Common Goldeneye

A lovely brisk sunny morning saw me again looking at the River Exe at the Topsham Recreation Ground area where 2 female Common Goldeneye were showing very well , there was also around 15 Red-Breasted Merganser , 2 Little Grebe , 2 Little Egret , 3 Common Kingfisher , 5 Common Snipe , a Grey Wagtail and one Water Rail was seen and another 3 were heard calling , I heard that the female Long-Tailed Duck was still around but after much searching I couldn't see it anywhere today !

Common Goldeneye ( Bucephala clangula ) . The River Exe . Topsham . Devon

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

Local Birding

There was a fall of winter thrushes in the Topsham Cemetery Grounds this morning with Fieldfare , Redwing , Mistle Thrush and Common Blackbird all seen feeding on the berries , later I went for a walk around the Recreation Ground in Topsham and I saw a male Red-Breasted Merganser , a Little Grebe , 2 Common Gull , a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull , 2 Water Rail and a sparkling Common Kingfisher a bird that I always love to see !

Common Kingfisher ( Alcedo atthis ) . The Topsham Recreation Ground . Devon

Mediterranean Gull ( Larus melanocephalus ) . The Topsham Recreation Ground . Devon

Cold Mornings

I went over to the Exminster Marshes at first light this morning and to start with it was a lovely sunny morning but the clouds soon rolled it and it became quite cold , on the marsh 16 Barnacle Geese were still showing well with also 100+ Dark Bellied Brent Geese and two 1st winter Light Bellied Brent Geese , Eurasian Wigeon and Common Teal were showing everywhere on the marsh , a Peregrine Falcon and a Cetti`s Warbler were also seen .
I walked across the marsh to have a look at the River Exe at the ferry crossing and got good views of the female Long-Tailed Duck that was showing with a female Common Goldeneye , 12 Red-Breasted Merganser and 2 Common Kingfisher .

Long-Tailed Duck ( Clangula hyemalis ) . The River Exe . Devon

Pale Bellied Brent Goose ( Branta bernicla hrota ) ( 1st Winter ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

Barnacle Goose

The highlight of today was seeing these 13 Barnacle Geese on the Exminster Marshes , they were quite a way out on the marsh but were put to flight by a female Western Marsh Harrier allowing me to be able to get this flight shot , I also saw another 3 of them on another part of the marsh ! it is a very rare sight to see this these birds in good numbers in the South West of Britain and a real bonus of the approaching winter .
The marsh had amazing numbers of wildfowl with Eurasian Wigeon , Common Teal and Northern Pintail in large numbers , also seen was a Water Rail , 2 Grey Wagtail , 20+ Redwing and a couple of Reed Bunting.

Barbacle Goose ( Branta leucopsis ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

Grey Wagtail ( Motacilla cinerea ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

Long-Tailed Duck

A quick look at the River Exe this morning from the Topsham Recreation Ground got me this female Long-Tailed Duck along with 2 Common Kingfisher and a singing Mistle Thrush .

Long-Tailed Duck ( Clangula hyemalis ) . The River Exe . Topsham . Devon

The Floods at Topsham

The South West of England has again been hit by flooding and here are a few shots of Bridge Road/Darts Farm area of the Clyst Marshes this morning !! not a lot to report on the bird front with just a Firecrest in a holly bush near Topsham Railway Station and a few Redwing and Fieldfare in the cemetery grounds .

Topsham Flooding !!

Desert Wheatear

Another trip down to South Devon today to look for the Desert Wheatear on Leasfoot Beach at Thurlestone and what a day we picked as the weather was terrible whith very heavy rain most of the time , we arrived around 8 am and it took us till quarter to nine to get our first view of the bird but it was soon lost from view again , but it showed again later looking a bit bedraggled and wet , we got a few shots of it then left it to feed up hoping that the cold doesn`t get to it !!!

Desert Wheatear ( Oenanthe deserti ) . Leasfoot Beach . Thurlestone . Devon

Little Stint

Around my house in Topsham this morning there was 20+ Western Jackdaw , a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and a Mistle Thrush , I then walked down to Bowling Green Marsh where the highlight of the day was a Little Stint seen on the end of the point , also seen were 8 Greylag Geese , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 26 Bar-Tailed Godwit , 800+ Dunlin , 200+ Pied Avocet , 6 Common Greenshank , a Grey Wagtail and a Common Chiffchaff .

Western Jackdaw ( Corvus moneedula ) . Topsham . Devon

The Topsham Area

A quick look at Goosemoor this morning got me a Spotted Redshank , I then moved onto Bowling Green Marsh where I saw 200+ Pied Avocet , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 12 Bar-Tailed Godwit , 4 Red Knot , 10 Northern Lapwing , 2 Eurasian Jay , 15 Long-Tailed Tit , a Common Chiffchaff and a Red Fox and on the Exe Estuary this Common Gull put on a bit of a show .

Common Gull ( Larus canus ) . The Exe Estuary . Topsham . Devon

Winter Birds

A look around the cemetery grounds in Topsham in between the bouts of rain got me 30+ Fieldfare , 20+ Redwing , a Eurasian Jay , a European Greenfinch my first in the cemetery for quite a while !   numerous Goldcrest and a fly over Eurasian Sparrowhawk ....then the rain started to bucket down so I headed for home .

