Saturday 27 April 2024

The Last 2 Days

 The last 2 days I have had a look at the Exminster Marshes where I saw . a male Gadwall , 6 Little Egret , a Cattle Egret , 4 Common Sandpiper , 5 Whimbrel , numerous Barn Swallow & Common House Martin around a dozen Common Sand Martin , 3 Common Swift , 2 Sedge Warbler , a European Reed Warbler , a male Reed Bunting and a calling Common Cuckoo .

Common Sandpiper ( Actitis hypoleucos ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon


 

Friday 26 April 2024

Wednesday 24th April

 A trip down to Beesands today to look for a Purple Heron that has been seen there . And we managed to get nice views of the bird on the far side of the Ley . I also saw my 1st Willow Warbler of the year .

We then stopped of at Slapton Ley for a quick look and saw 2 Great White Egret .

Purple Heron ( Ardea purpurea ) . Beesands Ley . Devon


 


 

Wednesday 24 April 2024

Tuesday 23rd April

 A trip out with the boys today and an early start saw us at Winterbourne Down where we saw 2 Stone Curlew , a Grey Partridge and a few Corn Bunting . We then went to Salisbury Plain where we saw 12 Great Bustard , 2 more Grey Partridge , 6 Red Kite , a lot more Corn Bunting , a Common Whitethroat and 2 more Stone Curlew .

Our next stop was at Marlborough Down where 3 Eurasian Tree Sparrow and 2 Northern Wheatear were added to the list .

We then decided to go to Normandy Marsh in Hampshire in hope of seeing a Marsh Sandpiper that had been reported there and I was soon getting very nice views of the bird . And with my last one seen way back in 2008 on my local patch Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham I was very pleased to get this one . Also seen was Spotted Redshank , Curlew Sandpiper , Common Tern and Little tern .

Marsh Sandpiper ( Tringa stagnatilis ) . Normandy Marsh . Hampshire


 


 

Corn Bunting ( Miliaria calandra ) . Salisbury Plain . Wiltshire


 

Stone Curlew ( Burhinus oedicnemus ) . Salisbury Plain . Wiltshire


 

Grey Partridge ( Perdix perdix ) . Salisbury Plain . Wiltshire


 

Eurasian Tree Sparrow ( Passer montanus ) . Marlborough Down . Wiltshire


 

Sunday 21 April 2024

20th April

A walk around the East Devon Commons this morning only got me a Little Ringed Plover , half a dozen Meadow Pipit , a Common Cuckoo , Common Raven and a singing Common Chiffchaff .


Little Ringed Plover ( Charadrius dubius ) . The East Devon Commons


 

Friday 19 April 2024

The Exminster Marshes

A couple of hours on the Exminster Marses this morning in a very strong wind got me . 20+ Common Shelduck , a male Gadwall , 2 Grey Heron , 3 Ruff , a fly through Red Kite , 3 Winter Wren , a Common Chiffchaff , European Reed Warbler , Sedge Warbler , Cetti`s Warbler and a male Reed Bunting .

Ruff ( Philomachus pagnax ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon


 

Common Shelduck ( Female ) ( Tadorna tadorna ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon


 

Wednesday 17 April 2024

A Good Day

 A nice day out with my mate Andy Bond . Saw us at first out on Dartmoor where we saw  a few Common Stonechat , a Common Cuckoo and a Common Grasshopper Warbler . It was quite cold and rain had started to come in so we decided to go and have a look around Portland Bill .

The first bird we saw was a stunning Western Subalpine Warbler that was showing near the campsite , also seen was a male Common Redstart and a Little Owl .

On our way back home we stopped of at Ferrybridge where 4 Sandwich Tern were added to the yearlist . Our last stop of the day was at Abbotsbury Beach where we saw a nice Woodchat Shrike that was showing near the car park , we had to wait for over an hour to get good views of it but it was well worth it in the end .

Western Subalpine Warbler ( Sylvia iberiae ) . Portland Bill . Dorset


 


 


 

Woodchat Shrike ( Lanius seator ) . Abbotsbury Beach . Dorset


 

Friday 12 April 2024

Blackcaps

The day started off at Bowling Green Marsh but not a lot was seen with only 2 Eurasian Spoonbill ,  6 Common Greenshank and my first Blackcap of the year.......Also seen were 2 Brimstone Butterflies .

I then had a look at the Exminster Marshes and I saw 30+ Eurasian Curlew , a Common Buzzard . 2 Cetti`s Warbler , 2 Common Chiffchaff , 3 more Blackcap and this nice male Reed Bunting

Butterflies seen .. Brimstone , Orange Tip , Speckled Wood & Red Admiral 

Reed Bunting ( Emberiza schoeniclus ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon


 

Thursday 11 April 2024

Wednesday 10th April

 My first venture out since my trip to Arizona saw me at my local patch Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham and I managed to see 3 new birds for the year with Common Sand Martin , Common House Martin and Barn Swallow . Also seen were 2 Eurasian Spoonbill and a Common Sandpiper .

Later in the day I got incredible news of a Black-Throated Diver way up on the River Exe at the Topsham Recreation Ground and I was lucky enough to get these few shots of it .

Black-Throated Diver ( Gavia arctica ) . The River Exe . Topsham . Devon