The day started with 2 Eurasian Spoonbill and a Common Chiffchaff on Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham .
I then had a look around the Haldon Forest that is on the edge of Exeter . And I saw 5 Common Buzzard , a long distance Northern Goshawk , a Great Spotted Woodpecker , 2 Mistle Thrush , 2 Common Chiffchaff and a small herd of wild Fallow Deer .
I took a walk around Powderham Marsh this morning and I saw the Snow Goose that has been around the Exe Estuary for a few years now . I also sae a female Western Marsh Harrier , a Common Kestrel , Numerous Northern Lapwing , a Green Sandpiper and a Stock Dove .
Tuesday 14th March
There was news today of a Little Ringed Plover and a few Common Sand Martin showing on the Exminster Marshes this morning . So I went over to see if they were still showing , and I was in luck with the Martins but had no luck with the LRP .
Monday 13th March
Another trip down to the Otter Wetlands to look for a 1st winter Glaucous Gull . I went to the spot that it was reported at but there was no sign of it at all ! And after a bit of seaching I finally managed to see it in flight over the River Otter . ( Thanks Dave )
Also seen was a male Garganey , a Cattle Egret , a Green Sandpiper , Grey Wagtail and a Water Pipit .
So not a bad couple of days birding with 2 new birds seen for the year 😊
A trip up to Somerset this morning with Andy & Ken to look for a Rose-Coloured Starling that has been showing in Wiveliscombe for a few months now . The bird is a juvenile just starting to change into adult plumage.
It took us a while to find it but we got nice views in the end . Nearby there was a Common Buzzard and 2 Red-Legged Partridge .
News of a drake Garganey on the Otter Wetlands saw me jumping in the car and getting there as fast as I could in hope of seeing my first spring migrant of the year . And I managed to see the bird but it was always very distant .
Also seen were numerous Common Teal , 2 Eurasian Curlew , 2 Green Sandpiper , a Water Pipit , a small flock of Lesser Black-Backed Gull`s and 2 Common Chiffchaff .
A quick trip down to Plymouth this morning to look for a Black Guillemot that has been seen in the sound for a few days now . We spent around an hour looking for it in the pouring rain and had just decided to call it a day when I came across it quite a way out . We all got nice views of it so the trip was well worth it in the end .
We then went to Saltram House in hope of seeing the female Red-Crested Pochard that comes and goes to the pond in the grounds and after one missed attempt we got it in the end .
I started my day at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham . And I saw 1 male and 4 Female Common Pochard , 2 juvenile Eurasian Spoonbill and a female Western Marsh Harrier .
My next stop was a look around the Salmon Pool Area of Exeter as after much looking I still had not been able to catch up with Common Kingfisher this year ! and today my luck was in as I finally saw one 😀
Also seen were 3 female Goosander , a Grey Heron , 50+ Redwing , a Eurasian Jay and a small flock of Eurasian Siskin .
The Day started off at Bowling Green Marsh with 3 Gadwall , then a look around the viewing platform area only got me a few Winter Wren and a small flock of European Greenfinch .
So I went across to the Exminster Marshes but it was dead there also with the best being a couple of Common Raven . So I went for a look around the fields in the Kenton area where things picked up a bit with a Western Marsh Harrier , a single Cattle Egret was following a tractor that was plowing the field and after much searching driving around I managed to find 2 Red-Legged Partridge .
Wednesday 1st March Today not a lot of birding done . But I did have a look at the Exe Reedbeds and managed to see three distant Bearded Tit .
Tuesday 28th February
Yarner wood was my destination today to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and I saw two of them . Also seen was Great Spotted Woodpecker , European Green Woodpecker , a single Marsh Tit , quite a few Eurasian Siskin and a Firecrest...a rare bird for this site .
A trip out today with Sue to the Slimbridge WWT in Gloucestershire in hope of catching up with a few of the birds that are there at the moment . And we managed to see 20+ Bewick `s Swan , the Ross`s Goose that was out in fields by the estuary along with 100+ Barnacle Geese , 4 Greater White-Fronted Goose and 4 Common Crane .
