I had a message this morning telling me that there was a juvenile Yellow-Legged Gull showing on the Exe Estuary at Mudbank Lane in Exmouth . So I got there as fast as I could and I managed to get onto the bird and how lucky that was as about a minute later the bird flew off way out onto the estuary .
Also seen was a Mediterranean Gull and a single Whimbrel .
With the rough weather today I decided to go down to Exmouth early this morning to do a seawatch in hope of catching up with Balearic Shearwater but again I was out of luck even though one was seen from Dawlish Warren this morning !
But I did see 15 Common Scoter , a few Northern Gannet , a Northern Fulmar , 6 Sandwich Tern , 2 Roseate Tern and 2 Arctic Skua .
Four of us made the long journey to Bemton Cliffs in hope of seeing the Black-Browed Albatross that has been seen there for a while .
We left Exeter at around 8.15 Monday evening and arrived there at the reserve at 2.30 this morning and tried to get a bit of sleep but that was hard with other cars turning up all the time , we walked out to the cliffs around 5 am and got to the spot that the bird has been seen before but there was no sign of it , but we did enjoy seeing a Barn Owl .
After a bit of a wait the call went up that it was on the cliff but it soon left and was flying around the bay and with the sun starting to rise it gave stunning flight views before landing back on the cliff . This is the 2nd BBA that I have see with the 1st one up in the Shetland Islands way back in 1987 .
Also seen were numerous Northern Gannet and Black-Legged Kittiwake , 8 Atlantic Puffin , 100+ Eurasian Tree Sparrow ( a bird that we dont see in my home county of Devon ) and a nice Brown Hair .
A great days birding with 4 good mates and a special thanks to Andy for doing the driving .
A look around the Exminster Marshes this morning got me the Great White Egret as it flashed across the reed bed beside the lagoon . Also seen were 6 Little Grebe .
Not much else was seen but there was a nice Comma Butterfly and plenty of Red Admiral , also seen were quite a few Black-Tailed Skimmer .
On a superb sunny morning I walked along the Exeter Canal from the Exminster Marshes down to the Turf Locks and I managed to see . 100+ Eurasian Curlew , 2 Whimbrel , a 2nd summer Mediterranean Gull , 20+ Barn Swallow , 3 Blackcap , 2 Sedge Warbler and a few Black-Tailed Skimmer .
A look around Aylesbeare Common this morning for Grayling Butterfly didn`t turn up any at all , but I did see plenty of Small Heath .
Also seen was a single Dartford Warbler , 2 Common Stonechat , my 1st Grass Snake of the year , a Common Lizard and this Golden-Ringed Dragonfly .
A look around Dawlish Warren this morning got me the following birds . an adult Great Northern Diver , 20+ Eurasian Oystercatcher , 4 Sanderling , a summer plumaged Red Knot , a nice Roseate Tern showed well but was always distant , 6 Sandwich Tern , 20+ European Goldfinch , a male and female Cirl Bunting , 4 Common Linnet and 3 Common Whitethroat . I also got caught in a heavy downpour and got soaked to the skin lol
Wow
Well this morning I went down for another sea watch off of Exmouth as an Arctic Tern had been reported . I went to my usual spot at the raised beach huts as you have a good view of Lyme Bay from there , it took me a little while getting my eye in and I then started to pick up some Northern Gannets going through and a few distant terns .
After a while I picked up a dark phase skua as it flew across the bay , my first thought was Arctic but something was not right as it looked small and slim and it resembled a bit like a falcon in flight . I then lost sight of it as it headed towards Dawlish Warren and carried on scanning the bay and picked up the Arctic Tern in with some Sandwich Tern , When all of a sudden the skua was back in view only a bit closer and I could see that it was a dark brown juvenile Long-Tailed Skua about the size of a small gull with hardly any light flashes on the underwings . By now my heart was pumping fast as I have seen quite a few of these birds in the past , but this is the first one that I have found myself !
There was 38 Sandwich Tern an a single Roseate Tern showing on the Bull Hill sandbar in the middle of the Exe Estuar this morning . Earlier 2 Common Tern were also seen but they had flown off before I got there.
This morning I did my first sea watch for quite a while in hope of seeing Balearic Shearwater but my luck was out this morning . But I will try again soon !
But I did see my first Roseate Tern of the year , at least one Little Tern but there may have been two , a summer plumaged Great Northern Diver , 5 Black-Legged Kittiwake and 2 adult Mediterranean Gull .
I then went to the Exminster Marshes where I saw the Great White Egret that has been with us for a week and a half now ! but as you can see from the shots it was always distance on the main lagoon . Also seen was a Wood Sandpiper , a female Common Kestrel and 5 Common Swift
Out to the Ashclyst Forest this morning to look for Butterflies with the main one being White Admiral and in the end I was lucky to see just one of them . I also saw a few Silver-Washed Fritillary , numerous Meadow Brown , 2 Red Admiral , 2 Large Skipper and a Ringlet .
Also seen were numerous Beautiful Demoiselle and 2 Golden-Ringed Dragonfly .
