Tuesday 28 July 2020

BGM

At home this morning in the garden there was a European Green Woodpecker , a Female Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Coal Tit .
Later in the day I took my first look at Bowling Green Marsh for quite a while and I saw 20+ Little Egret , a Grey Heron , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit and Eurasian Curlew , 2 Whimbrel , 100+ Dunlin , 100+ Common Redshank and 20+ Common Greenshank ........ So nothing outstanding but just glad to be able to view some waders again .

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



Thursday 23 July 2020

Wednesday 22nd July

A quick look around Aylesbeare Common this morning got me a European Green Woodpecker , a male and 3 juvenile Dartford Warbler , a single Willow Warbler and a juvenile Common Linet .
Also seen were the following Butterflies , Large Skipper , Grayling , Common Blue and Small Heath

Dartford Warbler ( Sylvia undata ) . Aylesbeare Commom . Devon . 22 / 7 / 2020


Grayling ( Hipparchia semele ) . Aylesbear Common . Devon . 22 / 7 / 2020


Monday 20 July 2020

Monday 20th July

 I had a look around the Exminster Marshes this afternoon but there was not a lot to be seen but on the main lagoon a Garganey was showing along with a few mallard , also seen were a couple of European Reed Warbler , a Sedge Warbler , a Blackcap and this Black-Tailed Skimmer that was on the canal .

Black-Tailed Skimmer ( Orthetrum cancellatum ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon


Wednesday 15 July 2020

Ruff

This morning I took a look at the Topsham Recreation Ground where I connected with the male Ruff that has around a few days now . I also saw numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , a single Eurasian Oystercatcher , numerous Black-Headed Gull , 2 Mediterranean Gull , 2 Lesser Black-Backed Gull and 2 Great Black-Backed Gull .
Also seen was a European Mink and a few feeding Grey Mullet .

Ruff ( Philomachus pugnax ) . Topsham Recreation Ground . Devon


Black-Tailed Godwit ( Limosa limosa ) . Topsham Recreation Ground . Devon


Tuesday 14th July

A walk around Topsham today got me the following birds on Goosemoor , 4 Little Egret , 2 Eurasian Curlew , a Common House Martin , 50+ Black-Headed Gull and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull .
A look at Bowling Green Marsh then got me 4 Common Greenshank , 2 Common Redshank and 4 smart looking Bar-Tailed Godwit .

Monday 13 July 2020

Common Quail

This morning I had a look around the Ludwell Valley Country Park in Exeter where I managed to see a Song Thrush , a male Blackcap , a Common Kingfisher and a White Throated Dipper .
But the best bird there was a calling Cetti`s Warber a first for me at this site and I am not sure that one has been heard or seen here before ?
Later in the afternoon I went to a spot near Starcross as a Common Quail has been heard singing there , I arrived and had the bird calling right away ! but after a while a Chinook Helecopter flew over quite low as it was heading for the marine camp and my luck was in as it flushed the Quail that got up and flew a short distance and then dropped into cover again , a bit later another birder Mark Bailey turned up and we had the bird calling from the other side of the road for around 10 minutes and at first we thought that there was 2 birds but in the end we came to the conclusion that it was just the one bird that had gone from field to field .

Common Kingfisher ( Alcedo atthis ) . The Ludwell Valley Country Park . Devon


Monday 6 July 2020

Very Strange

The highlights in my garden today were a Female Great Spotted Woodpecker , a juvenile Eurasian Siskin and this Silver Y moth .
I went down to Exmouth this morning and did a bit of a sea watch where I saw a few Northern Gannet and Black-Legged Kittiwake , a distant Pomarine Skua , a Roseate Tern and a strange very pale Balearic Shearwater , the palest  one I have ever seen in all the time I have been birding !

Silver Y ( Autographa gamma ) . Topsham . Devon


Thursday 2 July 2020

Wednesday 1st July

I have not been out birding much lately but news of some Mediterranean Gull`s on the River Exe at the recreation ground in Topsham got me off of my bum as I had not seen one in Devon this year .
There were 4 different birds on show along with a few Black-Headed Gull , 2 Little Egret and a fly over calling Sandwich Tern .

Mediterranean Gull ( Larus melanocephalus ) . Topsham . Devon