I was going to take a break from birding today after yesterdays long trip . But news came out of a Whooper Swan just up the road from me at Clyst St Mary so I went to take a look at it .
You go all year nearly without seeing one and now I have seen 5 different birds in December , thats birding for you lol !
A trip up to Samlesbury in Lancashire today in hope of seeing the Belted Kingfisher a new bird for Britain for me with Mark Bailey , Dave Boult and Kevin Rylands . We arrived in the dark and made the journey up the path and across the field with trepidation as it was like a quagmire in the falling rain .
We stood in the rain for quite a while before we got our first sighting of the bird at just after it got light at around 8.35 it showed on and off for a short while and we got a nice view of it at 9.45 sat right out in the open on the top of a tree . the last sighting was around just after 11o/c , all the views were distant and I only managed to get one shot of it that is not worth posting on here lol
Great days birding Many Thanks Mark .
My final present yesterday was a calling Tawny Owl outside of my house in Topsham and it was my first one this year .
Today I went down to Exmouth in hope of catching up with Common Goldeneye but again I had no luck but I did see numerous Eurasian Wigeon & Northern Pintail , 3 Great Crested Grebe , a Ruddy Turnstone and a male Black Redstart .
Another trip over to the Exminster Marshes again this morning . And Tundra Bean Goose was the bird that I was looking for today as one had been reported earlier and after a bit of a walk I soon got on to the bird that was in with some Canada Goose and a Greater White-Fronted Goose , the birds were always distant and that with the bad weather made it hard to get a decent shot of .
Also seen were 100+ Dark Bellied Brent Goose and in with them was a juvenile Pale Bellied bird of the race Hrota . I then walked down to the other end of the marsh where the Pink-Footed Goose was still showing , and the 3 Whooper Swan from yesterday were still showing well today .
A couple of distant shots of todays Whooper Swan`s that were briefly on the Exminster Marshes today and they are a very good bird to get as they a quite rare bird for the marshes . I was quite lucky to get these as I only managed to get there quite late and by all accounts they flew off again a little while after I left .
Happy Days .
Another look for the Pink-Footed Goose on the Exminster Marshes this morning and today my luck was in as it was showing in with a huge flock of Canada Geese , I just got there and got on it and was able to fire off a few shots . When along came the farmer on his quad bike to gather up his cows and flushed the flock out onto the Exe Estuary near the Turf Locks . So I went to look for them and I was able to pick it out again in with the Canada`s . But they did not stay out there very long before flying back to the marsh further down in the fields below the Turf Locks .
Not a lot else seen with the highlight being a female Western Marsh Harrier .
Today I went over to the Otter Marshes near Otterton in Devon where there was the incredible sight of over 30+ Greater White-Fronted Goose of the Russian race . At first we could not find them but then we had a phone call telling us where to look and we soon connected with them .
Also seen was a White-Throated Dipper and 2 Grey Wagtail .
A trip down to Broadsands in South Devon this morning to look for Black-Throated Diver as there has been up to 4 seen in the bay in the last few days . But I could only manage to see 2 distant birds . Also seen were a few Northern Fulmar .
The next stop was at the Clennon Valley Lakes where I saw 2 Siberian Chiffchaff , a Common Chiffchaff , a Goldcrest and a nice Yellow-Browed Warbler that was on the move all the time making it hard to get a shot of in the tops of the trees .
A trip up to Exmoor this morning in hope of seeing Hen Harrier but our luck was out today . We did see a possible but never got enough on it to confirm it .
But we did see 2 Short-Eared Owl , numerous Common Raven , a male Peregrine Falcon , 5 Red-Legged Partridge , numerous Fieldfare , 20+ Redwing , 2 Eurasian Jay and 2 Red Deer .
Our last stop was at Braunton Marsh as we had come looking for some Whooper Swan and we managed to see just one of them in with some Mute Swan . We also saw 200+ European Golden Plover .
I started the day off at the recreation ground in Topsham . Where I saw a couple of Common Gull and then this Common Kingfisher that flashed past me and landed on the fence .
A look around Bowling Green Marsh then got me 2 Egyptian Geese , 2 Common Pochard , 8 Dunlin , 3 Common Greenshank , a Meadow Pipit , a Eurasian Jay and a European Greenfinch .
I went for a look at Bowling Green Marsh this morning as there was a report of some Egyptian Geese . But they were gone again before I got there . But I did see 17 Greylag Geese , a male and female Common Pochard , a Great Spotted Woodpecker , 20+ Redwing , 2 Fieldfare , a Song Thrush and a Eurasian Bullfinch .
I then had a look at the Exe Estuary from Cockwood Steps and saw 200+ Brent Geese , 2 Great Crested Grebe and 20+ Red-Breasted Merganser .
A trip down to Exmouth this morning to look for Firecrest and I went to where I had seen them before at Madeira Way and today I saw 2 of them . Also seen was a Song Thrush and a Common Raven .
I then had a look at Maer Rocks and saw 20+ Ruddy Turnstone and 4 Purple Sandpiper .
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 .
Here are a few shots of the Immature Barred Warbler seen at Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve . The bird showed quite well in the entrance bushes .
The bird is a long distance migrant from Eastern Europe that is more seen on the East Coast of Britain and is a very good bird to be seen in the South West .
