A quick trip down to Tremletts Marsh in Topsham . Got me this Cattle Egret that was in nice breeding plumage , I managed to fire of a shot just before the farmer turned up with his tractor and frightened the bird off .
But it only flew a short distance and then dropped onto the River Clyst where it was still showing when I left for home .
Tundra Bean Goose in June!!!! Well that got me off of my bum to make the short trip from where I live in Topsham to the Darts Farm Reserve .
The bird was showing distantly with a Greylag Goose but was always at a distance . Not a lot else to say about a bird that should be on the tundra of Northern Western Europe right across to Siberia .
This morning I went to the Tesco`s store at Pines Hill in Exeter . Where after a bit of a search I Photographed these nice Bee Orchids .
I then went to the Recreation Ground in Topsham in hope of seeing a Common Sandpiper but I had no luck again . But I did see 2 Little Grebe , 7 Lesser Black-Backed Gull , 2 Great Black-Backed Gull , 2 European Reed Warbler and 5 Barn Swallow .
A trip down to Stithians Reservoir in Cornwall today with Paul Bray and Dave Boult got us a real rarity a Pacific Golden-Plover that was quite close when we arrived but then flew further out from us . This was my third one seen in Britain . With my first at Pilling in Lancashire in 1990 and my second was at my local patch Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham Devon in 92 .
I have also seen these birds in Queensland in Australia & a few in California in the USA .
A good tick for you 2 Boys 😊👀
Not a lot done today , But a trip over to the Tesco`s store at Pines Hill got me quite a few of this smart Butterfly the Marbled White .
Another trip up to Horsey Island in North Devon this morning in hope of seeing the Collared Pratincole again . But today our luck was out as we searched for it for quite a while with no sign of it at all .
But a very nice bonus was seeing a Little Owl a bird that is extremely rare in Devon now . And on checking my records the last one that I saw in Devon was back in 2013 .
A trip up to Braunton in North Devon this morning to look for a Collared Pratincole a fantastic bird to catch up with in this country . We arrived to be told that we had just missed it but not to worry as it would show again . And sure enough it was soon picked up again and flew in front of us quite close .
It then got into a pattern of flying to a spot where it was feeding and then flying back to the river bank where it rested and preened but the views were a bit distant .
This evening I went out to a Private Site .Where I was lucky enough to see this Barn Owl . The bird was always very distant and just about at the end of the range for my lens . But what a magical sight it always is to be able to see these birds .
Earlier in the day I saw my 1st Marbled White Butterfly of the year at the Pine`s Hill Tesco`s in Exeter .
Yippeeee today I saw my 1st European Adder of the year on Aylesbear Common in East Devon . Also seen was a Slow Worm and the following birds .European Green Woodpecker , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Blackcap , Dartford Warbler , Common Chiffchaff . Common Linnet and Eurasian Bullfinch .
