I saw a Rose-Ringed Parakeet in the Maer Valley in Exmouth this morning . I have seen these birds in many parts of the world but it is always good to see them here .
I then went to Woodbury castle where I saw the following birds . 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker`s , 7 Stock Dove and singles of Eurasian Nuthatch , Common Buzzard , Common Raven and also seen was a Brimstone Butterfly .
I saw this male Black Redstart in Exmouth this morning . It is a bird that breeds in most of Southern Europe but they are a birds that only usually winter with us and we are lucky enough to have had returning birds to a spot near the mouth of the Exe Estuary for a few years now .
Today I got these two Butterflies on Powderham Marsh in Devon , my first two of the year !
I had a look off of Exmouth at Lyme Bay this morning in the rain but the birding was dismal and I only managed to see 4 Great Norther Diver`s , a few European Shag and a few Black-Legged Kittiwake . But the most thing I got was wet lol .
This morning I spent 3 hours looking for a Great Bittern that has been seen at the Riverside Valley Park in Exeter but there was no sign of it at all .
And all I saw was as follows , 3 Water Rail , 2 Common Buzzard , a Little Egret , a Grey Heron , around half a dozen Long-Tailed Tit , 2 Winter Wren and 2 male Reed Bunting .
I had a call today telling me that there was an adult Yellow-Legged Gull at Trews Wear in Exeter . So I got there as fast as I could but just as I got there the bird flew off and I am afraid that I only just managed to get this flight shot of it .
Also seen was the female Long-Tailed Duck again , a Grey Wagtail and a Common Kingfisher , by noww the rain was falling quite hard so I headed back home .
This morning there was a Great Bittern seen at the Riverside Valley Park in Exeter . So I went to see if I could see it , I was there for over 2 hours but there was no sign of the bird at all but I did see a male Bearded Tit that I picked up at first on top of a reed , I then had it in flight a few times but it then flew out of sight .
I then went into the Trews Wear in Exeter as the female Long-Tailed Duck that I found last week in Topsham has ended up there and I was able to get a few better shots of it this time . Also seen were 5 Lesser Black-Backed Gull and a Common Kingfisher .
Here are a couple of shots taken in the pouring rain of the Black Brant . The American version of our Brent Goose . It was taken on the Clyst Marshes where it was with around a dozen Brent Geese .
This morning I had this beautiful European Green Woodpecker in my garden for the 1st time this year . I get them now and again and it was good to see this one .
Later I took a look at Bowling Green Marsh but I only saw numerous Northern Pintail and a male Common Pochard . And a look at the Clyst Estuary got me 20+ Pied Avocet .
I woke up this morning and looked out the window to find that snow had fallen through the night , a rare sighting for us way down here in the South West .
So I decided to walk around the Estuary and I started off at Goosemoor and walked down as far as the bridge over the River Clyst where again I found Otter prints on the mud leading from the river into Bowling Green Marsh . And nearby there was a calling Firecrest .
I then made my way to the estuary as Bowling Green Marsh was frozen over and covered in snow , on the estuary there were quite a few Pied Avocet with some in very close . I then carried on walking towards Topsham where I stopped for a look at the quay and found around 30+ Dunlin and I was just about to get a shot of them when I had a bit of luck as a Spotted Redshank flew in and joined them . I then noticed that there were some nice Red-Breasted Merganser out on the river , so I went to take a look at them and to my amazement I found a female Long-Tailed Duck in with them , a superb way to finish off a mornings birding ..
The ground was frozen this morning so I thought that I would go over to the Exminster Marshes to look for some Jack Snipe . I went to a usual spot where I have seen these birds before and with all the dykes frozen I thought I was in with a good chance but as it turned out I only saw one Jack Snipe and 2 Common Snipe .
Also seen were 4 Greater White-Fronted Geese , 20+ Brent Geese , numerous Canada Geese , 20+ European Golden Plover and a single Reed Bunting , a good mornings birding but Brrrrr it was freezing .
I took a look at Lyme Bay this morning where I saw 4 Red-Throated Diver , 16 Northern Fulmar and 2 European Shag
Also seen were 20+ Reed Bunting , 3 Rock Pipit and a Cirl Bunting
This morning I checked up on some information saying that there was a male Black Redstart seen in Majorfield road in Topsham .
I walked down checking all the rooftops and sure enough there he was sitting on the top of a roof , I put the camera up and managed to fired off a shot but the bird then flew out of sight . I hung around for another hour looking for it but it never showed again but I went home well pleased as this was the 1st Black Redstart I have seen in Topsham in the 30 years that I have lived here...Yippee .
While driving past Powderham Park this morning 2 Egyptian Geese flew over the car . I then carried on to Dawlish Warren and a look at the sea got me a Dark Phase Pomarine Skua that was chasing gulls well out in Lyme Bay , ( I take it that its the same bird that has been hanging around from the start of the year ) And a single Great Crested Grebe was also seen .
I then had a look around Greenland Lake and I saw a few Common Stonechat and Common Linnet and a look on the beach produced 6 Ruddy Turnstone and 4 Sanderling and a Common Raven flew over .
A look around Bowling Green Marsh today got me numerous Eurasian Wigeon and Northern Pintail , 20+ Common Teal and Northern Shoveler , a single male Common Pochard and 4 Song Thrush .
Later in the day I got a message telling me that there were some Greater White- Fronted Geese showing on the Exminster Marshes , so I went across to look for them and saw 3 adult birds and 1 juvenile . The views were very distant through the falling drizzle but better than nothing lol .
