Saturday 31 August 2019

Quick Look

I had a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh this morning and I saw 4 Red Knot , 4 Whimbrel , a Ruff , 2 Common Sandpiper and an adult Mediterranean Gull along with the mass of Eurasian Curlew and Common Redshank just before the sun came out ! But that was that as the glare first thing in the morning is terrible , one of the curses of BGM .

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


Friday 30 August 2019

Thursday 29 August 2019

Yellow Wagtails

What a difference a few days make ! As the other day I birded around the top field at Orcombe Point and it was buzzing with birds but today it was hard work to find anything at all . But I did manage to see 2 Yellow Wagtail , a Northern Wheatear , a Whinchat , a Common Whitethroat and 2 Common Raven but that was that .
I then had a look around the Maer Farm area and here I saw 20+ Yellow Wagtails , 8 Barn Swallow and a Golden-Ringed Dragonfly .

Yellow Wagtail ( Motacilla flavissima ) . Maer Farm . Exmouth . Devon



Tuesday 27 August 2019

Bit Slower

I had a quick look at the Exminster Marshes today and the Pied Flycatcher was again seen but it was a very brief sighting . Also seen were 2 Common Chiffchaff , a Willow Warbler and a Whinchat .

The Moth photo is from yesterday and it is a Rusty-Dot Pearl an Immigrant moth but it is still classed as common but still a new moth for my list .

Rusty-Dot Pearl ( Udea ferrugalis ) . Topsham . Devon


Monday 26 August 2019

10 Spot Fly Day + Pied Fly

I had a message from my mate Matt Knott this morning telling me that there was a large count of 6 Spotted Flycatchers near the Bristol Schools Camp in Exmouth so I went down to look for them .
In the end I managed to see 7 of them along with 4 Willow Warbler , 2 European Green Woodpecker , 2 Common Raven and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk .
I then took a look around the top fields where I saw another 3 Spotted Flycatchers , 20+ Northern Wheatear , a Common Stonechat and a Common Whitethroat .

Later in the day news came out of a Pied Flycatcher on the Exminster Marshes and as I have never seen one on the marshes before I got there as fast as I could and in the end I got a good view of it . But I was very lucky to get this shot of it as it was very mobile and always in the top of the Oak trees but I got this one chance as it sat in the open so I fired off a few shots ! most of them were blurred , but with a bit of work I managed to save this one ....Thanks James .

Spotted Flycatcher ( Muscicapa striata ) . The Bristol Schools Camp . Exmouth . Devon




Willow Warbler ( Phylloscopus trochilus ) . The Bristol School Camp . Exmouth . Devon


Northern Wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe ) . The Top Fields . Gore Lane . Exmouth . Devon


Pied Flycatcher ( Ficedula hypoleuca ) . The Exminster Marshes .Devon


Saturday 24 August 2019

Yellow Wagtail

First thing this morning I had a look for Yellow Wagtails on Tremlett`s Marsh in Topsham but I had no luck and all I saw was one Grey Wagtail , I then had a look at the River Clyst where there was quite a few Black-Tailed Godwits .
I then went across to the Exminster Marshes and got better luck there with 2 Yellow Wagtail , a single Whinchat , 3 Common Stonechat , 2 Reed Bunting and 4 Painted Lady Butterflies .
And overnight at home I caught this Square-Spot Rustic Moth .

Black-Tailed Godwit ( Limosa limosa ) . The River Clyst . Topsham . Devon


Square-spot Rustic ( Xestia xanthographa ) . Topsham . Devon


Friday 23 August 2019

Dead

Its still pretty dead on the bird front everywhere , but in my garden today there were a few Goldcrest , 2 Winter Wren , a couple of juvenile European Robins and overhead there were around half a dozen Barn Swallow .
Also seen was this nice 1st generation Female Holly Blue Butterfly and on the moth front there was a Jersey Tiger Moth and a Light Brown Apple Moth .

Holly Blue ( Celastrina argiolus ) . Topsham . Devon



Thursday 15 August 2019

Long Distance Shots

A female Western Marsh Harrier went through Bowling Green Marsh this morning and headed over the railway line towards  the Clyst Marshes . Also seen this morning were numerous Common Redshank , 22 Common Greenshank , the winter plumaged Spotted Redshank , 20+ Whimbrel , 12 Northern Lapwing , 2 Common Sandpiper and an adult and 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull .

Mediterranean Gull ( Larus melanocephalus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


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


Monday 12 August 2019

Ruddy Turnstone

First thing this morning there was a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a few Goldcrest near my home in Topsham and it was good to hear the Goldcrests calling again .
Later in the day I took a look at Goosemoor on the incoming tide and to my surprise I found a couple of Ruddy Turnstone a new site tick for me but as you can see from the picture they were always very distant , also seen were 30+ Common Greenshank , 5 European Reed Warbler and a Painted Lady Butterfly . My last stop was at Bowling Green Marsh where I saw the winter plumaged Spotted Redshank , 4 Whimbrel and some very smart looking summer plumaged Black-Tailed Godwit .

Great Spotted Woodpecker ( Dendrocopos major ) . Topsham . Devon


Ruddy Turnstone ( Arenaria interpres ) . Goosemoor . Topsham . Devon


Painted Lady ( Cynthia cardui ) . Goosemoor . Topsham . Devon


Sunday 11 August 2019

BGM

This morning I had a look at Bowling Green Marsh but it was low tide so I did not expect very much  and all I saw worth talking about were 2 Common Sandpiper , a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Common Chiffchaff . And I caught a few Mother of Pearl moths overnight .

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


Mother of Pearl ( Pleuroptya ruralis ) . Topsham . Devon


Thursday 8 August 2019

Black Tern

This smart looking Brimstone Moth was caught overnight at my home in Topsham . Later in the day I went down to Exmouth and looked at the Exe Estuary from the Recreation Ground where I got distant views of the juvenile Black Tern that has been around the area for a few days and also seen were quite a few Sandwich Tern , also seen was a Northern Wheatear that was a very nice surprise .

Brimstone Moth ( Opisthograptis luteolata ) . Topsham . Devon


Monday 5 August 2019

Curlew Sandpiper

A quick loot at my local patch Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham on a nice sunny day produced my 1st Curlew Sandpiper of the year but it always remained very illusive , also seen were numerous Eurasian Curlew , 20+ Whimbrel , numerous Common Redshank , a winter plumaged Spotted Redshank , 20+ Common Greenshank and a Red Knot .

Whimbrel ( Numenius phaeopus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Friday 2 August 2019

Stone Curlew

An early look around the Topsham Cemetery Grounds got me 2 Eurasian Jay , 2 Common Raven a European Green Woodpecker and around 6 Barn Swallow .
Later in the day news broke of a Stone Curlew at Dawlish Warren and as it was a site tick for me I made the trip down to look for it , but by the time that I got there the bird had become more distant hence todays photo taken with the phone through a telescope , but then again its a record shot and better than nothing lol , also seen were half a dozen Sanderling a smart little wader .

Stone Curlew ( Burhinus oedicnemus ) . Dawlish Warren . Devon