A look at Bowling Green Marsh this morning at low tide got me 2 Whimbrel , a Common Greenshank , 2 Blackcap , 2 Common Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler . And a look from the viewing platform got me a very distant Osprey way down towards Starcross .
I had another look this morning at high tide and this time I saw 6 Curlew Sandpiper , 3 Red Knot and the evening was finished off with a nice Garganey .
Another trip this morning down to Gore Lane in Exmouth to look at the Yellow Wagtail that are up in the top fields in with the cows . And again I managed to see 20-30 of them along with 7 Northern Wheatear and 3 Common Raven . It was also good to catch up with fellow Devon birders who were there also looking for them .
I got a message today telling me that there were quite a few Yellow Wagtail showing in the top fields at Gore Lane in Exmouth . So I went down to see if they were still on show and I managed to see 20+ but most of them were a bit distant . But I was able to get a few distant shots of them for my photographic year list . So this time I went home happy again lol .
Thanks Matt .
I went to the fields north of Powderham Church this morning to look for some reported Yellow Wagtail but as it is happening to me lately they had gone before I got there ! But I did see this nice juvenile Northern Wheatear , a male and female Common Stonechat and a couple of Small Copper Butterflies .
And 3 Ruddy Turnstone were showing well on the Exe Estuary .
In between the downpours of rain . I took a look from the hide at at Bowling Green Marsh and today I saw distant 2 Greater Scaup and a Common Pochard , 3 Gadwall , 2 European Spoonbill , a Common Sandpiper , 20+ Common Sand Martin and a few Barn Swallow . I then made a dash for home as the rain eased a little bit .
Today started with a couple of Great Spotted Woodpecker interacting with each other in my garden and they made quite a noise lol .
I then had a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh but it was low tide so all I saw were 20+ Common Sand Martin , a Willow Warbler and 50+ European Goldfinch . And out on the Exe Estuary there was an Osprey fishing . My last stop of the day was at the Matford Marshes where I saw 2 Green Sandpiper and a Common Kestrel .
The day started off at Exmouth in a storm . Where the only bird that I saw was a Great Skua that was sat on Maer Rocks . But by now I had got soaked to the skin and had to retreat back home for a change of clothes lol .
Later in the day I took a look at Bowling Green Marsh and it was still rough and blowing a gale . But I still saw a distant Greater Scaup , 3 Gadwall , 7 Little Egret , 2 European Spoonbill that have been with us a few days now , a Red Knot , a Bar-Tailed Godwit and a Peregrine Falcon and out on the Exe Estuary there was an Osprey .
I took a look at Bowling Green Marsh this morning . Where I saw 7 Little Egret , 2 European Spoonbill , numerous Eurasian Curlew , 2 Whimbrel , 50+ Common Redshank , 30+ Black-Tailed Godwit , 20+ Dunlin and 2 Stock Dove . But the bird of the day was a Northern Goshawk that flew across the marsh putting everything up and then headed out towards the Clyst Marshes .
Today I got lucky as on my 5th attempt I finally managed to get a shot of the Melodious Warbler that has been at Dawlish Warren for the last 6 days . I arrived to find a few birders already there and they said that the bird had just shown but was now out of sight . My heart sank as I thought here we go again , but after around 5 minutes it showed again for a short while before vanishing back into cover again .
I woke up early this morning and saw that it was fine weather . So I thought that I would have another look for the Melodious Warbler at Dawlish Warren and perhaps get a shot of it . I got there around 7.15 and spent 3 hours looking for it in vain as there was no sign of it today .
But I did see a few Willow Warbler and Common Chiffchaff , a nice Garden Warbler , a female Blackcap , a Common Whitethroat , a Mistle Thrush , a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and a few Common Blue Butterflies .
The weather was terrible this morning but news of a couple of Eurasian Spoonbill on Bowling Green Marsh saw me braving the the rain to go down to see them . also seen were a few Whimbrel , 8 Dunlin and a Red Knot .
