Autumn Movement

This morning I decided to go to the top fields at Gore Lane in Exmouth to have a look for any migrants and on the way there I had a Weasel dash across the road in front of me at Maer Lane , I arrived at the top fields and local birder Matt Knott was already there and he put me onto a Tree Pipit , I then walked down to the lower fields and saw a Spotted Flycatcher , 4 Willow Warbler , 1 Common Chiffchaff , numerous Barn Swallow and a Common Sand Martin .
I then went down and had a look at the beach but there was nothing there so I then went to the docks were there was a lot of Gull`s and Tern feeding on the Whitebait and I saw around a dozen Sandwich Tern , 5 Common Tern and a Little Tern .

Tree Pipit ( Anthus trivialis ) . The Top Fields . Gore Lane . Exmouth . Devon

Common Chiffchaff ( Phylloscopus Collybita ) . The Top Fields . Gore Lane . Exmouth . Devon

Common Tern ( Sterna hirundo ) . Exmouth Docks . Devon

Common Seal

A look at Bowling Green Marsh got me a Juvenile Spotted Redshank and a Ruff but no sign of the Temminck`s Stint or the Spotted Crake today , from the viewing platform that looks out at the Clyst  Estuary I saw 5 Red Knot , a Common Kingfisher and a Common Seal and further down the Exe Estuary a Osprey showed but it was very distant .
I had heard that there was over a hundred Yellow Wagtail on the Exminster Marshes this morning so later in the day I went over to look for them and guess what !!! I couldn`t see any lol but I did see a Eurasian Hobby .

Common Seal ( Phoca vitulina ) . The Clyst Estuary . Topsham . Devon

Holly Blue

News this morning that a Sabine`s Gull was seen on Warren Point and then seen to fly up the Exe Estuary of course had me out looking for it I went to the Recreation Ground in Topsham but the tide was high so no luck there ! next stop Bowling Green Marsh where a few gulls dropped in but not the one that I was looking for but I did see the long staying Spotted Crake and the Temminck`s Stint , 20+ Bar-Tailed Godwit , around 15 Whimbrel , a Ruff , a Spotted Redshank and a male Peregrine Falcon .
Back at my home in Topsham there were a few Red Admiral and a 2nd generation female Holly Blue Butterfly .

Holly Blue ( Celastrina argiolus ) . Topsham . Devon

Sea Watching

This morning I went down to Orcombe Point in Exmouth to do a bit of sea watching and the first birds that I saw were numerous Northern Gannet and Black-Legged Kittiwake then I started to get my eye in and started to pick up more birds with 30+ Common Scoter , 5 Northern Fulmar , a single Manx Shearwater that headed east and plenty of Tern`s with numerous Sandwich Tern , 16 Common Tern , 3 Black Tern , a single Little Tern and my first Arctic Tern of the year and at Mudbank Lane there was nothing except this loafing Great Black-Backed Gull .
On the way back home I stopped at Tremmlett`s Marsh and checked the wagtail`s again but still no Yellow Wagtail but I did see my first Northern Wheatear of the autumn .

Great Black-Backed Gull ( Larus Marinus ) . Mudbank Lane . Exmouth . Devon

Migrant Hawker

A look this morning at Bowling Green Marsh again got me a Spotted Crake , the Temminck`s Stint had now flown over to the far side of the marsh and was just about viewable and also seen was an adult winter Spotted Redshank , a juvenile male Ruff , 6 Bar-Tailed Godwit and my first two Migrant Hawker`s of the year , I then had a look from the viewing platform at the Clyst Estuay but there was not a lot on show with only 20+ Dunlin , 2 Common Ringed Plover and a Black Swan to be seen !

Migrant Hawker ( Aeshna mixta ) . BowlingGreen Marsh . Topsham . Devon

Much of the same !!

This morning I had a look at Tremlett`s Marsh to see if there was any Yellow Wagtail`s in with the cows yet but I couldn`t find any so I had a look across the road in the Dart`s Farm fields but there was none there either and all that I saw was around 10 British Pied Wagtail and in with them was a smart White Wagtail , on then to Bowling Green Marsh were the Spotted Crake , Temminck`s Stint and Ruff were still showing well with 20+ Dunlin and a Common Kingfisher .
I then went down to the viewing platform to look at the Clyst Estuary where I saw a winter plumaged Spotted Redshank , a Common Sandpiper and another Ruff a different bird than the earlier one , also seen were European Reed Warbler , Willow Warbler , numerous Common Chiffchaff and a Eurasian Bullfinch , to finish the day off I had another look at Tremlett`s Marsh and I had a Merlin fly across the marsh in front of me not a bad end to a good day !!

2 Spotted Crake`s

Today there was 2 Spotted Crake`s on Bowling Green Marsh but I only managed to see one of them that showed quite well over on the far side of the marsh in front of the reedbed , yesterdays Temminck`s Stint was still there this morning and I was able to get a lot better views of it today along with a juvenile female Ruff , 12 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper .
A look at the Clyst Estuary from the viewing platform then got me 2 juvenile Spotted Redshank another Common Sandpiper , 6 Common Greenshank & a Common Kingfisher , later in the day to finish the day off I had views of an Osprey that was eating a fish on a sandbar in the ExeEstuary  and this solitary Little Egret .


