A quick look around the Pines Hill area of Exeter got me some nice Marbled White Butterflies and Ringlet and Large Skipper were seen as well .
I then went to the Exminster Marshes and had a quick flight view of the Great White Egret before it again dropped out of view near the lagoon . There was not a lot else to see with only a couple of Common Swift and the usual Warblers ... with European Reed , Sedge , Cetti`s , Common Chiffchaff & Blackcap .
A trip over to the Exminster Marshes early this morning got me a Wood Sandpiper . The bird was showing quite well when I got there but it was chased off by a Northern Lapwing that had young near by and vanished into the far left hand side of the pools .
I also managed to see a Great White Egret , a Green Sandpiper , 3 Black-Tailed Godwit , a female Western Marsh Harrier , a male Eurasian Sparrowhawk , 4 Common Swift and 3 Mediterranean Gull`s .
News came out this morning of a Great White Egret on the Exminster Marshes and as it is a very rare bird down here in Devon and my first one for the county this year , I went over to see if I could catch up with it . I first had it in flight being chased by a Grey Heron until it was lost from view . After a bit of a wait , the bird gave better views on the main lagoon . I also had a look around to see what else was about and I managed to see two 2nd summer & a 1st summer Mediterranean Gull , 3 Sandwich Tern and a female Reed Bunting .
A look around the commons this morning got me a Green Sandpiper , 2 Dartford Warbler , 3 Common Sand Martin , 2 Common Stonechat and 2 Meadow Pipit .
The following Butterflies were also seen Red Admiral , Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary , Green Hairstreak and Silver-Studded Blue .
A look around the Bystock Common Reserve got me a nice Spotted Flycatcher in exactly the same spot as last year . I also saw Little Grebe , 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker , a European Green Woodpecker. 2 Blackcap , a Common Chiffchaff , 2 Mistle Thrush , a Eurasian Nuthatch and a Eurasian Bullfinch .
The following Butterflies were also seen . Green Hairstreak , Meadow Brown & Small Heath .
Another look around Ham Wall on a blistering hot day . Got me 5 Great White Egret , 3 Western Marsh Harrier , a single Red Kite , a Song Thrush , 6 Willow Warbler , 4 Cetti`s Warbler , 2 Sedge Warbler numerous Blackcap and 2 Garden Warbler
Another trip up to Ham Wall in Somerset this morning where the River Warbler was again performing very well . Also seen were 5 Great White Egret , 3 Great Bittern , 3 Western Marsh Harrier , 2 Common Cuckoo and a few Garden Warbler . But the bird of the day was Bearded Reedling that was added to the year list with two birds seen .
A quick trip up to the top fields above Portland Bill to look for a Woodchat Shrike that has been see around there for a few days . On the way there we went through some thick mist along the coast road so we were a bit apprehensive of being able to see the bird . But as we got nearer to Portland Bill it got a lot clearer and as it was we soon connected with the bird .
Sulphur-Bellied Warbler a 1st for Britain was the incredible new that came out of Lundy Island this morning that started off an amazing twitch !
I was out birding and never got the news until I met up with my mate Andy who told me about the bird and said was there anyway we could get on a boat to get over there . So I made a few calls and managed to get us on one going from Ilfracombe at 4.30 so we got there as fast as we could . We arrived at the Island and made our way up the steep hill until we got to the valley where the bird was last seen , and after a bit of a wait the bird showed below us quite well to the joy of the 20+ birders that had managed to get over with 8 on our boat and 12 on another .
Sulphur-Bellied Warbler range from Afghanistan to the far east of Siberia and Mongolia so it just shows how amazing it was to have one in our own county of Devon !
A trip up to the Ham Wall Reserve in Somerset today to look for a River Warber . A bird that I have only seen once before in this country and that was well back in 1996 at Doxy Marsh in Staffordshire . We arrived to be told that the bird had been seen 5 minutes before we got there but not to worry as it shows around every 20 minutes so are hopes were high ! But as it was we stood there for well over 3 hours before the bird showed again but as you can see it was well worth it in the end .
Very little to report ! But this Little Tern on the Exe Estuary was a very nice addition to my County and Exe Estuary year lists . Nearby there was also two Common Whitethroat .