We then saw a nice Water Rail on our way to South Lake where the White-Rumped Sandpiper showed after a long wait . Also seen were quite a few Common Pochard , 2 Pied Avocet and 4 Black-Tailed Godwit .
A look around Ideford Common this morning got me all the usual birds around the feeders with Great Spotted Woodpecker , Eurasian Nuthatch , Blue Tit , Great Tit , Coal Tit and Long-Tailed Tit and also seen in the trees nearby was this Eurasian Treecreeper my first of the year .
And out on the common there was a Dartford Warbler and a Common Raven .
I had a look for the Greater Scaup on the Exe Estuary this morning that has been on the Estuary for quite a while but I have only just managed to catch up with it .
I got it off of Lympstone but as you can see the views were quite distant . It was hanging around with some Red-Breasted Merganser for most of the time .
A trip down to Cornwall today with the 1st stop near Boscegran to look for 2 Little Bunting and after a bit of a search the 2 birds showed very well for a short while . We then headed for the Lands End area to look for Red-Billed Chough and after quite a walk around the headland we got 2 of them right back where we had started at Lands End lol . There was also Northern Gannet and Common Guillemot....my 1st of the year 👀
We then went to the Hale Estuary in hope of seeing American Herring Gull but our luck was out as it was there but we just could not catch up with it . But there was plenty of Mediterranean Gull and Common Gull , an adult Ring-Billed Gull and a 1st winter and 2 adult Caspian Gull .
I went down to Exmouth this morning to look for Purple Sandpiper on Maer Rocks and I managed to see 4 of them just as the tide had started to cover the rocks . There was also a single Ruddy Turnstone and 12 Dark Bellied Brent Geese .
On the way home I stopped off at Bowling Green Marsh but 2 juvenile European Spoonbill were the only birds of any note .
Another trip out with Andy and Ken saw us heading for Dorchester Water Meadows as the day before a Ross`s Gull had been seen there . But after much searching there was no sign of the bird today and the best we saw were a couple of Mediterranean Gulls .
So we headed off to Wyke Regis in hope of seeing the Richard`s Pipit that has been showing there for a while and this time we were in luck as the bird showed in front of us briefly before flying off to another field .
We then spent some time around Portland Harbour area and we saw a male and 3 female Common Eider , 5 Black-Necked Grebe and a male and 2 female Black Redstart . The day was then finished off at Portland Bill with 2 Little Owls .
I went to Brandy Head this morning and did a sea watch and I saw 20+ Red-Throated Diver , 2 Northern Fulmar , 3 Razorbill and 20+ European Shag ,
Nearby I saw 5 Cirl Bunting and 2 Common Raven .
Another trip out with Ken and Andy but this time our destination was Somerset with out first stop at Barrow Gurney which got us a very nice male Long-Tailed Duck . We then went to the Ham Wall area as Andy wanted to see the female Lesser Scaup that had moved there from Noah`s Lake . Also seen were 4 Western Marsh Harrier and 3 Great White Egret . Our next stop was at Shapwick Heath where after a bit of wait we got nice views of the male American Wigeon that is wintering there .
The day was finished off with 8 Whooper Swan and 2 Common Crane on Curry Moor .
I woke up this morning to find Topsham covered in Fog . But I still decided to go out to see if there was anything about at Bowling Green Marsh but all that I could see were 20+ Common Shelduck , 2 male Northern Pintail and a very strange Northern Shoveler / Common Eider hybrid !
I then walked down the lane towards the viewing platform and on the way I saw 2 Winter Wren and a male Eurasian Bullfinch . At the platform the fog was very thick but I could pick out a couple of Pied Avocet and a Spotted Redshank . So I then carried on walking through the fog towards Topsham and at the quay there was another or the same Spotted Redshank feeding with a few Black-Tailed Godwit !
The bird of today was a high flying Western Marsh Harrier that flew over Bowling Green Marsh and out over Goosemoor . Also see were 300+ Dark Bellied Brent Geese , a few Northern Pintail and Tufted Duck , Common Snipe , Grey Wagtail , male and female Common Stonechat and a male Eurasian Bullfinch .
