Pallid Harrier

A rare trip out of Devon these days saw me & my mate Andy Bond up at the Steart Marshes in Somerset for a juvenile Pallid Harrier that has been seen there for a few days now , we arrived there and settled in to wait to see if it would show and we didn`t have to wait to long before the bird put in an appearance but it quickly flew out into the middle of the reserve and dropped into a reed bed , it was seen again about an hour later being mobbed by a crow towards the far end of the marsh but not seen again before we left for home !
Also seen were possibly 2 Great White Egret , 4 Little Egret , 50+ European Golden Plover and 2 Common Stonechat , other things of note seen were 4 Roe Deer , a Clouded Yellow Butterfly and numerous Ruddy Darters .

Great White Egret ( Casmerodius albus ) . Steart Marshes . Somerset

European Green Woodpecker

No birding done today ! but this European Green Woodpecker landed on one of the trees behind my house so I had to grab this opportunity of getting this shot of it , I hear them quite a bit in the cemetery grounds but don't see them sat in the open like this very often .

European Green Woodpecker ( Picus viridis ) . Topsham . Devon

Great Spotted Woodpecker

My look around the cemetery grounds in Topsham turned up much of the same with a bit of a fall of Common Wood Pigeon & Eurasian Collared Dove , 2 Eurasian Jay were seen again today along with 6 Carrion Crow , 1 Common Raven , numerous Goldcrest , 10 Long-Tailed Tit , 6 European Greenfinch and this male Great Spotted Woodpecker .

Great Spotted Woodpecker ( Dendrocopos major ) . The Topsham Cemetery . Devon

Water Pipit

I got news today that A Water Pipit has returned to the Recreation Ground in Topsham so I went down to see if I could find it and after about an hour looking for it up and down the edge of the River Exe and about to give up I found the bird in the fist spot that started looking at an hour ago lol , like last years bird there seems to be more of a supercilium on one side of the head than the other on this bird !
Also seen today were numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 2 Common Sandpiper , 2 Common Kingfisher , a Grey Wagtail and a Water Rail was heard calling .

Water Pipit ( Anthus spinoletta ) . The Topsham Recreation Ground . Devon

Ruff ( Philomachus pugnax ) . The River Exe . Topsham . Devon

Grey Phalarope

My post today are only of some photos of the Grey Phalarope on the Otter Estuary at Budleigh Salterton taken this morning before the bad weather set in , the bird is on its second day now and these superb pelagic wanderers usually stay well out at sea ! but this one must have been brought in on the bad weather over the weekend .

Grey Phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius ) . The Otter Estuary . Devon

Topsham Cemetry

My look around the cemetery grounds in Topsham today didn`t turn up anything new with 12 Eurasian Collared Dove , 10 Common Wood Pigeon , a Eurasian Jay , numerous Goldcrest , 20+ Common Starling , a small flock of Long-Tailed Tit and 2 Butterflies were also seen with a Red Admiral and a Small Copper ( Sorry about another Jay photo but I just couldn`t resist )

Eurasian Jay ( Garrulus glandarius ) . The Topsham Cemetery . Devon

Redwing

My usual morning look around the Topsham Cemetery Grounds didn`t turn up much today but I did see my first Redwing of the autumn , the best of the others were 2 Eurasian Jay , 3 Black-Billed Magpie , numerous Goldcrest and 3 Grey Squirrel that were busy collecting leaves for their nests .

Redwing ( Turdus iliacus ) . The Topsham Cemetery . Devon . 17 / 10 / 2014

Barn Owl

At around 3.30 am I was woken from my sleep by a screeching Barn Owl in the Topsham Cemetery Grounds and the sound was amazing and went on for quite a while , and it was only the second time ever that I have heard one like this !!
Later in the day I had a look around the grounds and saw 2 Common Raven , 2 Eurasian Jay , a Eurasian Sparrowhawk , a European Green Woodpecker , numerous Goldcrest , a male and female European Greenfinch .

European Greenfinch ( Chloris chloris ) . The Topsham Cemetery Grounds , Devon

Dipping Ring Ouzel

A trip over to the Exminster Marshes this morning to look for a reported Ring Ouzel proved to be futile as there was no sign of the bird anywhere , and there wasn`t a lot else on show either with only 3 Grey Heron , 6 European Robin , 2 male Common Stonechat , a Common Buzzard , a Eurasian Jay and a Eurasian Bullfinch , also see was this smart Common Marbled Carpet moth .