WOW just had 2 Avro Lancaster bombers fly over my house .... now that's what you can call big birds !!!

Little Egret ( Egretta garzetta ) . The Exe Estuary . Topsham . Devon

Temminck`s Stint

A call to me in late afternoon telling me that there was a Stint of some kind with yellow legs on Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham had me shooting off down there to have a look at it , on arrival I had a quick view of the bird before it was lost from view and after quite a wait the bird showed again and was confirmed as a Temminck`s Stint and another very good bird for the marsh !! also on show were 4 Red Knot with a nice summer plumaged bird , a few Whimbrel and a European Green Woodpecker was heard calling .

Bearded Tit

A look around some allotments near where I live in Topsham got me a few Butterflies with Large White , Small White , Meadow Brown , Gatekeeper and Common Blue seen along with a female Southern Hawker Dragonfly .
Later in the day I had a look at Bowling Green Marsh in hope the Spotted Crake may still be there but there was no sign of it today but in exactly the same spot as I had seen it last week in front of the left hand reed bed 3 Juvenile Bearded Tit`s dropped in and were chasing each other around on the mud in front of the reeds for a while before flying into the reed bed and out of view , also seen today was a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper , 2 Green Sandpiper , a Common Sandpiper , 2 Spotted Redshank , 3 Red Knot with one of them in smart partial summer plumage and 3 Common Snipe

Southern Hawker ( Female ) ( Aeshna cyanea ) . Topsham . Devon

Great Shearwater

I had a text this morning telling me that there was a Great Shearwater lingering off of the sea wall at Dawlish Warren so off I went to get in my first sea watch of the year ! but when I arrived I was told by the other two birders there that it had moved off , it was by now raining hard and I spent quite a bit of time demisting my scope and just as I had finally got it clear and could scan the sea there in my view was a superb Great Shearwater heading towards Berry Head !! I let out a shout and one of the other birders was able to get on to it before it was lost from view .
Other birds seen on the watch were 2 Manx Shearwater , a single Great Skua , 2 Arctic Skua , numerous Northern Gannet , 12 Black-Legged Kittiwake , a juvenile Little Gull & a juvenile Mediterranean Gull & 20+ Common Scoter .
Back home in Topsham I saw the following Butterflies Large White , Small White , Green-Veined White & Gatekeeper .
An Evening add on .... This evening on Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham there was a smart looking Spotted Crake that was in front of the left hand reed bed on the far side of the marsh but as we were looking at it flew to the reed beds on the right hand side and was still there when I left , also seen were 3 Spotted Redshank , thanks to the finder Keith Birchall .

Green-Veined White ( A . napi ) . Topsham . Devon

Yellow-Legged Gull

A profitable look around the Topsham recreation ground today got me 50+ Black-Tailed Godwit of the race Islandica and one Bar-Tailed Godwit was in with them , a juvenile Water Rail , a Common Kingfisher , 2 Lesser Black-Backed Gull`s and a juvenile/1stwinter Yellow-Legged Gull that was there for around 10 minutes before flying off up river .
Also seen today were 2 Clouded Yellow & 2 Common Blue Butterflies and a superb looking Hummingbird Hawkmoth .

Hummingbird Hawkmoth ( Macroglossum stellatarum ) . The Topsham Recreation Ground . Devon

Butterflies

Today I put in a bit of time Butterflying around Topsham but I only saw the common ones with Small Tortoiseshell , Comma , Large White , Small White , Green-Veined White , Meadow Brown , Gatekeeper , Large Skipper and Holly Blue seen.......... also seen was this Southern Hawker Dragonfly .

Southern Hawker ( Aeshna cyanea ) . Topsham . Devon

Caspian Tern

Local birder Matt Knott found a summer plumaged Caspian Tern off of Exmouth Beach this morning but he then lost it from view before any other birders could catch up with it ! but as luck would have it he was looking at the Exe Estuary from his bedroom window and he refound the bird on one of the sand bars he then put the news out allowing around half a dozen of us to catch up with the bird before it flew off up river , it is only the 3rd ever for Devon & the second for me after the Dawlish Warren bird in 2004 ! ( Well done Matt ) ......also seen was a juvenile Mediterranean Gull .

Mediterranean Gull ( Larus melanocephalus ) . Mudbank Lane . Exmouth . Devon

Photo`s

A look at the Ludwell Valley Country Park in Exeter today didn`t turn up much at all as you couldn`t see too much because of the overgrown greenery and the only bird that I saw was a Eurasian Bullfinch , but a few Butterflies were on show with Large White , Small White , Green-Veined White , Speckled Wood  & Gatekeeper , also seen was a Beautiful Demoiselle and a Southern Hawker , and across the road in the Northbrook Golf Course half a dozen Banded Demoiselle were seen along with a few Common Darter .

( My photos will not be as good as usual for a while as I have had to send my lens off to be repaired ... what a S**T lol )

Banded Demoiselle ( Calopterx splendens ) . The Northbrook Golf Course . Exeter . Devon