Sunday 31 July 2016

European Green Woodpecker

This afternoon I had a walk around the Cemetery Grounds in Topsham something that I have not done for quite a while ! and I saw a European Green Woodpecker  along with a Great Spotted Woodpecker and around half a dozen Juvenile Barn Swallow that were feeding up before they make their long flight south , also seen were the following Butterflies , Red Admiral , Meadow Brown , Gatekeeper , Large White and Small White .

Red Admiral ( Vanessa atalanta ) . The Topsham Cemetery Grounds . Devon


Friday 15 July 2016

14 / 7 / 2016

European Nightjar

Another look this morning at my local patch Bowling Green Marsh got me my first Common Sandpipers and Green Sandpiper for the year on the marsh , other birds of note were10 Common Greenshank , a Spotted Redshank , 6 Whimbrel , an adult and 2nd summer Mediterranian Gull`s and a fly past European Green Woodpecker .
Later in the evening 3 of us went up to Woodbury Common to look for European Nightjar and we managed to see a couple of them and some more were heard calling , also heard on call was a Common Cuckoo .

Common Sandpiper ( Actitis hypoleucos ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Tuesday 12 July 2016

Ham Wall

Early this morning three of us made a trip up to the Ham Wall reserve in Somerset in hope of seeing a Little Bittern as three were calling there yesterday , we arrived around 7.45 and was told that a male bird had been flying around just before we got there ( Sods Law ) but that it was still calling ! as it did for most of the morning ! and as it was we had to wait until just after 2 pm for the bird to fly again and it was just in the air for a short time as it flew from one reed bed to drop into another and that was it !!!
There was also a very nice Collared Pratincole that showed on and off but was always quite distant , other birds that added to a good days birding were 8 Great White Egret , 2 Little Egret , 3 Great Bittern , a Western Marsh Harrier , 2 Eurasian Hobby , 2 Glossy Ibis , a Common Cuckoo , 2 Common Kingfisher , and also seen was Brown Hawker Dragonfly ( a new one for me )

Little Bittern ( Ixobrychus minutus ) . Ham Wall . Somerset


Great Bittern ( Botaurus stellaris ) . Ham Wall . Somerset


Collared Pratincole ( Glareola pratincola ) . Ham Wall . Somerset



Monday 11 July 2016

Movement !!

I had a look at Bowling Green Marsh over the high tide today and there seemed to be a bit of movement on the wader front with more Common Greenshank in today along with plenty of Common Redshank and the moulting adult Spotted Redshank , there was also many Eurasian Curlew , 32 Whinbrel , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 8 Bar-Tailed Godwit and 2 Dunlin
2 Adult and 2 1st summer Mediterranean Gulls were in with the large flack of Black-Headed Gull`s , also seen was a male Common Kestrel a bird that you don't get to see very often on the marsh these days , a Stock Dove and a Eurasian Collared Dove .

Stock Dove ( Columba oenas ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon



Friday 8 July 2016

LRP

I had a  look at Bowling Green Marsh at high tide today and saw 50+ Common Redshank , a moulting adult Spotted Redshank , 6 Common Greenshank , 300+ Eurasian Curlew , 8 Whimbrel , a mass of Black-Tailed Godwit with a few Bar-Tailed Godwit in with them , 2 Dunlin and a Little Ringed Plover , the usual mass of Black-Headed Gull`s had 2 adult Mediterranean Gull`s in with them .
Away from the lake European Reed Warbler , Greater Whitethroat , a male Blackcap , 2 Song Thrush and a Eurasian Bullfinch were seen along with Comma and Gatekeeper Butterflies .

Song Thrush ( Turdus philomelos ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Comma ( Polygonia-album ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Friday 1 July 2016

Butterflies

This afternoon I went for a look around Darts Farm in Topsham where I saw the following Butterflies , Meadow Brown , Small White , Small Skipper and Marbled White , I then had a look at the pond and managed to see a Common Kingfisher .
I then went to Bowling Green Marsh at high tide and saw 200+ Common Redshank , a summer plumaged Spotted Redshank , 6 Bar-Tailed Godwit , 50+ Eurasian Curlew , 15 Whimbrel , 2, 2nd summer and a 1st summer Mediterranian Gull`s , a 1st summer Common Gull and 2 Stock Dove

Meadow Brown ( M . jurtina ) . Darts Farm . Topsham . Devon


Small Skipper ( T . flavus ) . Darts Farm . Topsham . Devon


Marbled White ( M . galathea ) . Darts Farm . Topsham . Devon