Back soon I hope

 I have just had my second new knee operation in 4 months so will not to get out for a while or post on here . But will be back soon I hope 👀

Eurasian Wryneck

News came out this morning of a Eurasian Wryneck seen on the Exminster Marshes . So I went over to see if I could see it . And as I was driving towards the Fishermans car park  I came upon 5 birders looking towards my car , so I got out and there was the bird feeding on the road in front of me . I had it for about a minute then it flew into the hedge and I don`t think it was seen again .... Jammy Git or what 😀

Later in the day I had 3 Red Knot and around a dozen Dunlin on the Clyst Estuary . And a look at Bowling Green Marsh got me 10 Western Cattle Egret and 2 Ruff .

Western Cattle Egret ( Bubulcus ibis ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Devon

 

Ruff ( Philomachus pugnax ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Devon

 

Out and About

 The day started at Bowling Green Marsh with 4 Eurasian Spoonbill , 6 Western Cattle Egret , around a dozen Common Greenshank and a Stock Dove .

I then went and had a look at Powderham Marsh and I saw Little Grebe , a female Western Marsh Harrier and my first Wood Sandpiper of the year .

My last stop was at the Exminster Marshes and got a YellowWagtail , a White Wagtail , 6 Pied Wagtail and a fall of Clouded Yellow Butterflies with 7 seen .

Yellow Wagtail ( Motacilla flavissima ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

 

Osprey

 Just a few shots of todays Osprey that caught a fish in the Exe Estuary this morning and then took it to a dead tree in Powderham Park to eat it . 

Also in the area were about 20+ Barn Swallow .

Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus ) . Powderham Park . Devon

 

 

 

Red-Necked Phalarope

 An afternoon visit to Black Hole Marsh in Seaton to look for a Red-Necked Phalarope that was found this morning . And as you can see the bird showed very well . This is the eighth time that I have been lucky enough to see one of these in Britain .

Red-Necked Phalarope ( Phalaropus lobatus ) . Black Hole Marsh . Devon

 

 

 

White Stork

 A trip down to Otterton this morning to grab a look at the White Stork that has been hanging around the area . I think it is one of the birds that were released in Cornwall....But still good to see .

I then had a look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham and I saw 4 Eurasian Spoonbill , 2 Cattle Egret , 8 Grey Heron , Green Sandpiper , Common Sandpiper and 3 Stock Dove .

White Stork ( Ciconia ciconia ) . Otterton . Devon

 

Exe Estuary

 News came out of a juvenile Black Tern seen on the Exe Estuary . So I went down to the Topsham Recreation Ground for a look but all I saw were 3 Juvenile Mediterranean Gull and a Common Sandpiper .

So I then went to the Goat walk in Topsham but no luck with the tern again but I got a Little Gull and 6 Ruddy Turnstone . Then a look at Bowling Green Marsh got me 2 Eurasian Spoonbill and a Western Cattle Egret .

And back at home this Holly Blue Butterfly was in the garden for a while .

Holly Blue ( Celastrina argious ) . Topsham . Devon

 

 

Cattle Egret

A look at Bowling Green Marsh got me 2 Eurasian Spoonbill , 6 Grey Heron , 80+ Little Egret , at least 10 Western Cattle Egret , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 20+ Common Greenshank , 6 Dunlin , 7 Barn Swallow , 3 Common House Martin and 3 Pied Wagtail .

The marsh is the more dried out than I have ever seen it before !

Western Cattle Egret ( Bubulcus ibis ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

 

Dead

The birding is dead at the moment but fingers crossed it changes soon .

But I did have this Clouded Yellow Butterfly in my garden today a very nice first for my garden . 😀 

Clouded Yellow ( Colias crocea ) . Topsham . Devon

 

Not a lot

 A quick walk around the Exmouth Marina with Sue after having a nice sausage bap in the cafe there .  Didn`t get me much at all with only 3 Eurasian Collared Dove and a few Barn Swallow and Common House Martin .

Also seen in Exmouth was a Clouded Yellow Butterfly .

