Park but I only saw a Water Rail , a Common Kingfisher and 5 Winter Wren .
I finished the day off at Goosemoor in Topsham but there was only a few Common Greenshank and Common Redshank on show .
I finished the day off at Goosemoor in Topsham but there was only a few Common Greenshank and Common Redshank on show .
Tuesday, 5 December 2017
Very Slow
I had a look around the Bowling Green Marsh area this morning but as you can expect for this time of year the birding was a bit slow , but I did see the usual Mistle Thrush still guarding its mistletoe . And a look around the small copse at the top of the lane got me 20+ Redwing , 8 Goldcrest , 7 Great Tit and a female Eurasian Bullfinch .
