Friday 4th April
This afternoon , my garden was visited by an Eurasian Jay and this was a new bird for my garden list 😊
Saturday 5th April
I was in my garden when I picked up a Red Kite that was heading north towards the M5 . News then came out of a Common Grasshopper Warbler reeling at Bowling Green Marsh but by the time that I got there the bird had moved on . But I did see 4 European Spoonbill , a Cetti`s Warbler and a Common Chiffchaf
A look at the marsh this morning got me 4 European Spoonbill , 4 Grey Heron , 2 Little Egret , the long staying Long-Billed Dowitcher , a single Red Knot , 100+ Common Redshank , 2 Spotted Redshank and around a dozen Dunlin .
And back at home I had a Common Buzzard and a Great Spotted Woodpecker .
Another trip out to Bellever Tor on Dartmoor got me the following birds . Common Skylark , a brief view of the Great Grey Shrike , Common Skylark , male and female Common Crossbill , Common Buzzard , Common Stonechat and Meadow Pipit .
Then on the way home we had a quick stop at the Exminster Marshes where we saw male and female Egyptian Goose .
A look around the Gore Lane area of Exmouth this morning got me my 1st Barn Swallow of the year and another year tick was this Rose-Ringed Parakeet . Also seen was a European Green Woodpecker , 2 Stock Dove and a Common Chiffchaff .
And on Bowling Green Marsh the European Spoonbill count has now risen to 4
My car was off the road today so I spent a couple of hours in the garden just to see what I could see and it turned out pretty good as I saw the following .
Herring Gull , European Green Woodpecker , Wood Pigeon , Winter Wren , Blue Tit , Great Tit , Coal Tit , Black-Billed Magpie , Carrion Crow , Wester Jackdaw , Rook , Eurasian Jay , Dunnock , European Robin , Common Chaffinch , European Greenfinch and European Goldfinch .
A trip down to South Huish Marsh to look for some Blue-Headed Wagtail that have been seen there . And we managed to see 4 of them and got great views . Now Blue-Headed Wagtail is one of the sub specie of Yellow Wagtail to which there are quite a few . But it is always nice to see them !
Also seen were 20 Cattle Egret , numerous Rock Pipit and a few Common Linnet .
Many Thanks Chas .
A mad early morning dash down to the top fields at the Gore Lane area of Orcombe Point in Exmouth to look for a reported Eurasian Hoopoe . I arrived to find one birder already there but he had not managed to see the bird yet . And after while a couple more birders turned up so we decided to walk up the lane a bit further to see if we could look at the field better .
And it paid off as the bird was picked up in flight being harassed by Black-Billed Magpies it flew around for a while and then landed on a post . It then was then harassed again and flew off and after much searching we did not see it again .
A look at the Exe Estuary then got me 6 Pale-Bellied Brent Goose .
Thursday 20th March
A trip out to Dartmoor to look for a reported Great Grey Shrike near Bellevor Tor . But I only managed to get a very distant view of it .
Friday 21st March
A look at the Exe Estuary from the Goatwalk in Topsham got me my 1st Osprey of the year . I then had a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh where I saw a male Greater Scaup , a male and female Common Pochard and 3 Eurasian Spoonbill .
Todays birding started at Bowling Green Marsh with the usual suspects seen with the long staying Greater Scaup , 3 Common Pochard , 10 Mallard , 8 Northern Pintail , 3 European Spoonbill , a Large flock of Black-Tailed Godwit and a single Bar-Tailed Godwit .
My next stop was at Tremletts Marsh in Topsham with a male and female Common Stonechat seen . My 1st on the Exe Estuary this year . My last stop was at Darts Farm again in Topsham with a Little Egret ( a bird that is common now but I can remember when it was an absolute rarity ) Also seen were 2 Stock Dove and a Common Chiffchaff .
The long staying Long-Billed Dowitcher showed very well in the bright sunlight on Bowling Green Marsh this morning . ( It has now been with us for 7 months )
Also seen was the male Greater Scaup , a few Tufted Duck , 3 European Spoonbill , 10 Common Greenshank , a Spotted Redshank was in with numerous Common Redshank , 2 Stock Dove , a Common Chiffchaff and 4 Common Sand Martin .
Not bad for an hours birding !
News came out this morning of a couple of Barnacle Geese on Powderham Marsh so over I went to look for them and I managed to see one of them , there was no sign of the other one while I was there .
Not a lot else was seen with only my 1st Common Sand Martin of the year , Canada Goose , Little Egret , Northern Lapwing .
Well my luck was in this morning as I sat on my bench having breakfast a Great White Egret flew over heading towards the Clyst Marshes . Also seen in the garden was a European Greenfinch the 1st in the garden for quite a few years .
I then had a look at Bowling Green Marsh and managed to see the Greater Scaup , 2 Common Pochard , around a dozen Tufted Duck , 3 Eurasian Spoonbill and 4 Stock Dove .
A trip over to the Exminster Marshes this morning was a good move as a Little Ringed Plover was showing well making it my 1st spring migrant of the year .
Also seen was a nice White Wagtail that dropped into the marsh but it didn`t stay long , a male and female Pied Wagtail , a Meadow Pipit , Cetti`s Warbler and Common Chiffchaff .
At home we have a flock of white dove`s that come into the garden to feed but today sadly we lost one of them today to this female Eurasian Sparrowhawk....But that is Nature for you !
I then went down for a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh with all the usual birds on show but this female Western Marsh Harrier sat in the reedbed for about half an hour .
My look around Bowling Green Marsh this morning was bitterly cold but I still managed to see a few good birds with the following .
Tufted Duck , Common Pochard , Greater Scaup , Norther Pintail , European Spoonbill , Black-Tailed Godwit , Bar-Tailed Godwit , Long-Billed Dowitcher , Spotted Redshank , Common Redshank , Common Greenshank , Common Kestrel , Water Rail , European Green Woodpecker & European Greenfinch .
Nothing different but still a good days birding .
The Greater Scaup was showing on Bowling Green Marsh this morning along with a pair of Common Pochard , around 20 + Northern Pintail , 3 male and a female Tufted Duck , 2 Little Egret and a Grey Heron . And nearby there was at least 4 Firecrest .
I took a walk around the Orcombe Point area in Exmouth this morning and I managed to see the following birds .
2 Black-Legged Kittiwake , Common Buzzard , Eurasian Sparrowhawk , Peregrine Falcon and a small flock of Common Linnet . Also this Grey Wagtail that was seen in Exmouth .
Wednesday 19th
Another look at Bowling Green Marsh from the hide due to the weather got me . 300+ Pied Avocet , numerous Common Redshank , a large flock of Black-Tailed Godwit . My 1st Red Knot of the year . Also seen were Mistle Thrush , Song Thrush and Redwing .
Friday 21st
There was nowhere to go in appalling weather today so I went down to Exmouth to look for the Common Eider that are being seen and I got nice views of the 4 of them but it was hard to get shots of them in very bad conditions .
A walk around Aylesbeare Common in a cold wind didn`t get me much at all . But I did see my 1st Dartford Warbler of the year . Also seen was a Common Raven and a Fieldfare . There was also a flock off Redpoll / Linnet that flew through .
There was over 300 Pied Avocet on Bowling Green Marsh this morning . Along with numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , a single Ruff that was my 1st of the year , numerous Common Redshank and a nice looking winter plumage Spotted Redshank was in with them , and it was nice to see this Common Kestrel .
Birding from the hide at Bowling Green Marsh this morning in heavy rain got me the following .
Greater Scaup , Tufted Duck , 300+ Pied Avocet , Numerous Common Redshank , Spotted Redshank , 100+ Black-Tailed Godwit , Bar-Tailed Godwit , 3 Common Snipe and Grey Heron . And in the trees around the hide a Goldcrest .
This Greater White-Fronted Goose was showing at the far reaches of Turf near the cycle bridge this morning . Nice to add to the Devon year list .
A day out in Somerset with our first stop at Burnham On Sea in hope of seeing the wintering Kentish Plover but after much searching there was no sign of the bird today .
So we then went to Kilmersdon where we saw at least 3 Hawfinch in the Churchyard and got superb views of them ( I love these birds ) , also seen were a quite a few European Greenfinch .
Our last stop of the day was at the RSPB Reserve at Greylake where we saw at least 3 Water Rail , 2 Great White Egret , male and female Western Marsh Harrier , a nice but distant Barn Owl that was seen hunting for about 20 minutes , a quick view of a Cetti`s Warbler , a nice fly past Jack Snipe and then to finish the day off this 1st winter Merlin flew in and landed close to the hides .
Todays pictures are of a bird not native to our lands but it is a new bird for my photo list as I have never photographed this species anywhere in the world before Swan Goose .
Not a lot else to report but a look at the Exminster Marshes got me Great Scaup , Common Pochard and a Green Sandpiper .
A quick visit to the Otter Estuary got me a Water Pipit on my 4th try this year 😀 Also seen were 2 Meadow Pipit , 12 Common Ringed Plover , a Common Kestrel and a male and female Common Stonechat .
Also seen was a nice display of Otter tracks on the mud under White Bridge . Great to know one at least is about on the River Otter .
Birding Somerset
Our 1st stop of the day was at the RSPB Reserve at Greylake but there was not a lot on show with only 5 Water Rail and a Cetti`s Warbler worth talking about So we went on to the Ham Wall Reserve where the birding was a bit better and we saw numerous Gadwall , 5 Great White Egret , 2 Egyptian Geese , a few Western Marsh Harrier , a Great Bittern was seen in flight and another 4 were heard booming . We then went to the Sharpham Lane area of Ham Wall were we saw 100+ Greylag Geese and a ( Russian ) Greater White Fronted Goose .
Our last stop of a good days birding was at Swell Wood with 2 distant Common Crane .
Todays photos are 2 of our beautiful common birds that we all take for granted .
A morning look at Bowling Green Marsh hide got me 200+ Northern Pintail , a Mistle Thrush , a male Peregrine Falcon that flew in and put everything up but then left again with nothing .
I then walked down to the viewing platform area and I saw a Water Rail , a Eurasian Bullfinch and 30+ European Goldfinch . I then came back home and had a look around the Cemetery Grounds where I saw my 1st Goldcrest of the year .
A walk down to the Turf Lock got me the wintering Long-Billed Dowitcher that was showing extremely well to quite a crowd of people .
The only other thing of note was a flock of over 300 European Golden Plover .