Bowling Green Marsh

A high tide look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham got me 4 Eurasian Spoonbill , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , a single Bar-Tailed Godwit , 2 Whimbrel , a Green Sandpiper , numerous Common Redshank , 5 Common Greenshank , a Spotted Redshank , 6 Dunlin and 2 Stock Dove . 

Green Sandpiper ( Tringa ochropus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Devon

 

Whimbrel ( Numenius phaeopus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Devon

 

Eurasian Spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Devon

 

Yellow Wagtail

 A look at the Exminster Marshes this morning got me at least 6 Yellow Wagtail with adult and juvenile birds seen . 

There was also a Dozen + Pied Wagtail , Barn Swallows , Common House Martins and Common Starling

Also seen were 2 Clouded Yellow Butterflies .

Yellow Wagtail ( Motacilla Flavissima ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

 

Tuesday 21st . July

A trip up to Eastleach Martin in Gloucestershire with Tim & Andy . Got me a Long-Tailed Shrike a new bird for my world list . I tried to get shots of it but the heat haze was very bad  , I did manage to get a couple of them so I was pleased with that .

Also seen was Red Kite and Corn Bunting .

Long-Tailed Shrike On The List

 

13th JULY

 A couple of shots of last nights Caspian Tern that I saw on Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham . I just managed to get on and grab these 2 shots of it before it flew off towards the Exe Estuary 

As you can see they are just record shots but beggars cant be choosers .

Caspian Tern ( Hydroprogne caspia ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

 

Med Gulls

 New into the marsh today were 5 Mediterranean Gull and a Peregrine Falcon  . Along with all the usual suspects with 2 Eurasian Spoonbill , 8 Little Egret , 2 Spotted Redshank in summer plumage , Whimbrel , 4 Green Sandpiper , Lesser Black-Backed Gull and 2 Stock Dove .

Green Sandpiper ( Tringa ochropus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

 

Much of the same

 Today there wwere 2 summer plumaged Spotted Redshank on Bowling Green Marsh a nice treat for everyone . Also seen were 2 Eurasian Spoonbill , a Whimbrel and Dunlin and yesterdays Red Knot showed a bit better today .

The only other thing seen were 3 Stock Dove .

Spotted Redshank ( Tringa erythropus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

Dunlin ( Calidris alpina ) & Red Knot ( Calidris canutus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

1st Knot

 I am still only venturing out to my local patch due to having the new knee . But it is great to get out anywhere again . 

Here is a list of todays birds that I saw . Eurasian Spoonbill . Little Egret . Grey Heron , Whimbrel , Eurasian Curlew , Common Greenshank and Redshank , Spotted Redshank , Green Sandpiper . My 1st Red Knot of the year ( Sorry about the photo but very bad heat haze ) , Eurasian Oystercatcher , Green Sandpiper , Stock Dove , Common Sand Martin and Sedge Warbler .

So not a bad mornings birding 👀😊

Red Knot ( Caliris canutus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

Bowling Green Marsh

 My look today got me a Western Marsh Harrier along with 2 Eurasian Spoonbill , 6 Common Greenshank . Yesterdays summer plumaged Spotted Redshank was still showing well today as was 2 Green Sandpiper and 20+ Common Sand Martin . Then a walk along the road then got me a Common Chiffchaff and a Song Thrush .

Later when I was in the town at Topsham it was good to see a few Common Swift .

Western Marsh Harrier ( Circus aeuginosus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

Out Again

 Well today is my first venture out for 6 weeks due to the new knee operation . With a look at my local patch Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham . And I managed to see 2 Eurasian Spoonbill , adult and juvenile Green Sandpiper and a very nice looking summer plumaged Spotted Redshank .

Also seen were half a dozen Small White and a Ringlet Butterflies .

Spotted Redshank ( Tringa erythropus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

 

Green Sandpiper ( Tringa ochropus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

 

Eurasian Spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Devon

 

Knee

To all my readers , I will be out of action for a while as I have just had a new Knee operation . Bur I will try and get back out as soon as possible . 

Tuesday 12th May

 Our day started at Cogload in Somerset to look for a Common Nightingale . And we got there to hear the bird in full song but as it is with these birds it never came out into view .

Our next stop was at Northwick Worth near Bristol to look for a reported Temminck`s Stint and in the end we managed to see two of them along with 6 Little Ringed Plover and a Common Snipe .

The next stop was on the Somerset levels with 6 Common Crane seen near the Stathe Drove area .

Temminck`s Stint ( Calidris temminckii ) . Northwick Worth . Bristol

 

 

 

 

Common Crane ( Grus grus ) . Nr Strathe Drove . Somerset

 

Lesser Kestrel

 A trip down to Cornwall with Andy and Tim to look for a Lesser Kestrel a rare bird for Britain . And after a slog through a bog we got to the area where the bird was showing and we got great views of it . It was a new bird for Andy and Tim but not for me as I saw one on the Scilly Isles way back in 2002 . But I was still very pleased to see this one .

Also seen was a Black-Winged Stilt and a Common Cuckoo .

Lesser Kestrel ( Falco naumanni ) . Croft Pascoe Area . Goonhilly Downs . Cornwall

 

 

 

 

Black-Winged Stilt ( Himantopus himantopus ) . Croft Pascoe Area . Goonhilly Downs . Cornwall

 

3rd May

 LUNDY ISLAND TRIP

Today I went on the Devon Birds annual trip to Lundy Island and on the crossing there was way over a hundred Manx Shearwater seen . But the highlight was a Risso`s Dolphin a first for me 😊 seen along with quite a few Common Dolphin .

Once we got to the Island the ship went around the island before docking and we saw numerous Razorbill , Common Guillemot and quite a few Atlantic Puffin .

Once we got onto the Island the highlight was a Eurasian Golden Oriole that I found on call in Millcombe Valley , I spent a bit of time trying to see the bird with no luck . But it was later seen in other areas of the island . Also seen was a Yellow Wagtail of the Channel Race and a Spotted Flycatcher .

Manx Shearwater ( Puffinus puffinus ) . Bideford to Lundy Island . Devon

 

Atlantic Puffin ( Fratercula arctica ) . Lundy Island . Devon

 

High Winds

 This morning it was very windy . But I still took a look at the Exminster Marshes where I saw 2 European Spoonbill , Barn Swallow , Common Raven and a Common Lizard .

I then went to a spot on Haldon Forest where I had a Garden Warbler singing from deep cover but I could not see it , there was also a Mistle Thrush

                                                                 European Spoonbill

Stupid

 This morning the weather was nice so I went out to Emsworthy Mire on Dartmoor in hope of catching up with Common Cuckoo but when I got there the wind was quite strong so the cuckoos where hard to see but I managed to see one and heard another calling .

Also seen was a male Common Redstart so I though I would get a nice shot of it only to find that I had come out with no card in my camera...Stupid me 😖 as I also saw 2 Lesser Redpoll my first of the year . And a male and female Northern Wheatear .

Back home in Topsham I saw 2 Eurasian Collared Dove a common bird but I found them hard to see this year !

Eurasian Collared Dove ( Streptopelia decaocto ) . Topsham . Devon

 

Eurasian Hobby

 Well today I could only manage to get this distant shot of a Eurasian Hobby . It is my first of the year so fingers crossed that I can better it some time .

Also seen was a male Western Marsh Harrier , Cetti`s Warbler , Eurasian Reed Warbler  , Sedge Warbler , Common Chiffchaff and a Blackcap .

Eurasian Hobby ( Falco subbuteo ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

 

Bluethroat

Tim Andy and myself made a trip up to Swineham Gravel Pits in Dorset to look for a Bluethroat a very rare bird that visits us from Europe some times . And after a long walk we got great views of the bird of the red spotted race of northern Europe .

These birds used to be rarer in Britain but they seem to be turning up a bit more allowing us to enjoy these beautiful birds . 

Bluethroat ( Luscinia svecica ) . Swineham Gravel Pits . Dorset