Redwing ( Turdus iliacus ) . Topsham Cemetery . Devon

Another Shrike

I started my day in the grounds of the Topsham Cemetery where I saw 4 Mistle Thrush , 20+ Redwing , 2 Fieldfare , a Eurasian Nuthatch and a Common Chiffchaff , I then went out to Woodbury Common to look for a Great Grey Shrike that has been reported there and after a bit of a walk I ended up getting nice views of it but the bird is very mobile and is covering quite a large range , I also found a Woodlark feeding with some Common Skylark and was very pleased with the find as its a 1st for me on the commons , not a lot else to report with only 12 Meadow Pipit and another 20+ Fieldfare .

Great Grey Shrike ( Lanius excubitor ) . Woodbury Common . Devon

Slow Going !!

Not a lot of birding done in the last few days !! but on Sunday 13th I had 9 Red Kite over the M4 near the Reading area , and yesterday Andy Bond and myself went down to South Huish to look for a reported Desert Wheatear but we had no luck with it but there was a lot of Rock Pipit`s feeding on the seaweed on the beach .

Rock Pipit ( Anthus petrosus ) . South Huish . Devon . 14 / 11 / 2016

Some add on Record shots from yesterday !!

Eurasian Spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon . 11 / 11 / 16

                                           1st c/y bird

Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus ) . The Exeminster Marshes . Devon . 11 / 11 / 16

                                                 
                                              Female Bird

Feeding Time !!!

I went for a look at the Exminster Marshes this morning and the bushes there are laden with berries at the moment just waiting for some Waxwings or a good Thrush to drop in !!! but I had to make do with this Black-Billed Magpie lol , I also had a look at the main lagoon where I saw the American Wigeon that was in with the numerous Eurasian Wigeon , a few Northern Pintail , Tufted Ducks and Common Pochard , a juvenile Eurasian Spoonbill was also seen along with 3 Water Rail and a female Western Marsh Harrier

Black-Billed Magpie ( Pica pica ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon

Bewick`s Swan

A trip with Sue up to Blagdon Lake in Somerset got us 12 Bewick`s Swan a new bird for her making it a 100 birds on her list , also seen was 6 male and 2 female Northern Pintail and a Common Kingfisher , we then went on to Chew Valley Lake where we saw the amazing site of 25+ Great White Egret all in one flock at one time , 1000+ Common Coot , 500+ Tufted Duck , 50+ Common Pochard and 26 Common Goldeneye .

Bewick`s Swan ( Cygnus columbianus ) . Blagdon Lake . Somerset

Great White Egret ( Casmerodius albus ) . Chew Valley Lake . Somerset

Broadsands

A quick look at Broadsands in South Devon today turned out to be not too bad in the end as I went in hope of seeing the Dusky Warbler and Firecrest that have been seen there but today I saw neither !
But I did see 2 male and a female Cirl Bunting , a nice male Eurasian Bullfinch , A great Spotted Woodpecker and a Grey Wagtail all seen around the marsh area , I then had a look at the sea and saw this juvenile male / female Common Eider and around 15 Common Scoter .

Cirl Bunting ( Emberiza cirlus ) . Broadsands . Devon

Common Eider ( Somateria mollissima ) . Broadsands . Devon

Local Birding

Todays birding started outside of my house in Topsham with a European Green Woodpecker in the cemetery grounds , I then went for a look around the Bowling Green Marsh area with my first stop being at Goosemoor , there was not a lot to see on the marsh with just a few Common Redshank and a Little Egret but above the marsh was better viewing with this juvenile Peregrine Falcon , 5 Redwing , a Mistle Thrush and a Common Raven .
I then walked on towards Bowling Green Marsh on the way seeing a Reed Bunting , at the marsh there was a few Northern Pintail , 20+ Bar-Tailed Godwit in with numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 2 Common Gull , an adult winter Mediterranean Gull , 2 Water Rail and 5 Eurasian Jay , a look at the Clyst Estuary from the viewing platform then got me numerous Dunlin , 100+ Pied Avocet , 20+ Grey Plover , 3 Red Knot and further down the river were 3 Red-Breasted Merganser and a female Common Goldeneye .

Peregrine Falcon ( Falco peregrinus ) . Goosemoor . Topsham . Devon

Bowling Green Marsh

My car is still off the road until next week !! so again I walked and birded around my local patch Bowling Green Marsh , there was not a lot different to see but I still saw some nice birds with numerous Eurasian Wigeon , 100+ Pied Avocet , 100+ Black-Tailed Godwit , 6 Bar-Tailed Godwit , a male Eurasian Sparrowhawk , 2 Stock Dove , 3 Eurasian Nuthatch , a nice Mistle Thrush and 5 Eurasian Jay

Mistle Thrush ( Turdus viscivorus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon

Lesser Yellowlegs

Sue and I made the trip up to Cheddar Reservoir this morning to look for the juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs that has been there for around ten days now , we went to the wrong end of the reservoir to start with so in the end we walked right around it ! but it was worth it as in the end we got superb views of it , there was also lots of wildfowl with the best being some Common Goldeneye and numerous Great Crested Grebe .

Lesser Yellowlegs ( Tringa flavipes ) . Cheddar Reservoir . Somerset