Common Marbled Carpet ( Chloroclysta truncata ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

Great Bittern

I had a late afternoon call today telling me that there was a Great Bittern showing well on Bowling Green Marsh ! so I went down to see if I could see it and sure enough the bird was showing well but on the far left hand side of the marsh and what with the distance and weather these were the best shots that I could manage of it , it could be the same bird as before that has been hiding in the reeds or a new one that's just arrived but your guess is as good as mine ! the only other things of note seen today was that the Eurasian Wigeon flock has started to build up so its worth keeping an eye out for the American Wigeon  that gets in with the flock some years and five House Martin were also seen .

Great Bittern ( Botaurus stellaris ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

Great Cormorant

Another look at the cemetery grounds in Topsham again today , well yesterday I had my first Eurasian Jay in the grounds and todays look got me two of them ! also seen were Great Spotted Woodpecker , 2 Song Thrush , 2 Coal Tit , 4 European Goldfinch , a single European Greenfinch and a few Goldcrest , but the highlight of the day was this fly over Great Cormorant another new bird for my cemetery list lol .

Eurasian Jay ( Garrulus glandarius ) . Topsham Cemetery . Devon

Great Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carba ) . Topsham Cemetery . Devon

Eurasian Jay

First thing this morning the was a Eurasian Nuthatch in my garden and as I went outside to get a look at it a Common Kestrel flew past , later in the day I had a look at the cemetery grounds outside of my house in Topsham and I saw 5 species of Corvid with Carrion Crow , Common Raven , Eurasian Jackdaw , Black-Billed Magpie and Eurasian Jay , also seen were Great Spotted Woodpecker , Long-Tailed Tit and some nice Goldcrest .

Eurasian Jay ( Garrulus glandarius ) . The Cemetery Grounds . Topsham . Devon

Birthday

Well today is my birthday and there are usually good birds around to go for on this date but not today it was dead , so I went for a sea watch off of Orcombe Point in Exmouth but on arrival I didn`t expect to see much as the wind was blowing right in my face and the glare on the sea from the sun was quite bad !
Anyway I found a spot and after getting my eye in I saw numerous Northern Gannet , 30+ European Shag , 2 Balearic Shearwater ( my first of the year ) , and singles of Great Skua , Arctic Skua and Common Guillemot and around the trees a few Speckled Wood Butterflies were still hanging on !

Speckled Wood ( Pararge aegeria ) . Orcombe Point . Exmouth . Devon

Bowling Green Marsh

Another look at Bowling Green Marsh today got me much of the same with 17 Common Greenshank ,  2 Spotted Redshank , 3 Red Knot , 2 Ruff , and singles of Curlew Sandpiper , Dunlin , Bar-Tailed Godwit and a new in Green Sandpiper , 3 birds of prey were seen on the marsh today with Common Buzzard , Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Peregrine Falcon , add to the days count 2 Rook ( a very rare bird on the marsh ) , a Eurasian Jay , Water Rail and this smart Clouded Yellow Butterfly , and a look from the viewing platform at the Exe Estuary produced 2 Grey Plover with one in summer plumage still .

Clouded Yellow ( Colias crocea ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

Party Time

Today I only had a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh as it was the official opening of the new hide by the RSPB and it was full of people that you don't see in the hide from one end of the year to the other or Ever !!!! ..... but then again everyone to there own !!!  Anyway I had a look for yesterdays Great Bittern but while I was there it didn`t show but the following waders were seen , 8 Common Greenshank , 2 Curlew Sandpiper ,  singles of Ruff , Dunlin , Spotted Redshank and also seen were some smart looking Black-Tailed Godwit of the Icelandic race .
I then headed for home stopping on the way to have a look in Cemetery grounds in Topsham but all I saw were a few Eurasian Collared Dove and a couple of Winter Wren , other things of note was this Grey Squirrel and a few Speckled Wood Butterflies .

Grey Squirrel ( Sciurus carolinensis ) . The Topsham Cemetery Grounds . Devon

Great Bittern a BGM Tick for me

The Great Bittern that was seen for a short while the other day showed again today on Bowling Green Marsh on the far side of the marsh in the right hand reedbed and I was lucky enough to get there and see it before it vanished back into the reedbed again ! another new bird for me on the marsh with two in a week Amazing !!! , I am sorry about the quality of this record shot but as anyone who has been to the marsh know`s the hide is a very very long way from the birds !!!! and I was lucky to even get this one .
Not a lot else to see today with 10 Common Greenshank , 2 Red Knot , a Spotted Redshank and a single Ruff .

Great Bittern ( Botaurus stellaris ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon