Tuesday 12th November

SCARLET TANAGER

A long trip up to Northowram in Yorkshire with M Bailey and A Bond in hope of getting nice views and photographs  of the 1st winter male Scarlet Tanager . We arrived at 7am and picked a spot in a small cul de sac where the bird had been seen  .

But as what usually happens nothing goes to plan and after standing in the cul de sac for over 8 hours all I managed to get on the bird was a flight view of it as it flew between 2 bungalows of the area that it seems to like with berries in the back gardens .

My health is not to good at the moment and I just about stood up till around 2pm when I had to sit down on a wall completely knackererd  ................Hope for better days .

The only other bird of note was a fly over Hawfinch .

Thanks Mark .

9th November

 A morning out down to Portworthy Lakes near Plymton got me what I was looking for with a nice Ring-Necked Duck and a Red-Crested Pochard .

Also there were 3 European Green Woodpecker , 6 Redwing and 2 Common Stonechat .

Wednesday 6th November

A day out with my mate Andy with our first stop at the Northam Burrows in North Devon in hope of seeing a White-Rumped Sandpiper that has been seen there . We arrived and got out of the car and there the bird was right in front of us and at times in came within a few feet of us happily feeding on the edge of the pool .

Our next stop was at Fremington Quay where we saw a Glossy Ibis . We then decided to go to the Trolesworthy Common area of Dartmoor to look for a Pallid Harrier that has been seen there for a few days . But we were out of luck with the Harrier but I did see my 1st Merlin in Devon this year .

White-Rumped Sandpiper ( Calidris fuscicollis ) . Northam Burrows . Devon

 

 

 

 

 

Glossy Ibis ( Plegadis falcinellus ) . Fremington Quay . Devon

 

Black Redstart

A quick trip down to Exmouth this morning got me my first Black Redstart in my home county of Devon this year .                                                                                                                                                    With a female bird showing well around the flats in the Shelly Beach area .

Black Redstart ( Phoenicurus ochruos ) . Exmouth . Devon