Black- Necked Grebe is a very rare bird to see on the Exe Estuary , so I was very glad to see two of them today off of Exmouth . The birds were well out in the middle of the estuary so no chance of getting any shots of them .
Also seen were a few Brent Geese , a male Peregrine Falcon , 4 Common Raven and a nice male Black Redstart .
Out to see another Snow Bunting today and this time the bird was showing at Ideford Common near Exeter .
This is my sixth one this year with 4 that I found at Pendeen Point in Cornwall and another that I saw at Dawlish Warren in Devon .
A look around Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham this morning on a nice sunny day got me . 12 Greylag Geese , 20+ Northern Pintail , a male and female Common Pochard , a male Gadwall , a male and 2 female Tufted Duck , a Common Buzzard , 3 male Eurasian Bullfinch and a Mistle Thrush .
A quick look at Goosemoor then got me 3 Common Greenshank , a Common Raven and a Water Rail was heard on call .
Out again today down to Beesands Ley in Sth Devon to look for 2 female Lesser Scaup a North American species that is seen quite regularly in this country . And after a bit of a wait they showed themselves in front of the hide but the reeds were so high it was quite hard to get good views of them .
Also seen was another North American duck a male Ring-Necked Duck + plenty of Gadwall , 2 Common Pochard , a Great Crested Grebe , a Water Rail and 2 male and a female Eurasian Bullfinch .
A trip up to Weymouth today to look for a Little Auk that has been showing in harbour for the last few days . And after searching for it for over 3 hours the bird finally showed very well . And I was well pleased with that as it is only the 6th one that I have seen , with the last one being at Berry Head in 2009 .
Also seen today was around a dozen Mediterranean Gulls .
Another trip up to Haldon Forest again today . And the bird that I was looking for the most today was Common Crossbill and I was lucky enough to see 8 of them today and in the picture today is a male and female bird .
Also seen today were 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker , 6 Goldcrest , a Common Raven , 50+ Eurasian Siskin and a single Hawfinch .
An afternoon trip up the Haldon Forest on the edge of Exeter in hope of seeing a much sought after bird the Hawfinch . And today I was lucky enough to see 7 of them , they were always a bit distant but I did my best to get a shot of one.......Perhaps next time they will come a bit closer lol
Two days ago I went down to Dawlish Warren to look for a reported Snow Bunting but after searching for it for quite a while I did not get any luck at all .
So when the news came out today that it was still there I shot down as fast as I could and today my luck was in and you can see the results . The bird showed well now and then out in the open but it spent most of the time feeding on the long grasses .
A trip down to Thurestone in South Devon this morning with a couple of fellow birders to look for a 1st winter female Desert Wheatear that had been reported on Leasfoot Beach .
I had seen one of these birds only a male ! a few years back in exactly the same place and like before this one showed very well .
Thanks Paul
A look around the flats at Shelley Beach in Exmouth got me 2 male Black Redstart .
Not a lot else was seen with only 100+ Brent Geese ( Dark Bellied Race ) and a Common Raven .
No proper birding done today . But this was a very welcome visitor to my garden this afternoon !
Another trip to Darts Farm this morning to look for Brambling and today I got lucky with 2 male birds and a female in with the large finch flock . Also seen were plenty of European Greenfinch and Common Chaffinch .
I had a look at the finch flock at Darts Farm this morning in hope of seeing some reported Brambling but I never managed to see any at all !
But there was numerous European Greenfinch and Common Chaffinch , around a dozen Common Linnet and in with them was a Lesser Redpoll . Also seen were Meadow Pipit , Cetti`s Warbler and Reed Bunting .