Later in the day I went down to Dawlish Warren to look for a reported Melodious Warbler , the weather now was a misty drizzle so I soon got soaked . there was a few birders looking for the bird but for a long time there was no sign of it , then fellow birder Peter Vanstone said to me that he had it in a tree in the corner , I just got on it but it hopped into the next tree where I got a nice view of it . It never showed again for a very long time but at just gone 4 o/c it showed again in the same corner again and I and a few other birders got on to it , it never stayed in view for long and was always on the move .
Also seen were a few Willow Warbler , Common Chiffchaff , a Spotted Flycatcher , a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and a Jersey Tiger Moth .
Another day out with Andy and Ken saw us heading for Blackhole Marsh in Devon as they both wanted to see the Little Stint and it showed a lot better today than when I saw it on Sunday . Also seen was a Ruff , 6 Common Sandpiper and a few Common Sandpiper .
We then headed towards Wiltshire and our first stop was at Stonehenge where we saw a Corn Bunting and a Northern Wheatear , we then carried out on to Salisbury Plain and the first bird we saw was a Red Kite and in the end we had lost count of how many these birds we saw , we then carried on and came across a flock of 14 Great Bustard and we know that these are not wild birds but it was still great to see them .
We then went to Winterbourne Downs to look for Stone Curlew and we arrived to find the spot covered with long grass and though that we had no chance of seeing them , but after a bit of a search we managed to see a few of them , also seen was a Brown Hairstreak Butterfly . We then headed for home after a good days birding .
A trip down to Blackhole Marsh in Seaton today to look for a Little Stint that has been showing there for a few days and the bird showed but was always very distant but I was glad to get my first one of the year .
Also seen was a Wood Sandpiper , 20+ Common Redshank , 20+ Dunlin , 10 Common Ringed Plover , 20+ Black-Tailed Godwit , 7 Common Sandpiper , a Green Sandpiper and a few Barn Swallow .
I was in the hide and all the gulls went up . I looked around and could not see anything , only to find out later that an Osprey had been seen above the hide.....Damn lol .
A day out with my mate Andy turned out well in the end . As our first stop was at Durleigh Reservoir in Somerset to look for a reported juvenile Purple Heron but there was no sign of it , but we did see a Little Egret , 3 Great White Egret , 4 Great Crested Grebe and a European Green Woodpecker .
We decided to cut our losses and go to the Steart WWT Reserve to look for some Black-Winged Stilt that have been seen there but after a long walk we got to the viewing platform only to find out that the only views you could get were very distant but we did manage to see one adult female bird .
We then decided to go back to Durleigh Reservoir to have another look for the Purple Heron and this time our luck was in as after a bit of a wait I managed to pick up the bird as it flew out of deep cover in the left hand corner it then flew across the reservoir where it then dropped into cover again . There was no chance of getting a shot of it but at least we all got on it .
I took a look at Bowling Green Marsh this morning but the hide was again closed so viewing was very restricted but I still managed to see numerous Black-Tailed Godwit and Common Redshank , 10-15 Dunlin , 3 Whimbrel and the bird of the day a partial summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper .
I then took a look at Goosemoor where I saw 7 Common Greenshank , 2 Blackcap 2 more Whimbrel and quite a few Small White Butterflies .
A first trip out for a long time with my 2 mates Ken and Andy . And we went down to Cornwall to do a palagic from Penzance out into the Western Approaches and the trip started off with 9 Sanderling just as the boat was leaving , we also had a Mediterranean Gull close into shore .
We then headed out into deep water and we started seeing Manx Shearwater and by the end of the day we had lost count of these , also seen quickly was a single Sooty Shearwater and also seen were numerous Northern Fulmar and Northern Gannet , we then put a fish oil slick out and a few gulls came in and with them was a young Yellow-Legged Gull and then we started picking up European Storm Petrel a bird that I was hoping for as up till now I had never been able to get a shot of one .
Also seen were a couple of Harbour Porpoise , 4 Common Dolphin and an Ocean Sunfinsh .
The hide has been opened at Bowling Green Marsh . So this morning I took a look and I managed to see 12 Little Egret , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit , 20+ Whimbrel , 30+ Dunlin , numerous Common Redshank , a single Red Knot and a couple of juvenile Mediterranean Gull , I grabbed this shot of one of them but its hard to get anything at all in the morning glare on the marsh .
